A totem pole that was crafted over 100 years ago was recently deemed a fraud by officials in Tacoma, Washington.
City crews removed the 80-foot red cedar structure from a local park Tuesday morning (August 3), according to KIRO 7. The city council voted unanimously last week to remove the totem pole after they learned it had no familial linage.
“There’s concerns that it wasn’t even carved by native artists in the first place," Amy McBridge, the administrator for the Tacoma Arts Commission, told reporters. Puyallup tribal members also questioned the totem pole's authenticity.
Reporters learned the two businessmen commissioned the pole in 1903 to compete with totem poles in Seattle.
"The Puyallup, Tlingit and Haida tribal communities began investigating the pole’s origins and discovered no clan lineage," KIRO 7 wrote. "The Tacoma Arts Commission said that after the pole is removed, pieces of the removed pole will be preserved as an educational lesson."
City leaders are hoping to replace the totem pole with an authentic work commissioned by the Puyallup or Coast Salish tribes.