2 Best Sights in Juneau, the Inside Passage, and Southeast Alaska, Alaska

Totem Bight State Historical Park

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About a quarter of the Ketchikan bus tours include this park that contains many totem poles and has a hand-hewn Native clan house. Totem Bight sits on a scenic spit of land facing the waters of Tongass Narrows. Master Native carvers crafted the first replica poles here as part of a U.S. Forest Service program that began in the late 1930s. The tools the carvers used were handmade in the Native style, and modern paints were employed to re-create colors originally made using natural substances from clamshells to lichen. The clan house, open daily in summer, was built to resemble a type that might have held several related families. Note the raven painting on the front: each eye contains a small face. Try to save time for a stop at nearby Potlatch Totem Park as well.

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Sitka Historical Society and Museum

A Tlingit war canoe sits beside this brick building officially named Harrigan Centennial Hall. Check out the museum's collection of Tlingit, Victorian-era, and Alaska-purchase historical artifacts, including spruce-root basketry, nautical instruments, and mining tools.