Category Archives: The River Woman Totem Project

Friends Of Heybrook Ridge is excited to announce the River Woman Totem Project, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which presented itself to us in early 2011.

The Tree

This tree was used as ballast under a logging road near Darrington Washington where it lay twenty feet underrground for over 100 years before being brought to the surface by a salvage company in 2009.  This log, the largest and finest of several salvaged, was instantly recognized for its inherent value to the art community.  Expert carvers from all over the Northwest were contacted to make this discovery known.

“River Woman” is the dominant theme of the pole.  From her comes the abundance of life that is found in temperate rainforests of the American Northwest.  Through the use of traditional Haida Carving techniques and images, this totem pole will be a contemporary sculpture symbolically depicting the people, past and present, who live, work, and play beside the Skykomish River.

The Carver

Ralph Bennett (Goo la’Slacoon) is a master carver in the Haida tribe of Alaskan Native Americans, as was his father and several generations in his family.  As a child, he helped his father make masks, paddles, bowls, totems and fishing gear out of red and yellow cedar.  Ralph learned techniques from his tribe and studied other carving styles as well.  The pieces he makes are used in ceremonial dance and storytelling.  Ralph Bennett has been honored internationally for his work, including the 1996 Medal of Honor in Nantes, France; the Redmond Volunteer Arts Award as Advocate of the Arts in Redmond, WA; and the 2000 Governor’s Heritage Award from the WA State Arts Commission.  Ralph has taught appretices for much of the past thirty years and is committed to sharing tribal knowledge with others.

Ralph went straight to this tree when he heard of its discovery, to touch it and walk its length.  he knew that this tree would make an unusually fine totem pole.  The log is now in Index, WA be.

The Project

The River Woman Totem Project is expected to take one and a half years to complete.  Your donations will help finance this sculpture which will be prominently displayed in Index, and will endure for generations to come.  Thank you for your support!  Donations may be made to FOHR River Woman Totem Project.