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Kavilco Receives National Park Service Grant

In June 2008, Kavilco received notification that our application to the Historic Preservation Fund Grants to Indian Tribes, Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiian Organizations was one of nineteen selected out of 60 submitted.

The National Park Service grant in the amount of $36,124 will be used to move into the planning phase of Chief Son-I-Hat's Whale House restoration. Kavilco can now contract with MRV Architects of Juneau, BBFM Engineers and HCM, Inc. of Anchorage to provide architectural Schematic Design, Engineering Analysis, and a professional estimate to restore the Whale House including:

Detailed on-site investigation of the extent of wood rot, enabling the initiation of architectural and engineering plans for restoration of the Whale House.
Schematic architectural drawings which will describe the typical new work needed for grade beams, columns, beams, and roof structure, laying out typical column and beam requirement and illustrate key details.
The structural analysis of the building will identify a basic level of structural detailing needed for safe restoration of this unique property.
Architectural and engineering drawings for this phase will include demolition and shoring information describing what portions of the structure will be retained, and support strategies to preserve acceptable portions of the structure while damaged portions are replaced.
Develop a set of design documents sufficient to perform detailed cost estimating for the construction phase of this project.

Based on the above information, the final project scope will be set and design documents finished with a future grant or other revenue source.

Háw'aa to everyone involved to help procure this important grant: President/CEO Louis A. Thompson, Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation, MRV Architects, and Corporate Secretary Deanna Kaulay.

You can help to restore the Whale House. Click here to enter KHHF's How to Give page.

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.

On June 11, 2002, Chief Son-I-Hat’s Whale House and Totems Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Chief Son-I-Hat’s Whale House and Totems Historic District is located in Kasaan on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. It consists of Chief Son-I-Hat’s Whale House and frontal pole with eight additional poles which are either restored originals or copies of the original poles from the Old Kasaan village site. The park was established in the late 1930s as part of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) project with James Peele, son of Chief Son-I-Hat, as the chief carver at New Kasaan. James Peele was father to Kavilco shareholder David Peele, who held the title of Chief Son-I-Hat until he passed the title on to John McAllister shortly before his death in 1999.

In 1880, Chief Son-I-Hat (Kóyongxung), a Yádas (Eagle clan) chief, built Neyúwens (great house) near Kasaan Bay northwest of New Kasaan and lived there with his family until 1915. In 1938, the CCC employed local Natives to rebuild Neyúwens, since it had not been occupied since the Chief left and had become badly deteriorated. The walls and roof had caved in, but the basic timbers were sound with little decay. The interior roof support house posts remained. According to Dr. Viola Garfield, who researched the Haida from 1935 to 1970, the posts had been carved to represent “Coon-Ahts who captured the monster Gonaqadate, got into its skin and hunted whales for his mother-in-law.” The carving of these two poles had been assigned to brothers, so although the poles are basically identical, each pole has unique details. Also remaining was the center house post that Chief Son-I-Hat had brought from his uncle’s house after his uncle died.

CCC representatives obtained permission from James Peele to restore the house and its totem. The Whale House frontal pole was copied from the original and replaced. Considerable effort was expended in drawing plans for an accurate reproduction. Experienced Native craftsmen who utilized traditional tools and woodworking methods were employed to reconstruct the house and various poles from Old Kasaan. Great attention was paid to duplicating traditional formulas for coloring the poles. The CCC reconstruction of the Whale House stands as a remarkable example of a Native craftsmanship and as a faithful reconstruction of a Alaska Haida community house. Due to its isolated location, this site retains an element of originality and mood often lacking in reconstructions or replicas which have been modified or decorated in a nontraditional manner.

In 1938, the National Park Service, who had acquired the area of Old Kasaan and dedicated it as a National Monument in 1916, negotiated with the Peele, Thomas and Young families to move several totems from Old Kasaan to New Kasaan, provided none of these monuments were moved to Ketchikan. Five original totem poles were moved to New Kasaan and renovated:

1) Flying Groundhog Pole. This 40-foot totem surmounted by an eagle was one of a pair of totems that stood in front of Chief Skowl’s Rib House. When the pole was moved to New Kasaan, the flying groundhog at the top was replaced with an eagle in 1939.

