Another example of the totem is the shame totem. This shame totem dipicts the figure ofWilliam Seward, the Secretary of State under Lincoln who had negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million. He had come here in the 1860’s and been given three separate “potlatchs” or huge native fetes. The local tradition calls for one who receives a potlatch to return the favor. Seward never did. The Tlingit natives think he broke their custom and erected a shame pole to dishonor him. They painted his nose and ears red to show shame.or bad manners. The story is later Seward's decendants ask what it would take to remove the red from the nose and was told about 3 million. They decided to live with it.
