Monumental Alaska Indian Arts Totem

Monumental Alaska Indian Arts totem pole; 16'8" x 28" Base. Alaska Indian Arts was founded in 1958 as “Alaska Youth Inc,” a non-profit scouting-style organization founded by Carl Heinmiller, a WWII US Arny veteran. It was originally envisioned as a Boy Scouts-style group based on local Tlingit culture for both Native and non-Native children from Haines and nearby Klukwan, Alaska, but grew into an international traveling dance group called the Port Chilkoot Chilkat dancers. Creating regalia, masks, and rattles for their dance performances and a replica of a Tlingit clan house on the grounds of Port Chilkoot, the organization soon changed its name to Alaska Indian Arts (AIA) and shifted its focus to include commercial art production ventures. Throughout the 1960s, Alaska Indian Arts created objects such as commissioned monumental totem poles, jewelry, block prints, and wood and stone carvings that could be sold to generate income for the artists and to support the organization’s cultural work. In the mid-1960s, AIA partnered with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and hosted two Manpower Designer Training Act (MDTA) instructional workshops to teach printmaking, carving, and jewelry making techniques to local community members. Some of the prominent artists to have worked with Alaska Indian Arts over the years include Tlingit master carvers Nathan Jackson and Wayne Price and Preston Singletary, who has pioneered the use and inclusion of glass in Northwest Coast art production. This monumental, nearly 17-foot-tall totem is a fine example of Alaska Indian Arts’ excellent craftsmanship. Throughout its existence, AIA has featured collaborations between Alaska Native artists, often Tlingit, and non-Indigenous artist who have been trained to carve together, often for decades. According to Lee Heinmiller, the son of founder Carl Heinmiller and the current director of AIA, the artists who worked on this pole include Charlie Jimmie (Tlingit, 1932-2016), John Hagen (Inupiaq/Adopted Tlingit), Greg Horner (non-Indigenous/Adopted Tlingit), and Lee himself (non-Indigenous/Adopted Tlingit). The pole was custom made for a client in Upstate New York but was never installed or raised. The pole is painted in customary red, black, and blue-green, and features an Eagle over a Chief who is wearing a Black Bear headdress and holding a twisted, rope-style talking stick with a Woodpecker finial. The Chief is flanked on each side by carved Coppers with Bobcat and Fox imagery and there are Chilkat-style Human faces carved and painted into his arms. Most monumental poles by Alaska Indian Arts are in permanent collections or displayed as public art and they rarely come up for sale. The full provenance of this pole is available upon request, and a copy of the original design sketch will be provided to the buyer.

This is a large or fragile item, so shipping will not calculate on our website. Please contact the Gallery at (208) 769-7575; info@ciscosgallery.com to get a shipping quote, or to purchase.