A Totem Graveyard, And Their Replacements

Mother Nature has begun the slow process of returning the poles to the earth

Nobody knows  exactly when the First Nation tribes of the Northwest  American coastline began to carve these beautiful  poles.   They can depict many things such as clan affiliations and social rank.  They would commemorate a potlatch, be positioned at the entrance to a home, or be a memorial or grave marker among other things.

The front portion of a whale carved in the 1930s

Where was the first one constructed?  When?  We’ll never know these answers but we do know they were seen when the European explorers first visited back in the 1700s.  And it seems certain that it was done somewhere between, say, the current cities of Seattle and Anchorage, and most likely somewhere on the coastline midway between these two cities. If you have perhaps sailed the "Inside Passage" don't suppose you have seen the most authentic, historic portion of it.  There are numerous Haida, Tlingit and other tribal villages here with a much longer history.

I was fortunate enough to spend part of a day at Klawock, Alaska recently,  observing the carving of and learning more about these spectacular totem poles.   Klawock is considered the “mother village” of the Tlingit tribe (commonly pronounced “ Klinkit”). The culture of totem carving is on the rise here as many of the tribe members are striving to re-incorporate into their lives some of the values and traditions of their ancestors.  Their oral history tells them they have been here for well over 5,000 years, maybe double that time,  and some of the aspects of the lives of their ancestors certainly bear emulating!

Mid-August was a special and historic time for the Tlingits of Klawock.  In centuries past, they would migrate to Klawock  from their northern home at Tuxekan during the summer for fishing.  There were a number of totem poles at Tuxekan .  Since a pole typically has a “life” of about 80 years,  during the 1930s the government (via the civilian conservation corps) hired Tingits to recreate the Tuxekan poles and install them at what is now Totem Pole Park in Klawock.

A young carver working on a totem pole for the August pole raising

One of the newer poles at the park in Klawock

These poles have recently been replicated once more,  third generation true copies, and  mid-August the final five were raised during a potlatch.  Now the number is again  21 and the prior poles, which lay on the ground near the carving shed,  have an undecided fate.   As of July, the Tlingits at Klawock haven’t yet come to agreement as to whether to keep,  dispose or let Mother Nature have her way.  But because of the new generation of carvers, they may be going, going, gone, but they won’t be forgotten.

This was one wonderful day of a wilderness cruise in the Inside Passage which skipped the commonly visited ports in favor of uninhabited places and this lovely stop at Klawock, where we learned so much about their long and admirable heritage.

My commercial:  If you are interested in the art of the northwestern natives of the US and Canada I would love to help you plan a trip to view the art, in and out of museums, and perhaps you will discover the perfect piece for your home or yard.  Or, if you want to see the wilderness that very few outsiders visit,  give me a call.  These are places that you will never see on a large ship.

My other commercial:  Some of the finest of the cruise lines are offering special incentives for booking cruises due to sail before the end of the year,  with lower fares and/or onboard spending credits.  Need a last minute vacation?  Call me at 888-857-7379!

Now This is True Serendipity!

Once in awhile, when you travel,  everything comes together and you are able to do something that rarely ever happens, to anyone.  My guest blogger describes below  a great experience because of our friend serendipity that occured in January.

Lie down on your stomach, and breathe! 

I have just given you the instructions on how to snorkel, something which I began doing years ago, and have found each time to be a new adventure.  If you feel timid, you can wear a life jacket or float belt to assure you that you won’t sink.  You can just lie still and use almost no energy, so you won’t get tired.  Or you can move around a wide area to see all sorts of underwater terrain.   Mostly, I have seen gorgeous vividly colored small fish.  In the Sea of Cortez,  I opted to keep a distance from the curious sea lions unlike some of my fellow snorkelers, because I am a wimp.  I find it a very pleasant way to see something new, to relax, and get as much or as little exercise as I choose.  My daughter first snorkeled at age 5.  That’s how easy it is.

But occasionally there may be an opportunity to see something extraordinary.  My guest blogger,  Lindsey Johnson,  had an incredible snorkeling trip off of Maui.  ( I have snorkeled from Maui and saw….beautiful fish.  She saw something completely different.)

Take it away, Lindsey.

I never tire of peacefully floating through tropical waters while colorful fish gracefully swim below for my viewing pleasure.   In fact, you could say I am a snorkeling fanatic.  I have even attempted to snorkel in the  lake near my home in Seattle, (something I would not recommend unless you are a connoisseur of old  tires.)  Although I make sure to partake in snorkeling whenever I am on a vacation that allows, my adventures have all been about seeing beautiful fish and sometimes, if I am lucky, one turtle. 

So when, on a recent trip to Maui, the stars (and mostly the weather,) aligned and allowed our snorkel cruise boat to snorkel in an area that is rarely if ever a safe stop, I knew I had hit the snorkel jackpot:  the Liberty Shipwreck, an oil tanker from World War II that now rests about 1,500 feet off a beautiful deserted beach on Lanai, a short boat ride from Maui.  

