TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma city crews tore down a century-old “totem pole” in a local park this morning, calling it a fraud.
The Tacoma City Council voted unanimously last week that the 80-foot red cedar statute had no place being there after it was discovered the pole had no familial lineage.
Officials said two businessmen commissioned the pole in 1903 to compete with totem poles in Seattle.
“There’s concerns that it wasn’t even carved by native artists in the first place, said Amy McBridge, the administrator for the Tacoma Arts Commission.
KIRO 7 was told that Puyallup tribal members had raised questions about the totem pole.
The Puyallup, Tlingit and Haida tribal communities began investigating the pole’s origins and discovered no clan lineage.
The Tacoma Arts Commission said that after the pole is removed, pieces of the removed pole will be preserved as an educational lesson.
They hope that with proper funding, they can fill the space with an authentic work commissioned by the Puyallup or Coast Salish tribes.