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Blog

Blog for the Port Townsend School of Woodworking, including school updates, class offerings, and students writing about their experiences.

Totem Pole Raising at Peninsula College

I was proud to attend the Totem Pole Raising at Peninsula College in Port Angeles last week. Steve Brown accompanied Darcy McNamara, Teresa and I to the ceremony.

The pole was carved by Jeff Monson and some apprentices from the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe. The totem is in a S'Klallam style (North Coast Salish) of a woman welcoming visitors.

The pole was carried from the carving place to the House of Learning - a contemporary longhouse on the Peninsula College campus. The procession was accompanied by singing and dancing by members of the local Tribes: the Hoh, the Makah, the Jamestown S'Klallam, the Port Gamble S'Klallam; the Lower Elwha Klallam and the Quileute. Listen to the videos rather than watch them.....

Jeff and his father, Jerry, offered a knife-making and carving class in our first year of operation. We hope get them to come back to the school and teach.