 

The full day snorkel adventure promised lots of beautiful fish, some fun and laughter, and hopefully turtles, dolphins and whales.  The trip took us around the island of Lanai, a typical yet always fun touristy snorkel trip.  Our guide also promised us a view of Shipwreck beach, a famous ‘wrecked’ ship, and a drive by Dragon cove.  Again, all very typical and done daily on these tours.  With the sun shining, and more importantly the wind quiet, the trip over to Lanai was filled with a few great whale sightings.  

As we approached the giant ship our Captain got on the speakers and began to announce in a very excited voice that we might have just hit the jackpot on the weather and if the wind was still nonexistent as we got closer, we would be able to do something only 6 tours ever in the 10 years he had been doing these daily trips has been able to do:  snorkel around the ship.  Typically the winds from the North East that get funneled through the channel between Lanai and Maui are very strong and it is dangerous for both boats and especially snorkelers to get too close to the giant Liberty ship. 

We, however, lucked out.  Our Captain guided us within 15 feet of the giant ship while he told us the story of the famed Liberty Ships.  Giant and very inexpensive to build, these cargo ships became a symbol of the huge American war industrial output.  However when three of the hulking, concrete enforced ships inexplicably broke in half, flags were raised.  It turns out the steel that was  used could not handle the extreme cold weather of the water in the North Atlantic and would crack and fracture.  Many were retired or sold to other countries, but one ended up in Hawaii.  I was relieved to find out this was not shipwreck that may be home to old sailors bones, but was actually placed in that location as the most economical way to dispose of the giant, hulking concrete ship.

We finally jumped into the water on the side of the ship that was shadowed from the sun.  The water was warm, but without sun there was little life.  We managed to see a few fish and while my boyfriend hung back, I swam close to the ship and was treated to all sorts of creepy crawlies moving along the side.  Also being so close to the ship you could peer into several holes and appreciate the sheer size of this hulking beast, which the US managed to build in less than 50 days at the peak of production.  Truly a symbol of the US’s industrial prowess and mastery- arguably the biggest reason our side won the war.  It was a memory I knew I would not forget.

As we slowly made the turn around the back of the ship into sunshine it was like swimming into the underwater Garden of Eden.  The sunny side teemed with life, as we saw butterfly fish, tangs, pennant fish, trumpet fish, and the ever classic Moorish Idol.  I had never seen so many fish while snorkeling.  Rocks and coral of all sizes littered the ground, so close in many places I could reach down with my hand and touch the plant life that covered the outside.  As we lazily floated through the underwater rainbow we came upon my absolute favorite animal- turtles!  One sleepily floated so close once I finally noticed him I could have reached out and patted him on the head.  There were several, none at all distracted or disturbed by the sight of several humans swimming nearby so we were lucky enough to enjoy them for almost the entire time we were in the sunshine.

As I climbed aboard the snorkeling boat for some lunch and we zoomed off to our next, more typical snorkeling destination, I looked back at the wreck and knew how lucky I was to get so close to a piece of history.  If I close my eyes I can still see the schools of colorful fish stream by, the lazy turtles floating past, and the giant hull covered in years of rust and now home to all sorts of underwater creatures.  

Thank you Lindsey.   I hope that someday I am lucky enough to have a great experience like that.

Now for the commercial:   Are you a Notre Dame supporter?   Or did you serve in the Navy?  I have a nifty package to Ireland for the football game between these two teams, with  some touring of the Emerald Isle as well, this fall.   It would be a fun trip without the game,  but maybe you fans should go so that you can explain the game to all of those Irishmen and women you will run into!   I adore Ireland and especially it's people.  Now if the University of Washington were to play there I'd be the first in line for tickets.

Collecting Olympic Sites

Who amongst us doesn't, or has never, had a collection?   The gamut runs from childhood whimsies to serious adult obsessions, but most of us thoroughly enjoy collecting things that are meaningful in one way or another.

I, for example, collect antique maps from places that I have visited.  They make an interesting addition to my home, one that people love to peruse.  They are reminders of my travels and the hunt for the maps. 

My Frequent Traveling Companion, however, doesn't collect things, he collects places.  He has always loved the Olympics and has attended several. When we began traveling together I knew that he wanted to see all possible Olympic venues. Since I drag my traveling companions everywhere I want, it's only fair that I should go along with him.  And, I have discovered some fascinating and historic places!

The first we ever visited together was  Sydney.  It was modern,  a lovely complex that has been converted into a multiple-sports and park use space.  Simple to get to,  there are frequent commuter trains from the city taking about a half hour.   Since it was  over 100 degrees, I stayed close to the fountains spraying cool water.  On a more comfortable day I would have loved walking or biking on the dedicated paths and boardwalks through natural areas.  For the more adventurous there are other diverse opportunities including trying to master the flying trapeze!  It's a classic example of what cities can do with their venues if they plan right beforehand. 

