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Apprentice Fenton Jim from the Inland Northwest AGC Apprenticeship Program was recently chosen to participate in a prestigious Totem Restoration Project in Juneau, Alaska, given the rare opportunity to restore culturally significant totems depicting the stories of the local indigenous communities. This exceptional honor was approved by leaders of the local Tlingit clan.
Tlingit artists Ray Peck and Jim Marks originally carved the Legends and Beliefs, Creation of Killer Whale and Strongman totems, in addition to the fifteen bronze sculptures affixed to the outside of the Michael J. Burns building.
The totems were restored and relocated as part of the 50th Anniversary of Goldbelt, an Alaska Native corporation. The image below is of the ‘Creation of Killer Whale’ Totem Pole, telling the well-known story of the killer whale clan.
