September 24th started with the moving of David's Grandmother's headstone at 9:00 am.
At 11 am we watched the raising of the memorial totem pole! We did not take pictures of the actual raising because we were on one of the ropes helping to pull it up!
David gave a great speech. His father, also named David, was 30 when he made his first totem pole to honor his Grandmother. Ironically, David Jr. is also 30 and raising his own totem pole for his Grandmother as well.
David dancing the Carver's Dance to bring the totem pole to life.
Everyone then walked up to the town hall to begin the Potlatch. The program was wonderful! There were dance groups from Metlakatla, Anchorage, and then there was the David Boxley group from Washington.
They fed us lunch and dinner. The Boxley's also gave everyone a gift! It was their way of paying us for witnessing the memorial Potlatch.
David's father passed down a traditional Potlatch hat to David. The rings on top represent how many Potlatches his family has hosted.
David as the big mosquito monster from one of their cultural stories. He scared the poop out of some of the kiddos!
Some wonderful video links!
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