This is not to tell anyone's oral history.

This is Gordon. His business card identifies him thus: "Educator – Artist/Carver – Woodworker". Gordon is half native, of the Eagle Clan Chookaaneidi .

Mary Beth arranged for us to meet Gordon at his house. Because we were leaving Hoonah the next morning, he he generously agreed to show us his current project, even though it was a Sunday and his workshop was closed.

This is the outside of the workshop. Inside, Gordon and his assistants are pursuing an ambitious project.

The National Park Service and the Hoonah Indian Association have launched a co-operative effort to build a 2,500 square foot Huna Tribal House on the shores of Bartlett Cove, within Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, the spiritual homeland of the Tlingit. The Tlingit have not had a permanent house within the park's boundaries since the glaciers drove them out over 250 years ago.

The Tribal House Carving Project is key part of this effort. Gordon and his team are carving screens and posts that will be incorporated into the Huna Tribal House. One screen is already completed; here is a video of its unveiling. That Sunday, Gordon showed us another screen still in progress.

In order to create the most meaningful designs, Gordon met with each of the four Tlingit clans for whom Glacier Bay its the traditional homeland. Each clan was willing to tell its stories to Gordon, but none of the clans permitted him to take written notes. You have to know the stories before you can carve them.

Once the clans were satisfied that Gordon knew their stories, they declined all opportunities to review his designs or observe his work in progress. You know the stories now.

The photos and stories below are published here with Gordon's permission.

This is not to tell anyone's oral history.

Above is a detail from the screen's central door. It illustrates a story that is important to all the Tlingit clans.

According to the stories, the ice age that overran Glacier Bay and drove out the Tlingit was caused by a young Tlingit girl who, out of boredom or loneliness, threw a fish to a glacier to call it to her. And the glacier came.

As the Tlingit prepared to flee from Glacier Bay, they decided that the girl should be left behind to be crushed beneath the advancing ice. However, the girl's grandmother volunteered to take her place, saying, "I am old and I can't have children and I don't wish to leave." The tribe agreed to this, and brought the girl with them while the grandmother remained. The Tlingit bear no ill will toward the girl, because the price of her action has been paid.

The grandmother's sacrifice is depicted elsewhere in Gordon's work. The door shown above depicts the girl. Abalone shells are used for her eyes, which reflect the approaching glacier.

This is a section of the screen above the door. The figures in the canoe represent all those who have come to this part of Alaska after the Tlingit. Their upraised paddles signal that they come in peace, and symbolize the newcomers' desire to live in harmonious coexistence with the Tlingit. The figures above them represent the spirits of the glaciers. Like the glaciers themselves, each figure is unique.

Here, an eagle clutches a copper shield in its claw, resisting a pair of hands trying to wrest the shield away.

The eagle represents the Tlingit. Traditionally, the eagle clutches a salmon. However, each of the four clans has its own unique representation of the salmon, so it would be difficult to present a single image of a salmon that did not seem to honour one clan more than others. Instead, Gordon chose to carve a copper shield – a symbol of wealth common to all the clans. The hands grasping at the shield symbolize the forces that threaten the Tlingit culture ("The internet, the economy, whatever," said Gordon).

Thus, this section of the screen symbolizes the preservation of the Tlingit culture in the face of opposing forces.

All of this work is done by hand. Of one small section, Gordon remarked, "That was eleven hours of adze-work." Here is a video of the team at work.

You can visit the the National Parks Service web to learn more about the Tribal House Project. You can also follow the project's progress on Facebook.