Longview #19: Totem Pole

Intersection of Broadway and Commerce Avenue

Totem Pole on September 5, 2005.

The intersection of Broadway and Commerce Avenue was intended to be one of the most important intersections in Longview. This totem pole was carved by Chief Lelooska for the Lower Columbia Council of Camp Fire USA, who presented it to the city of Longview and placed it here. It was dedicated on Sunday, March 19, 1961.

Chief Lelooska

Chief Lelooska was born Don Smith in 1933. He was of partial Cherokee and Osage decent. He was adopted into the Kwakiutl nation in 1968, and became a leader in Native American heritage. He carved over 100 totem poles and hundreds of ceremonial masks during his lifetime. He passed away September 5, 1996.

Totem Pole on July 28, 2007.

The totem pole is over 30 feet tall, nearly 3 feet in diameter at the base, 1 foot in diameter at the top, and weighs about one ton. The 8 symbols on the totem represent different aspects of the Camp Fire Council. Starting from the top, the symbols are:

• The Prestige Hat, which represents honor, leadership and skill, and indicated that the Camp Fire has been in the community for a long time.
• The Person figure represents leadership.
• The Person is sheltering a Child figure, which represents all of the children who have been a part of Camp Fire.
• The Bird figure represents the Blue Bird children, the youngest Camp Fire members.
• The Bear figure represents Camp Nisaki at Silver Lake, the council's first camp. Nisaki is a Chippewa word meaning "lake at the foot of the mountain."
• The Frog figure represents Camp Nisaki, as well as Camp Singing Wind near Toledo, Washington on Salmon Creek.
• The Beaver, nature's engineer and wood worker, represents industry and the hard work of Camp Fire members and volunteers in building Camp Singing Wind.
• The Salmon is held by the Beaver and represents immortality or spiritual emphasis, portraying the first tenet of Camp Fire Law. Salmon return every year to feed people and, in turn, return their bones to the river of stream, and according to legend will return again bringing food.

The totem pole was carved of Western Red Cedar, which was chosen for ease of carving without regard for longevity. Historically, Native American totem poles were carved for ceremonial use, and after their intended purpose were taken down for firewood. This totem suffered from its decades of exposure to the elements. It was repainted as part of Eagle Scout projects by Bill Lotz in 1976 and Todd Partridge in 1989, but by 2005 there had been serious decomposition at the base, as well as a crack running up the back of the pole for its entire length. That fall, for his Eagle Scout project, Devin Hemmert organized a community effort to restore the totem pole. The project included replacing decomposed wood with new red cedar, bleaching and drying the surviving original wood, embedding eight steel plates in the back side of the pole to counteract the crack running the length of the pole, filling surface cracks in the carved figures and priming and painting in authentic Native American colors of driftwood gray, dark red, turquoise and black. Hemmert was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on July 8, 2006. That same month, the totem pole was placed on the Longview Register of Historic Places.

Historical Photos:
View east down Broadway from this corner (Cowlitz County GenWeb Project)
View west down Broadway from near here, circa 1928 (R.A. Long Historical Society)

“Thank you, Mr. Long” on July 28, 2007.

Across Commerce Avenue from the totem pole is a park bench with this bronze sculpture of Robert A. Long in his traditional straw hat receiving a rose from a young girl.

“Thank you, Mr. Long” on July 28, 2007.

Named “Thank you, Mr. Long,” it was sculpted by Jim Demetro and was placed here and dedicated on September 23, 2006.

“Thank you, Mr. Long” on July 28, 2007.

Continue to 20: Columbia River Mercantile Building…