The $23,000 Totem Pole (on Your Dime)

NOT the Census Totem. Feel better?

NOT the Census Totem. Feel better?

Earlier today, I wrote that the Census Bureau commissioned a totem pole to be constructed in Alaska and then hauled to DC. Steve Jost of the Census Bureau responded to my claims as follows:

The image you posted is not that of the 2010 Census Totem. You can see the totem in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny0-29Ig-FY

Since you have prejudged the value of this important promotional effort before knowing anything about the cost, I’m doubtful the following will be of much solace to you.

In early 2010 while plans were being made for the first enumeration in Noorvik, Alaska, one of the oldest native organizations in the state made a significant gesture. The Alaska Native Brotherhood passed a resolution supporting the Census and forming the creation of a totem pole to mark this significant event. Our Seattle Region put together a plan to commission the art, and have it travel Alaska and Washington State tribal events for several months to promote participation in the 2010 Census. The totem pole is a storytelling icon steeped in the culture and traditions of the Alaska Native and Northwest Pacific Coastal peoples. It is an immediately recognizable symbol to the native people throughout America’s largest state.

The art was commissioned at a cost of $20,000. The cost to have it travel across the country for permanent display at Census is $3,111. We believe strongly that this has been a very effective promotional investment that symbolizes the Census Bureau’s constitutional mandate to ensure a complete count of all tribal lands, especially the 564 Federally recognized tribes.

The response to the Census Totem encouraged us to find a permanent home for it here at our headquarters along with other historical Census artifacts.

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