Klawock is new to accepting cruise ships, having begun only in 2024. Since then they have had only had 9 ship visits. The limited visits showed as they were particularly welcoming.

We were taken by school bus to a wood carving demonstration at Klawock Henna Carving Shed. The demonstration was given by Jon Rowan. He says there are about 16 totem carvers in Southeast Alaska but he is clearly quite renowned.

He explained that a totem takes him about 7 months but he allocates a year. He is commissioned from around the world and charges 4000 USD a foot (eg, a 20 foot totem is 80,000 USD). He is also a teacher and always includes women in his apprentice team, which is unusual for their culture.

I particularly was impressed with his halibut catching device. It looks a bit like a boomerang but with a nail on the inside. You bait the nail and the halibut is hooked. What is fascinating is that he has carved the top to resemble a totem--- beauty on an every day practical device. He showed a picture of its success where his petite niece hooked a 300 lb fish. As would be expected in this area of the country, every ounce of the fish was used & shared with the entire community.

Jon is from an Eagle tribe and his wife is from a different tribe. Every local we encountered was from a local tribe, which I found interesting.

After a walk (in the rain) through the forest next door we drove to the Totem Park.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island, between 1938 and 1940. The CCC selected 21 poles out of the approximately 142 Tlingit and Haida totems that were originally located in the village of Tuxekan. The carvings found at Tuxekan were commemorative poles.

As the original Totems had deteriorated Jon Rowan and his apprentices carved the current set of poles. We were given an interesting description of the meaning of each, and while there the sun finally came out. Was this a sign?