Building Community through the Art of Carving
Kootéeyaa Deiyí, featuring TJ Sgwaayaans Young
Interview conducted by Mina Kim
The Sealaska Cultural Values Totem Pole, created by TJ Sgwaayaans Young with assistance from Tlingit and Tsimshian carvers, stands in front of the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus. Photo by Stacy Unzicker, courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.
“Wherever the totem pole is being carved, that turns into a community center.”
Visitors to the Juneau, Alaska waterfront will find twelve new totem poles placed to welcome people from the coast toward the downtown center. These are the first of thirty totems of the Kootéeyaa Deiyí (Totem Pole Trail), a collaboration between Sealaska Heritage Institute, the Parks and Recreation Department of the City and Borough of Juneau, and the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian clans as a major phase in making Juneau the Northwest Coast Arts Capital of the World.
A part of a two-mile trail, Kootéeyaa Deiyí honors the presence of Alaska Native communities and promotes the endangered art form of carving while creating economic opportunities for Master Carvers and their apprentices. This project is one of many initiatives through the Sealaska Heritage Institute, which provides authentic educational experiences that support and amplify the arts, culture, and history of Alaska Native tribes who have been in this region for over 10,000 years.
TJ Sgwaayaans Young, a Haida Master Carver from Hydaburg, Alaska, has created three pieces for Kootéeyaa Deiyí with fellow carvers and apprentices, including a 22-feet tall 3-D totem pole representing the histories and cultures of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. Here, Young highlights the importance of Kootéeyaa Deiyí to his artistic and cultural practice and how carving creates community.
What do the totem poles represent?
“Totem poles are a visual document . . . We didn’t have a written language, so art was our written language. It’s how we communicated. Back in the day, we were able to read a totem pole like a book. Some of our villages were just crowded and flooded with totem poles . . . [People] were able to read exactly who lived there, who their clan was, who their family was, how their clan originated . . . We didn’t have a word for art, but that’s how we communicated, how we demonstrated how connected we were with the environment and with the animals–there was no separation between us and them.”
Where does community come into play in your carving?
“Wherever the totem pole is being carved, that turns into a community center. All throughout the project, people come to check on the totem pole every day. They make it a part of their walking habits. Some people bring food, coffee, or their own carvings that they’re working on. A lot of the elders will try to stop by and tell stories and visit each other. It really widens up the village when a totem pole is being carved. Kids come in and check in. My brother and I take physical health seriously, so we have pull-up rooms and weights and have the kids lift weights with us once in a while.”
What does it mean for people to be a part of the carving process?
“[Seeing carving] wasn’t available when I was younger, even 20 years ago. We read about it in books, but it wasn’t common at all. We loved carving, but we never really got to see it. It was discouraged during my mom’s generation and my grandfather’s generation where [practicing Native cultural traditions] were both discouraged and outlawed.”
Share one thing about the project that excites you.
“All of us carvers have known each other for a long time and it’s exciting to have all of us carve at the same time. I don’t think this has happened recently, maybe several hundred years ago it was fairly common to see carvers working on totem poles at the same time. In a way, this is a renaissance of the Northwest Coast art form, of the Haida and Tsimshian art form. It was really fun to be a part of that. Also, what the totem poles are going to represent. I think it’ll do a good job educating the public and all the tourists that show up.”
What does partnership look like?
“Sealaska [donates] the logs and Sealaska [Heritage Institute] finds the funding for the carvers . . . They are pretty vital to keeping the culture alive and well . . . making sure we have apprentices to make sure we’re not just carving for the [tradition] to die out when we’re gone.”
What nourishes you in your practice?
“Our grandfather Claude Morrison who was born in 1910. He got to see the last of the elders that survived smallpox in 1862 [which] took down our population by 96%. He got to see the aftereffects of that. [I think about] how resilient they were given what they’ve been through, what their parents have been through. That’s the kind of stuff that motivates me. It’s sad, but I can’t help but gain strength from that . . . our heritage is something to be proud of.
As we started carving, he’d come to the shed and he’d sit there and watch us carve all day. It wasn’t an option for him. It wasn’t an option for his kids. So we’re kicking it back up. That’s the kind of stuff that gets me going.”
Learn more about TJ Young’s work and the Sealaska Heritage Institute.