Two new Watchmen kooteeya stand guard in Sitka, bringing Indigenous representation to the State of Alaska Department of Public Safety Training Academy.
In partnership with the state, Tlingit & Haida Public Safety Department commissioned the two totem poles, carved from a 23-foot red cedar tree generously donated by Sealaska.
Historically, Watchmen were caretakers of their community, keeping an eye out for friend or foe who sought to enter a village. The figures sit high on the totem poles to carry on those duties today.
The Watchman on top of the Raven pole wears a traditional woven cedar bark hat; on top of the Eagle pole, an Alaska State Trooper hat adorns the Watchman, a tribute to the law enforcement officers he’s guarding. Each pole incorporates a Healing Hand and two wolves grace the Eagle pole.
“These poles do not ask the trooper to become the old Watchman, or the old Watchman to become the trooper. They ask for both to kneel in readiness then rise. They ask both to feed the better wolf and remember our cherished resources: salmon, old growth forest, clean water and air,” said lead carver Ghunaaxhdují Willoughby Peterson (L’uknax.ádi).
Ghunaaxhdují worked alongside his father, master carver Reggie Peterson (Wooshkeetaan), who designed the 10.5-foot poles.
Tlingit & Haida’s Public Safety Department oversees the Village Public Safety Officer Program in Southeast with 13 officers; there are nearly 100 VPSOs statewide.
At the unveiling in Sitka, VPSO Program Director James Hoelscher addressed the historical conflicts Alaska Native people have had with law enforcement.
“The poles the artists have created are going to be a good tie to the past and the future, understanding we have made many mistakes in the past. I’m Yupik and I was raised by a mother who went to a boarding school. I know about all of the wrongs that have been done,” Hoelscher said.
Tlingit & Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson said tribal citizens have talked about the disparity in response in rural Alaska.
“The first people we call are law enforcement, State Troopers, VPSOs, municipal police but it’s hard to do when you don’t know if they’ll show up in a good way for you,” he said. “These totem poles tell a story now. They’re going to say that this is a place where we’re safe, where public safety is born for all of our villages.”
Three new VPSOs graduated an hour before the unveiling ceremony. Carver Ghunaaxhdují reminded them of the duty they hold to protect our communities.
“To new officers, you are being asked to stand in guard in a land with a long memory. Do it with courage, do it with humility and understanding the people you serve were keeping watch here long before any academy existed,” he said. “We are still here. We are strong and resilient. We will always be here.”
The poles stand as a reminder that representation matters in all aspects of life and the importance placed upon those who protect and serve to understand the people under their watch.