Ketchikan is surrounded by old growth
forest with trees that are the biggest we've seen the whole trip. Hope one of these puppies doesn't decide to fall down when we're around!
Like trails we have hiked before, these are well established with
some steps and boardwalks in sections that would be too slippery to
safely walk.
'Stilted' trees start as a seedling, wrapping their roots around on a fallen rotting log (called a nurse log). The nurse log eventually rots completely, leaving the new tree roots appearing stilted with it's elevated roots.
There are spectacular fungus growths.
We hiked early enough to catch morning dew underneath a shelf fungus.
Mushrooms of all variety:
Yup, slugs here too.
And - does anyone know what this is ?? It ran very quickly across a log, down low to the ground. We only got a fleeting glimpse.
Wormwood: The animals that shape this wood are really not worms - they are closely related to clams. The Toredo worms bore into wood structures near sea water, such as piers a ships. They enter the wood in the larval stage, and then drill a hole using the two small shells on their head. The worms can grow more than 1 meter long.
YES! So close to town - we have 4G. Let the scrabble game continue.
From the monster trees, slugs and bugs, fungus and mushshrooms, worm wood and stilted trees, these are wonderfully interesting forests.
One of our 'parking lot' campgrounds.
After a few days here, where we saw charter fishing boats come in and
unload the day's catch, we had done laundry, taken a good shower,
filled the water tanks and charged the battery, so we moved to a more
beautiful state park campground.
It was a bit rainy – the afternoon
project (that would be Kris) was to erect a proper tarp covering.
Tom had a wonderful nap. We collected wild blueberries and made
campfire dinners with our friends Gerry and Sherry.
More than you EVER wanted to know about
totem poles:
People have inhabited the southeast
coast for over 9000 years. Living in such a resource rich area freed
enough time to allow the culture to develop elaborate ceremonies,
rituals, a distinctive art style and a complex social system.
Northwest coast natives decorated everything from the most
utilitarian objects to the grandest of totem poles. The primary
colors used are black (made from charcoal), ochre (made from iron
oxide or iron ore found in clay) and blue-green (from iron silicate
clay).
There are many Totem poles in the area
(the worlds largest collection), concentrated in museums, heritage
centers, ad state parks. We saw a collection of 19th
century totems that were gathered for preservation and protection.
The project was a collaboration of great effort with the native
elders, who provided interpretive information on the poles.
Totems were private property, owned by
the family that commissioned them. In traditional Northwest coast
culture, the artist enjoyed lofty status. Families of wealth and
rank commissioned totem poles, house poles and dugout canoes that
might keep an artist at work for a year. If it was an outside
village commission, the artist would live in the house of his
employer.
Carvers learned the craft in an
apprentice setting, often from their fathers. Carvers made their own
carving tools. Explorers found metal tools in the hands of carvers
before Westerners brought iron to coastal people. Speculation is
that the metal was reclaimed from drift wreckage, or metal was
obtained through intertribal trade.
This man is master carver Nathan Jackson. It was wonderful being in his art studio and asking questions about the process.
Poles were carved for a variety of
reasons – Mortuary poles to honor an individual, Memorial poles
commemorating deeds and lineage of predecessors, and House pillars
and Crest Poles contain with emblems of family history and clan
designations. There are even shame poles to publicly discredit one
who broke his word or behaved dishonorably. If amends were made, the
pole was destroyed. While the figures on a totem pole might be easily
recognizable, the poles meaning is only understood if one knows the
the purpose for which it was created, as well as the individuals,
groups, or stories associated with it.
Totems depict humans and animals in
invented combinations. A frog on a house pole will prevent the house
from falling down. Killer whales were drowned persons returning to
visit. Standing atop a pole, the watchman warns of approaching
enemy. The number of rings on his hat signifies the number of
potlatches (explanation of potlatch below) the owner has given.
The
Thunderbird is the most powerful spirit – only the most prestigious
of chiefs have a Thunderbird crest. Thunderbird is a mythical bird
known to create thunder by flapping his wings, and lightening by
blinking his eyes. Whale bones found on tops of mountains are
thought to have been dropped there by Thunderbird.
Totems are carved from red cedar –
they dry from the inside out.
This is an old Haida tribe legend pole:
There was a boy who showed no respect
for salmon. He would step on salmon that were caught, and carelessly
throw bones into the bushes. He was warned that the salmon spirits
were not pleased with his bad behavior. One day his mother served
him a salmon dinner and he threw it on the ground and ran down to the
river to play with the other children. When he was swimming, the
current pulled him out to sea and he drowned. There, deep in the
river, he went to live with the Salmon People. He spent all winter
with the salmon people, who were able to teach him respect for
salmon. In the spring, the boy swam up the river with all the other
salmon in the stream past his old village. His mother caught him in
a fishing net and she recognized the copper necklace he was wearing
as the same necklace she had given her son. She took the salmon boy
back to her home, and after 8 days he turned back into her son. He
taught all the villagers what he had learned about respect for the
salmon. At the end of summer, he saw huge old salmon dying from
their long journey upstream, and he saw his soul in the salmon. He thrust his
spear into the salmon, and he immediately died. The people in the
village placed his body in the river and he went back to live with the Salmon
People in the ocean.
There is a legend about the creation of
salmon. Raven and his wife quarreled and he hit her. She left the
house and when he tried to catch her, she slipped through his fingers
like fog. All the smoked and dried salmon followed her, leaving Raven
and his slaves with nothing. Fog woman produces all salmon when the
summer fog lies at the mouth of the streams. She produces the salmon
and causes them to return to the creeks of their births.
Potlatches reinforce social structure
through story telling, speaches, singing and dancing, totem pole
raising and gift giving. Potlatches are symbols of wealth and can
last for days. Potlatch celebration to bear witness to an event,
repay debts. Stories are passed down. Many people are invited. It is
a sign of wealth to host a potlatch. It is said that a potlatch
lasts as long as it takes for the furthermost guest to travel to the
event. They can go on for days. Guests from other clans who
attended potlatches bore witness to the event, contributing to the
wider collective memory. Unfortunately many of the stories and
histories have been lost over time.
Clan House:
Twenty to Fifty closely related clan
members lived together, working, eating and sleeping under the same
roof. Relatives slept in designated areas, slaves near the door and
behind a large painted wooden screen at the back of the house, the
head of the house and his family would sleep. Clan houses were post
and beam construction. The four corner posts are 10' tall and side
beams are 3 feet in diameter by 30 feet long. Two center posts
support a center beam with a plank roof with a vent hole for the
smoke of a fire, kept lit in the center of the floor of the lodge.
Walls are formed by fitting vertical planks into sills mortised into
the base of the corner posts. This Clan house is a replica built in
1938 by the civilian conservation corps an it listed in the National
Register of Historic Places.
This is the clan house at Saxman village
Loved it all ...
Next Post - Return to the Lower 48
No comments:
Post a Comment