The next one we visited was the oldest of them all, at Olympia.  The first competition was believed by historians to have been held nearly 3,000 years ago.  For hundreds of years it was just one race, a 210 yard dash. The first recorded winner is a Greek cook who ran naked (maybe they all did!) in 776 BC. Thereafter two additional races of longer lengths were added and it grew from there. Fast forward a millenium. and the Romans ruling Greece cancelled the competition for lack of interest and perhaps some paganistic overtones.

With the thousand year  tradition of the competition, the complex at Olympia had grown quite large with temples, sanctuaries, dormitories, training areas, monuments (Alexander the Great built one for his father), and of course the Olympic flame.  It's a beautiful place to see.

If visiting in the summer, bring an umbrella as only part of the site is shady.  It can be extremely hot.  The museum is excellent, but the highlight for many is seeing the actual starting and ending points of the race. People love to line up against the marble slab where thousands of years ago Olympians stood, poised to run.

If you are a Greek Mythology geek, you'll love the fact that next to the site is Mt. Kronos, where Zeus battled his father for supremacy and won.   Perhaps they took a break to watch one of the early races!

Fortunately, the event only died out in fact, not in lore and legend, and a French Baron spurred the movement to bring them back, with Athens being the logical choice for the first games in 1896.  That stadium, white marble, still stands near the center of the city on a busy thoroughfare.  Unfortunately I was there before the days of digital cameras so no photo but it is a beautiful stadium in its simplicity. 




Another very early stadium that makes an interesting stop is in Stockholm.  Built for the 1912 Olympics,  it's still in use today.  When we visited, there were junior runners from  as far away as Africa competing.  The stadium is a block or so from  a stop on Stockholm's nifty subway system (see my earlier post).  Well worth a quick visit for the sculptures at the entrance and seeing the beautiful architectural details of the day.

If you are visiting the Scandinavian countrys, go check out Helsinki's stadium which has an interesting history.   Built for the 1940 Olympics, it had to wait another dozen years to host them because WWII broke out.  In 1952 more world records were broken there than at any other Olympics.   I was planning to visit it and snap some fab photos but couldn't, due to a bicycling accident earlier that day.  Please don't ask me about this as although several very large dark areas appeared on various parts of my body, my pride was hurt more than my physique.  They made me stop the tour too which I was loving, but I digress.

I found seeing the Berlin complex fascinating and emotional.  It is  way out of town but of course their transportation system is efficient and fast like everything else the Germans do!  There is still a lot left here but few tourists were there when we visited.  Seeing where Jesse Owens won gold, and where Hitler refused to present the medal to him, made me proud of and angry for him at the same time. 

I found the contrast between Stockholm and Berlin to be most interesting, because they were built only two dozen years apart.  One of brick, one of stone.  Obviously Hitler meant it to be a symbol of the substantial power of Germany.  The complex is impressive and holds the pool and the  Reichssportsfeld  outside of the stadium where other events were  held.  The spaciousness of the site allows you to feel echos of the throngs that attended these games.

The pride in their vision of perfection of their youth shows both in the statuary and in the Bell Tower and Langemarckhalle at the bleacher side of the field (photo below).  The thousands of young volunteers who were ordered to attack near Langemarck in Belgium during  WWI, and who subsequently died in droves,  were glorified by the Nazis as a "selfless sacrifice of youth" instead of senseless death.  Gazing at the monument that explains this glorification, I found myself wiping away tears for the young who die for their country.

 

 Nowadays the venues seem to be spread out, especially where Winter Games are involved,  because you usually don't find world class ski areas with space for the rest of the events, and constructing new buildings that wouldn't have a lot of use afterward is not financially feasible.  Such is the case with the Winter Olympics in Vancouver last year.  It was here that I attended my first Olympic Games and I am hooked!  

The city fathers and mothers did a superlative job in ferrying people between the city and the gorgeous Whistler ski area.  Everything worked beautifully.  The city events were housed mostly in already existing facilities...Vancouver is a good Canadian city that loves it's winter sports!   The flame was placed along the downtown waterfront area and walking around during the beautiful city's evening time was such fun, hearing so many languages being spoken.  There is no complex or spectacular stadium to photograph but the exquisite outdoors and sunny weather are more lovely than anything manmade.

Do you "collect" sites, making it a point to visit something in  a specific category, while you travel?   I, and other readers, would love to hear from you about this...new ideas about travel are always welcome.   Please go to the comments section below and post what your favorite things are to see while traveling.  Or, just post any comments you would like to make about this or any of my posts.   If you wish to contact me regarding travel needs, I am at 888-857-7379.   I have great contacts for travel to all sorts of  legendary sporting events from the Masters to World Cups to my own favorite, the Rose Bowl, and more.