With Todd White at the controls of the backhoe, Joel Churchill, Tim Burrows and Richard Oliver maneuver the first new cedar corner post into position at the Chief Shakes Tribal House.
The Chief Shakes Tribal house in late 2011, before the beginning of renovations on the island.
When the Eagle totem at Shakes Island came down for renovation in September 2011, it was a beginning for the renovation project on the island – a project that would take more than a year and see the Chief Shakes Tribal House gutted down to its bare framework of original cedar.
Another milestone in the life of the house came last week when workers raised the first newly adzed corner post for the building on June 15.
The cedar plank, which is part of a batch of wood acquired by the Wrangell Cooperative Association from sacred lands on Prince of Wales Island, came from property managed by Sealaska Corporation.
Todd White, the project manager for the Shakes Island project, said the raising of the first new corner post was a sacred moment in the genesis of the structure’s rebirth.
“Today was a big day for us,” White said of putting up the new post. “We’re going in the right direction by putting the house back together.
Among all the days required to adze the corner posts, White estimates about 72 total hours of labor were involved between the adzers and millers involved in the process.
There is also a lot of financial value wrapped up in the new posts, White added.
“There is about $30,000 worth of value per post, cost-wise, so when you make a cut in them it’s a huge deal,” he said. “That’s why the construction team, led by Richard Oliver, have really done their best out here today.”
Additional posts will be installed in the coming weeks – and just in time for the Independence Day holiday.
“We’re trying to get this back wall up by the Fourth of July so that visitors can see it in some of its glory,” he added.
Joel Churchill, a member of the construction team that raised the post and locked it in place, said he was proud to use his sweat and strength on the large piece of cedar.
“We used the backhoe to raise it and tied it up so that it was safe as it went up,” Churchill said. “We were being safe out here because that it is a big piece of wood. Safety was very important.”
Churchill, who is Tsimshian, added that being involved in the rebuilding project has been educational to him in regard to Tlingit ways and traditions.
“It’s important for me to be here and be a part of this,” Churchill added. “It’s a new way of learning things and to learn the Tlingit way of doing things traditionally, the way they did back when.”
As the post went up, and was nailed into place by Oliver’s crew, adzers Linda Churchill and Suzie Kasinger showed their pride – and emotion – over being involved in the project.
“This is very cool and it’s very important to me because my dad worked here before he joined the service,” she said. “My family got to work on some of the original pieces of the house, and I’m glad there are still a few original pieces of the house left. I can’t even describe how important it is to be a part of this.”
And if it wasn’t enough that Linda grew up living inside the Tribal House, a very special remnant of her father’s life there still exists on the property; a reminder of her family’s legacy there.
“There is a handprint of my dad, in paint, on the old corner post,” she added. “I’m hoping to keep that piece when this is all done.”
Kasinger was equally glad, she said, to see the rebuilding begin.
“This is so exciting,” Kasinger said. “Finally, it’s going back up.”
Reader Comments(0)