Chief John Wallace (Haida) was a

Haida people Haida (, hai, X̱aayda, , , ) are an indigenous group who have traditionally occupied , an archipelago just off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, for at least 12,500 years. The Haida are known for their craftsmanship, trading skills, and ...

master carver who was commissioned in 1931 by the

US Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

to carve two, 8-foot

totem poles Totem poles ( hai, gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually m ...

, "The Raven" and "The Chief's Daughter." These are in the collection of the

Interior Museum The Interior Museum is a museum operated by the United States Department of the Interior and housed at the department's headquarters at the Stewart Lee Udall Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on the first floor. When the Interior Museu ...

. He also worked in Hydaburg Totem Park in the

Tongass National Forest The Tongass National Forest () in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at . Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass, which i ...

, Alaska. Twenty-one totem poles were brought by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

and the

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

Hydaburg Hydaburg ( ) (''Higdáa G̱ándlaay'' in Haida) is a first-class city in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 382 at the 2000 census and 376 as of the 2010 census. The name "Hydaburg" ref ...

in the 1930s. Of these 21 poles, five were restored. The CCC and the US Forest Service commissioned the replication of 16 poles between 1939 and 1942. John Wallace was placed in charge of this effort In 1939 John Wallace, considered the "last of the Professional Haida totem-carvers" was hired to demonstrated his pole carving at the

Golden Gate International Exposition The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) (1939 and 1940), held at San Francisco's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair celebrating, among other things, the city's two newly built bridges. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 1936 ...

, Treasure Island. John Wallace was taught to carve by this father, Dwight Wallace (Haida); however, due to pressures by missionary and economic pressures, John Wallace stopped carving and only began again late in life thanks to the financial support of federal government programs. This provided Wallace an opportunity to share his knowledge and techniques with young carvers. One of Wallace's totem poles is located in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

at Lake Washington Ship Canal Waterside Trail.

References

Haida people Alaska Native people Native American woodcarvers Year of death missing Year of birth missing 20th-century Native Americans Totem pole carvers {{Alaska-bio-stub