The erectionof thefirst totempole in at least 50 years at the Haida village of Masset in 1969.Carved by RobertDavidson, it symbolizes revivingnative interestin Haida cultural heritage. The Early Prehistory polished wooden paddles gleam against the steel gray sea as the high prowed dugout Thirty surges smoothly from swell to swell. In the bow, a fur-robed nobleman chants a song of welcome as eagle down wafts from his elaborately carved and inlaid headdress onto the restless waves. Watching from the quarterdeck of the small 38 of the corvette "Santiago," Captain Juan Perez, Spanish sailors and priests all note the adroit handling of the huge canoe effortlessly circling their ship. Soon, overcoming their initial cautiousness, Spaniards and Indians exchange food and articles of clothing and one of the first known contacts between Europeans and Indians of the Northwest Coast had taken place.