Published: Friday, April 30, 2010
School gets its totem back
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Dan Bates / Herald filed photo
Youngsters get a helping hand from adults to both push and pull (with ropes) a heavy pole into its upright position in front of Marysville Junior High School in June 2006. The pole, sponsored by Tulalip Tribes and carved by Kelly Moses, was recently touched up with new paint and sealed with lacquer.
MARYSVILLE — A treasured part of Totem Middle School is back home.
An 18-foot-tall cedar totem was returned to the campus earlier this month.
“It was taken down for repairs,” said Larry Nyland, the school district’s superintendent. “For those on the totem watch, it’s back up.”
The totem was removed in November and returned April 16.
It needed some touch-up paint and then to be sealed against the elements.
“The lacquer seal should keep it in good repair for several years,” Nyland said.
The story pole was first placed on the campus in June of 2006 when it was raised by students and adults in a schoolwide ceremony. At the time, the school was known as Marysville Junior High School, which served eighth- and ninth-graders. It has since become Totem Middle School serving sixth through eighth graders
The event culminated months of study about Native American history that took 1,000 students to Seattle’s Burke Museum at the University of Washington.
A smaller group visited the Cowichan Tribe in Duncan, B.C., to learn more about the significance and role of totems. A few students were taken into the woods on a hill overlooking Port Susan for a ceremony honoring the 88-year-old cedar that was chosen for the pole.
The pole was created by Tulalip carver Kelly Moses, who attended the same campus in the 1970s.
It includes a bear, owl, raven and eagle.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
An 18-foot-tall cedar totem was returned to the campus earlier this month.
“It was taken down for repairs,” said Larry Nyland, the school district’s superintendent. “For those on the totem watch, it’s back up.”
The totem was removed in November and returned April 16.
It needed some touch-up paint and then to be sealed against the elements.
“The lacquer seal should keep it in good repair for several years,” Nyland said.
The story pole was first placed on the campus in June of 2006 when it was raised by students and adults in a schoolwide ceremony. At the time, the school was known as Marysville Junior High School, which served eighth- and ninth-graders. It has since become Totem Middle School serving sixth through eighth graders
The event culminated months of study about Native American history that took 1,000 students to Seattle’s Burke Museum at the University of Washington.
A smaller group visited the Cowichan Tribe in Duncan, B.C., to learn more about the significance and role of totems. A few students were taken into the woods on a hill overlooking Port Susan for a ceremony honoring the 88-year-old cedar that was chosen for the pole.
The pole was created by Tulalip carver Kelly Moses, who attended the same campus in the 1970s.
It includes a bear, owl, raven and eagle.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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