Kalama totem pole rededication ceremony is Sunday

LONGVIEW — A 140-foot restored totem pole at the Port of Kalama is set to be rededicated Sunday inside the Mountain Timber Market, where the historic piece is now located.

Port officials and the Lelooska Foundation and Cultural Center are spearheading the rededication at 2 p.m. inside the 33,000-square-foot market that held its grand opening in November.

For nearly five decades the totem pole — created in the early 1960s by Chief Don Lelooska — towered over the port waterfront until weather forced officials to take it down in 2019 to restore, according to a port press release.

The totem pole was commissioned by a local businessman, according to the press release, and donated to the port in 2019. The piece is considered art and therefore doesn’t require a traditional raising ceremony like other totem poles.

Lelooska’s younger brother Chief Tsungani led the restoration.

“It is rare for an art piece such as this to be this accessible to countless community members through the years,” he said in the news release. “I am pleased that the Port of Kalama has honored my brother and his work through their restoration efforts.”