A Sucked Orange

The Alaska Purchase has become one of my favorite historical tales. Purchased at 10 o'clock in the morning for $7.2 million in March of 1867, not many were excited about the new addition to the United States, particularly in the journalistic realm. Journalist Horace Greeley described the purchase as "a dark deed done in the night." Some nifty prose indeed. Seen by most as a frosty, barren wasteland, Alaska was dubbed "Seward's Folly," "Seward's Icebox," and, my personal favorite, "Andrew Johnson's Polar Bear Garden" until the late 19th century when miners struck gold. Literally. Horace Greeley and all the naysayers were proven wrong, and holidays such as Seward's Day have marked calendars ever since.

While this is all very well and good, there is a sub-story that I find extremely entertaining. In the city of Ketchikan, Alaska lies Saxman Village where the Tlingit tribe resides. A proud, albeit squat, Abraham Lincoln stands atop one of the many totem poles in the village. If one looks at the same pole closely, they will see a man being held upside down by what looks like a grinning fox and the same little man stands atop his own totem pole in the village. Who is this miniature man and why is he represented in this manner? The man in question is good ol' William Seward who, in 1869, decided to pay a trip to Alaska to see just what it was that he had purchased. Seward stopped to visit the Tlingit tribe who threw him one of their customary potlatches, a ceremony of gift giving. As also is custom, potlatches are elaborate affairs and the family hosting the potlatch basically spends themselves into a lower class with large amounts of food, entertainment and gifts to bestow upon attendees.

Little did Seward know, the custom is also that if you attend a potlatch, or one is held for you, you reciprocate with a potlatch for your host that is at least as big, if not bigger. Since Seward was not aware of this custom, he went merrily on his way with a wink and a wave, carrying his many gifts from the Tlingit tribe. After waiting for a return on his abundant gifts for seven years, Chief Ebbit dubbed Seward ungrateful and commissioned a shame pole in his honor. This is why the little Seward replica has red paint on his face... to represent a shamed man.

Apparently, several of Seward's descendents have returned to the village, requesting the totem pole representing their relative's blunder be taken down. The villagers refused, stating the debt had still not been repaid.