For lack of personal experience, along with profound hate and stupidity few can imagine today what great significance was bestowed on relics and objects, that are now vital voices and connections with the past. In the case of the “Fireman’s Park Totem’, this important past has been needlessly severed.

Often the most crudely carved masks are the most beautiful when danced in the firelight.  Our totem was a relic of another time. Danced in firelight she would be enchanting.

However, let’s be clear this tourist piece was never intended to be fronted along with a forest of similar poles gracing some sweeping proud northwest coast village. Nor was it carved with all of the care, ritual and excellence possible, this cross- cultural totem was sold as tourist artwork. It was never intended to stand in front of some great painted long house protecting some family while facing the sea. It wasn’t created for deep familial ties, like other poles, it was created and sold as tourist art. Its only requirement was to be the tallest totem in the world. This was not a faux totem; this was a real tourist totem. There are hundreds of real tourist totems everywhere should they all be chopped down and cut up?  This tourist work didn’t threaten anyone and had no tribal affiliation the same can mostly be said for hundreds of other tourist poles. So why so much fear, by whom, that our Fireman’s Park pole was singled out to be destroyed?  I always believed that emulation was a high form of flattery. All art works are not the same, does that mean we should vivisect the ones that don’t match our biases.

Who gets to decide beauty? Who is the keeper of this the truth?

Who is to say that this same chain saw group won’t shout that many other works of art in our community, perhaps a whole forest of tourist totems, everywhere, must come down with this same faulty lack of logic?

Who gets to say, “these precious objects have no defense let’s kill them” Why, what is the threat from a piece of tourist art? Did someone think that this was supposed to be a “real” totem? Individuals familiar with coastal art easily see that this is a tourist piece, non-threatening in fact endearing.

What is the reason for the savage vivisection of one of Tacoma’s ancient classic art works? left slashed in her own ancient cedar dust, totally destroyed in the most profound way, ancient really, drawn and quartered.

Is an artwork only identified by culture or is it really cross cultural as in the case of our now horribly altered art work? Cross-cultural abounds in our world, one can’t get away from it.

Art is subjective. Native work done to be sold almost always lacked the primary care and elegance of a family work made to be revered.

 This work was never intended to be “danced”, all it had to do was be tall, as it said on its bronze plaque. Is being tall a reason to remove it? Is Fireman’s park now so much improved by this removal of an innocent?

Her heart was the cedar heart of a young spirit her heart wood was sound and solid. They discovered this as they dug their chainsaws deep into her guts. Was she a totem? Certainly, in some cross-cultural way and yet she was so much more. Because of her great height she lifted the volume of the entire Fireman’s park square. When you next visit the park be aware of this. The park has been visually degraded by the removal of this uplifting art piece.

There was really no reason to remove this work, it was solid, extremely well braced, painted and protected. I know this as I and two others restored it. This was a public work of art, that belonged to the public.

For 118 years she stood strong and was protected by whom?

Then one day, like the explosive deaths of the 17th centuries Buddhas of Bamiyan, in Afghanistan, some misguided someone approached ripped and slashed at the old virgin artwork with chain saws, she must come down she is causing me pain, what about the pain of the cedar, the pain of the community that cared for her and loved her all these many years? This fine old piece of public art, as the Bob Dylan song goes, “didn’t deserve to die.”

There was only a “smattering” of press and city “officials” at her demolition and death, how horribly sad.

Creation always survives even in the face of blind destruction and the degradation of our most cherished historic public treasures.

Really, are we in this together? Look around you Is anyone really protecting Tacoma’s precious public objects or is it all, not so subtly, being purposely degraded and in the case of our Fireman’s Park Totem, totally destroyed?

August 5, 2021, Douglas Charles Granum

Original crew for restoration:

Jean Cohn

Loren White

Douglas Granum