KALAMA — Nearly 50 years after it was raised at the Port of Kalama, the iconic 140-foot Lelooska totem pole was moved into its new home earlier this month.
Crews relocated the totem pole — believed to be the tallest carved from a single cedar tree — into the port’s Mountain Timber Market, currently under construction between Marine and Louis Rasmussen parks.
Several FORMA Construction and NessCampbell Crane and Rigging workers used cranes to lift the pole from its resting spot near the Westin Amphitheater onto the large trailer on May 12, said Dan Polacek, port spokesperson. It took about an hour and a half to slowly move the totem pole into the market building, he said.
Crews waited until the roof was on to protect the newly restored landmark and for the supports needed to suspend the totem pole from the ceiling, Polacek said. The totem pole will be displayed on a custom cross-laminated timber platform and will be most visible from the second floor, he said.
The market is on schedule for completion this fall, and the port will have a dedication for the totem when it opens, Polacek said.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “We’ve been talking about it for a couple years, and it’s great to see it coming to fruition.”
Before the move, the family of its carver, Chief Lelooska (Don Smith) restored the approximately 60-year-old totem pole.
Lelooska carved the poles displayed at the port’s Marine Park in the early 1960s. He died in 1996, and his younger brother, Chief Tsungani (Fearon Smith), and other family members involved with the Lelooska Foundation and Cultural Center contracted with the port to refurbish all the poles at the park.
The 140-foot pole was taken down in September 2018 as a safety precaution because engineers found it was dangerously decayed. The totem was restored at the port, while the others will be taken to the Lelooska Foundation in Ariel for work.
Last fall, crews covered the largest totem in a special heat shrink wrap to help dry it out. FORMA Construction workers injected an epoxy to fill in areas that rotted away.
After laying exposed for about three years, the pole was more rotted and needed more re-carving than anticipated, said Mariah Stoll-Smith Reese, foundation executive director and Tsungani’s daughter.
Stoll-Smith Reese, her husband, kids, father and a couple of family friends completed the surface work and carving in February followed by painting during most days in March and April, she said.
From bringing the pole down in 2018 to its latest move earlier this month, the Port of Kalama has been “very respectful and conscientious,” Stoll-Smith Reese said.
“Once they realized it was not structurally sound enough to put back up, they found a way to continue to share it with the community, and in a respectful way,” she said.
While the horizontal display in the market is unusual, as totem poles are traditionally raised vertically, Stoll-Smith Reese said she is happy the icon will be preserved for the community.
“A lot of generations in Kalama … have an attachment to that particular totem pole and its history,” she said. “A lot of how it was preserved over the years was community members painting and caring for it. The port invested in the community and making sure it can be enjoyed for generations to come.”
Restoration of the other three Marine Park totem poles, as well as the Lelooska Campfire totem pole previously displayed on Broadway in Longview, will continue over the next couple years, Stoll-Smith Reese said.
Along with the Port of Kalama’s totems, the family has restored Lelooska totem poles displayed at the Oregon Zoo and Umpqua Discover Center, Stoll-Smith Reese said.
“Educational programs at the cultural center are our primary focus,” she said. “Totem pole restoration is few and far between, but a skill set our family has as artists.”
