Associated Press
SITKA— Alaska historically has placed last among the states in the percentage of mail-back questionnaires returned to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“We’re hoping to increase that,” said Eric Morrison, partnership specialist for the U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Census Bureau.
To that end, the Census Bureau commissioned a totem pole to raise awareness, encourage participation in the census, and recognize the government-to-government partnership between Alaska tribes and the Census Bureau.
Sitka carver Tommy Joseph completed the pole in 15 days, and it had its first public viewing atop a truck in Tuesday’s Elizabeth Peratrovich Day parade down Lincoln Street.
The pole was blessed by St. Michael’s Cathedral priest Father Elia Larson in a ceremony at the ANB Hall attended by tribal and city leaders and Jan McStay, assistant regional census manager, who is based in Seattle.
“The 8-foot totem brings us an accurate and inspiring vision of the census,” McStay said at the ceremony. “It tells the story of separate peoples as one. The Eagle and the Raven — the two Tingit moieties — make up the whole of society. This beautiful cedar totem pole also symbolizes the unity of the Eagle and the Raven with man. The hands of man are the many colored hands of the census.”
“I like it,” Morrison said. “It’s simple, but elegant, too.”
Morrison, a Sitka native who now lives in Juneau, said Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood Grand Camps pitched the idea of a pole to the Census Bureau and passed a resolution in support. The pole was intended to “represent the unique relationship between the Bureau of Census and the tribes,” Morrison said.
The Census Bureau paid $15,000 for the project, which was awarded through a bid process, Morrison said.
The pole has now left Sitka for a statewide tour, starting in Anchorage at the annual Fur Rondy.
In the 2000 census, Sitka had one of the highest participation rates in the state for turning in census forms by mail. While the rate for the whole state was 56 percent, Sitka’s rate was 70 percent — the highest rate among larger communities. The highest rate in the state was Saxman, at 79 percent, Morrison said.
“Sitka is very proud of their achievement in 2000,” he said. He attributed Sitka’s high return rate to the hard work by the “Complete Count Committee,” a group of community leaders who promote participation in the mail-in surveys.
The census questionnaire consists of 10 questions which should take only 10 minutes to fill out, Morrison said. Different communities plan events on the special date designated as Census Day, April 1.
Planning is already under way in Saxman, where the local committee is planning a big parade, potluck and door prizes, Morrison said. Census forms will be collected in a sealed ballot-box style container.
“We’ll try to get the pole in for that,” he said.
The importance of turning in census forms cannot be overstated, Morrison said. The state receives federal funding to the order of $2,700 per person for such federal programs as roads, transportation, health care, day care, libraries and senior centers, Morrison said.
“A family of four, for 10 years … that’s over $100,000 to the state,” he said.
He noted that the census also determines a community’s representation in the Legislature.
“In Southeast you may lose a senator, and one or two representatives,” he said.
The census forms will be mailed out to most addresses on March 19. Census workers will go door-to-door to collect information from those who did not turn in their forms. The census had its official start last month in Noorvik.



