Saxman Native Village ~~ Ketchikan, Alaska.

On our way to Saxman Village.

The clouds are breaking up,

and the sun is shining through.

Just another beautiful day in Alaska.

I thought this house sign was interesting,

and so are the street names.

Old totems are left to return to the earth.

Our tour guide/shuttle driver

telling us a bit about the carving of the totems.

"Only some  sections of the totem 

pole were painted.  It's because

the process to create paint was

so labor intensive.  Females would

chew and then spit out salmon eggs, 

which served as a base,

 not unlike oil-based paint.

When mixed with colored powders,

paint was created. 

The four main

colors you will see are 

black from charcoal,

red from iron, turquoise from copper 

oxide and white from shells."

(Information source ~Princess Cruise)

Our tour didn't include access

to be inside the carving house,

so we can only peek into the windows.

" Don't feel bad if someone

tells you you're the

'low man on the totem pole.'

Often, the most important

figure can be found at the base,

not on top as many believe."

Source:  Princess C. again.

Saxman's Beaver Clan

tribal house, reported to be the 

largest in the world.

One more peek into the workshop

from the other side.

We were on our way back to our 

shuttle bus.

I thought this bus was cute,

but it wasn't ours. 

We had a plain white shuttle bus,

but the windows were large

and perfect for watching the 

beautiful scenery as we passed by.