Blue and white souvenir tumbler, ca. 1909

This tumbler is a Seattle souvenir, likely from the time of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE) of 1909. The AYPE publicized the development of the Pacific Northwest and positioned Seattle as a gateway to Alaska and the Pacific Rim. This tumbler includes three important sites and views from around Seattle: Mount Rainier, Snoqualmie Falls, and the Totem pole at Pioneer Square. The Pioneer Square totem pole was a tourist attraction for decades but has a fraught history. The Tlingit totem was carved around 1870 to honor a high-ranking tribal woman named Aanséet. The pole was named Naas-shagee-yéil and it was placed in Aanséet's village on Tongass Island on the Alaska coast. In 1899, a group of leading Seattle businessmen on a goodwill tour of southeastern Alaska stole the totem and brought it back to Pioneer Square. The businessmen were indicted for the theft, but the case was later dismissed. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which sponsored the tour, eventually paid a $500 fine to the Tlingit Tribe. After rot and fire damaged the original pole in 1938, Tlingit craftsmen, including several descendants of the carvers of the original pole, carved a replica and donated it to Seattle to replace the original, which was returned to Tlingit lands and laid to rest.
ID Number: 1962.2652.4
Date: Circa 1909
Physical Description: 1 Tumbler; china; 4 in.H x 3 in.Diam
Credit: MOHAI, 1962.2652.4