2) The 50-foot Skowl Pole which stood in front of Chief Skowl’s Rib House. The thunderbird figure at the top was newly carved as the old one had rotted and the surface carved down to solid wood.

3) A totem known as the Spencer Pole which was erected by a Kasaan woman who had married a white man by the name of Spencer. The figure at the top of the pole (Mr. Spencer) was re-carved.

4) Ha'u Pole (East House) which was relocated approximately 18 meters behind the Spencer Pole at New Kasaan. It belonged to the grandfather of Son-I-Hat who actually had the name East and was carved by a Tlingit craftsman. Walter Young worked on the restoration of this pole, which once belonged to his father.

5) Sitting Bear Grave Marker which stands about six feet high. It stood over Peter Jones’ father’s grave and was located inside a small grave house at the west end of the village.

Other poles were copied including a Killer Whale Grave marker, a brown bear memorial pole and a large frog pole. In all eight totems were transferred.

In 1981, Kavilco allowed an archaeological study of Old Kasaan and the Whale House and totems in New Kasaan. Despite the fact that Old Kasaan had been designated a National Monument from 1916 until 1955, not much had been done to preserve it. Since the CCC restoration, the history of management and preservation efforts while under Federal stewardship can be perhaps best be described in the words of a former superintendent of Mt. McKinley National Park, Frank Been. In a 1942 request for restoration funds Been noted that Old Kasaan “remained a monument to good intentions and subsequent neglect.” Many of the totems and a few of the houses were moved to museums and the Totem Park in Ketchikan in an effort to save them from thieves and vandals. By 1981, all of the structures in Old Kasaan had largely decayed into the soil. Outlines of foundations and recesses of graves were all that remained.

However, the study did find that despite the lack of a rigorous maintenance program, the Whale House fared remarkably well during the 40 years since it was completed. A few roof and floor boards were missing or broken. Some of the boards around the central fire pit were charred. Vandals had obliterated a small figure from one of the three house poles and there was refuge scattered about. Vandals had also damaged the other totems with gunshot holes. Community members have taken it upon themselves to make whatever repairs they could, paying the expenses out of their own pockets. Louis Thompson placed a padlock on the door to the Whale House in an attempt to keep vandals out, but the lock was quickly broken. Other Native members of the island community claimed entitlement to access because of their alleged relationship to Chief Son-I-Hat. In the mid-1990s many noticed that the foundation timbers were showing signs of decay. Some members of Kavilco’s Board of Directors felt it was time to take action before Kasaan’s only remaining example of traditional Native architecture disappeared.

In 1996, Kavilco started the process to establish the Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation (KHHF) as a non-profit corporation in the State of Alaska. In 1999, KHHF became incorporated with Kenneth Gordon, President; John Campbell, Vice President; and Jeane Breinig, Secretary/Treasurer. Currently, Laird A. Jones is serving as KHHF President. With the help of Kavilco’s staff and Board of Directors, KHHF began researching the best methods of preserving the Whale House and totems. Kavilco’s funds could not be used since that would reduce the annual shareholder dividends. Grant funds were available, but before KHHF could apply for those funds the Whale House and totems would have to be designated as a National Historic Site. Kavilco President/CEO Louis Thompson offered to complete the application for this designation.

Because of the lack of maintenance by the U.S. Forest Service since the early 1940s, the Whale House and totems have fallen into disrepair. The only Haida clan house in Alaska is in serious danger of being lost through deterioration. KHHF is eager to dedicate its resources toward the goal of restoring the Whale House to a sound condition and is seeking grants and appropriations funds to that end. With its unity of context this site has considerable potential for interpretive and/or display purposes, as well as serving as a meaningful locale for ceremonial or other community functions.

In 2006, the KHHF Board of Directors voted to hire MRV Architects from Juneau, Alaska to analyze the condition of the Whale House and estimate general costs associated with repairs to the site. MRV Architects has considerable experience in the restoration of Alaska Native clan houses and totems. Furthermore, the firm’s founder, Linn A. Forrest, prepared the original construction drawings for the Whale House in 1938 when he worked for the U.S. Forest Service. Copies of the drawings are in the firm’s archives.

The full survey, including a report on the history, condition and preservation of the Whale House by Mary Pat Wyatt, the firm’s historical and preservation consultant can be viewed by clicking on the links below. You must have Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher to view the reports.