A new totem pole honoring those who served in the military and active-duty members stands at the Southeast Alaska Native Veterans Memorial Park near downtown Juneau. 

The memorial pole honors the strength, service and dedication of Alaska Native veterans, according to the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. 

Hundreds of people gathered near the renovated park to honor those who served in the military and watched the newly replicated Veterans Totem Pole unveiled for the first time on June 3.

“Since we put this memorial in every single day, every single day, I watch people come take pictures, they sit — I have to think they’re probably reflecting on either a lost loved one who served or somebody who is serving now,” Tlingit and Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson told the crowd.

The long-term plan for the memorial park is to add another totem pole and install name placards on the park's walls.

The original memorial pole came from Sitka 15 years ago, carved by George Bennett and his son as a gift for World War II and Korea veterans. Peterson asked veteran and master carver Jon Rowan to replace the totem pole after the wood deteriorated due to harsh weather. The new pole is enlarged from six feet to 12 feet tall. 

“It’s a powerful moment, especially being a veteran myself, to hear my brothers get up and speak real life into it,” Rowan said in an interview.

He spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, from 1982 to 1986, mostly in Okinawa, Japan.

“My father was an Army veteran, so was my uncle. A lot of my cousins were in the Army, and it was just a natural thing for me to join, and I know for a fact it's changed my way of thinking,” he said. “I grew up with a lot of different guys, and sad to say, some of them are gone now, but this way of thinking, the Marine Corps way of thinking, has served me so well in my life and made me successful.”

He said the Marine Corps taught him there’s no challenge he can’t meet. 

The carving for the replicated totem pole, or kootéeyaa, began last August. The red cedar pole is a traditional formline. Rowan said he tried to stay as close to the original design as possible. An eagle and raven represent both nations, and stand on a bentwood box with a spirit face inside. 

“The story’s told when they get up and speak about it,” he said. “When you just look at it, it's just an eagle and a raven standing on the box. But when these gentlemen got up and spoke, they’re the ones who put the life into it and why it’s called what it is.”

After a dance from the Kaagwaantan group and remarks from carvers and Sheakley about the memorial kootéeyaa, it was unveiled in celebration with a traditional carver’s dance by the Yaaw Tei Yi Dance Group. 

“It’s hard on the mothers, the fathers, the children that are left behind,” veteran Tiny Barril said before helping unwrap the totem pole for the first time. “Some came home and some came home the hard way. Those of us who survived the war still carry the wounds: Agent Orange, thyroid diseases, heart diseases, mental diseases. We’ll carry these wounds ‘til the day they put us in the ground.”

During the carver’s dance, U.S. Army veteran William Kanosh, 89, looked up at bald eagles circling overhead. Ravens were also drawn toward the memorial park as songs began. He clutched a cedar cross around his neck.

“Just before the song ended this present day, there’s an eagle up there flying around twice, thanking us. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your freedom,” he said. “The animals understand us.”