Chief Johnson totem pole
totem pole in Ketchikan, Alaska
The Chief Johnson totem pole (also known as the Kadjuk Pole) is a totem pole of the Tongass tribe of the Tlingit people located in Ketchikan, Alaska. The pole was first commissioned by Chief George Johnson and carved in 1902 before deteriorating and being taken down in 1982. The pole was recreated in 1989 and carved by Israel Shotridge (Kinstaádaál) and has since seen regular restorations. The Chief Johnson totem pole is described as being the most photographed totem pole in Alaska.
History
The pole was initially created in 1902 under commission from Chief George Johnson, who was the head of the Drifting Ashore House (Yan Wulihashi Hít) of the Tongass tribe. It was carved to honor the death of Johnson's mother. The original pole was made of yellow cedar and penetrated 18 feet (5.5 m) into the ground, which contributed to it being damaged by water. The pole was taken down in 1982 due to its deteriorated state. The original pole remains in storage at the Totem Heritage Center.
The pole was recreated in 1989 to signify the original settlement of the Tongass tribe.
“Chief Johnson totem pole” enters the record as totem pole in Ketchikan, Alaska. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Chief, Johnson and totem can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q138666587. Authority coordinates are 55.342, -131.643. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1902, 1982 and 1989.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chief Johnson totem pole” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.