HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT. Do you recognize this work of art? Painted by artist Stuart Carson Edie as part of a New Deal program under the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, the above image, titled “The Life of the Senecas,” represents a smaller study of the finished product. This study is housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The finished work is located right here in Honeoye Falls. Do you know where? Here’s a hint: It’s on West Main Street, and you can see it Saturday morning if you arrive early enough for this year’s very special Festival of the Falls. Public domain photo from Wikimedia Commons.
The Village of Honeoye Falls sports a fascinating and respectful homage to the Seneca people who long ago roamed the native forests surrounding its namesake falls. If you’ve ever mailed a letter, you’ve probably passed by it. Have you noticed it? Do you even know why it’s historic?
No, it’s not the totem pole on the banks of Honeoye Creek just above the iconic waterfall (the Seneca did not erect totem poles). Indeed, many people know that and wonder about the origin and purpose of this seemingly out of place artifact. Could the long-time Village landmark signify the easternmost advance of some Pacific northwestern tribe (where totem poles were predominant)? Most certainly not.
In this first of a two-part series, and in light of the Village of Honeoye Falls’ decision to remove the relic, we unravel the totem pole’s whimsical origins, setting the stage for next week’s reveal of a true Seneca tribute.
The long-time civic group known as the Totiakton Garden Club (founded in 1959, preceded in 1943 by the Green Thumb Garden Club) erected the Honeoye Falls totem pole in 1961 as part of its project to beautify the then weed-infested creek bank above the falls. (Nearby is the stone block foundation of the New York Central Railroad’s branch line between Batavia and Canandaigua… a.k.a. “The Peanut.”)
According to its members, as reflected in the July 13, 1961, edition of The Honeoye Falls Times, they hoped their free-standing artistry would “add to their project to make Honeoye Falls an interesting and pleasant community in which to live.”
In fact, the Garden Club promised a festive event to inaugurate its new totem pole. The July 29, 1961 Honeoye Falls Times reported “the dedication promises to be, at the very least, one of the most colorful events in Honeoye Falls in a long time, and quite possibly uproarious. Good fun for everyone.”
The Honeoye Falls Times obviously captured the event’s festive spirit. And readers came back with letters-to-the-editor keeping up the frivolity.
Indeed, a good time was had by all, even the artist. In keeping with the tongue-in-cheek nature, David K. Maloney’s creation reflected the post-World War II fascination with Hollywood’s “cowboys and Indians” lore that emphasized the West. He admittedly made no claims as to its historical accuracy. In fact, he made it clear it had nothing to do with local history.
As did Totiakton Garden Club President Mrs. Pauline Cronk at the dedication ceremony in late July 1961. The event drew a large crowd of more than 100 people dressed as movie extras in some 1950s oater (as western movies were called back then) – it was that important an event! The August 3, 1961, issue of The Honeoye Falls Times, Pauline “laughingly informed the assemblage that even though ‘historically incorrect and geographically unsound, we got our Totem Pole anyway.’”
The totem pole was a testament to a respectful lack of seriousness that often binds a community. Everyone was in on the self-effacing humor. And in case anyone missed the point, the original totem pole had a plaque attached to it at eyeball height that read: “Erected by The Totiakton Garden Club – Carved and Painted by David K. Maloney – As a reminder of our Indian heritage, geographically out-of-place, historically unsound, but wonderfully colorful.”
Alas, history has not been too kind to the totem or the Totiakton Garden Club.
Sure, the club continued with its project around the pole. They placed concrete benches near it a year later. They held an annual beautification project at the site to clean up the area. An arborist once met them there to discuss how to maintain the bulbs the club planted.
The community lauded the work of these women. On page one of the July 11, 1963 issue of The Honeoye Falls Times came these words of praise: “The creek side along West Main Street directly beyond the mill property had been accepted as a barren, weed-infested lot for many years with little thought that motorists passing through our village might like a glimpse of Honeoye Creek. This expanse of bank is today an attractive and well-kept garden plot with a variety of flowers and shrubs, a colorful totem pole and two beautifully designed benches – all the work of the Totiakton Club members.”
The club lasted several decades before disbanding in 2002. The same can’t be said of the original totem pole. It survived barely four years. In 1965, it was replaced, having “fallen” one morning, its “sections strewn along the Honeoye Creek bank (per the April 29, 1965 page one story in The Honeoye Falls Times). Soon, a resurrected totem pole rose once again, this time sans the plaque.
Five years later, Dave Maloney was at it again, this time on a scaffolding, repainting the weathered totem.
Students from the Honeoye Falls Manor School volunteered to repaint the pole in 1985. The Village took down the pole and sent the pieces to Fran Gotcsik’s home in Lima. Sixth graders Linnea McArt and Leah Gotcsik, with assistance from Jo Beth Bellanca and their parents, worked on the project. After giving it a thorough sanding and priming, they painted it anew.
Once again, as in 1965, the Thunderbird topper, fully rotted, had to be replaced, as well as a decayed middle section. Ruth Hayes, who oversaw the project, which received national attention, would later say, “Whenever I look at the totem pole, I see the children and it’s very rewarding.”
By 2001, the totem pole was too far gone to refurbish. The Village hired David Ford to build a completely new pole. While evoking Maloney’s original design, it was noticeably different. Still, long-time Honeoye Falls Historian Anne Bullock said at the time, “Knowing David Maloney, I am sure he would approve of this duplication of his original work.”
The pole would undergo another restoration a dozen years later. As part of his Eagle Scout Project, Josh Cordon oversaw the pole’s removal and replication at the Honeoye Falls Village Department of Public Works shop. So, what does this make it? The third or fourth (or fifth?) iteration of Maloney’s original piece?
Prolific writer and keeper of his own versions of local history Paul S. Worboys, in his News and Notes column that appeared in the October 11, 2012 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, wrote,” This idea of a totem pole, therefore, was not embodied by the sweat and toil of one man, so much as the inspiration of a group of determined ladies. Its placement connoted the epicenter of the club with no clubhouse, the gang brimming with gusto, a Creekside place crying for pizzazz and, mind you, an expression of respect for Native American cultures everywhere.”
Oddly, decades after its installation and upon the HF-L Hall of Fame induction of Dorothy Snoddy Maloney (David’s wife), one published report said the totem “was in tribute to those who were living here before Zebulon Norton established a settlement at the falls.” No contemporary reporting at the time of installation confirms this interpretation, and all those involved at the time said the totem pole had no historical significance (except as a mascot of the then-vibrant Garden Club). Apparently, history was lost along with the original plaque.
While not intended to represent history in any way, the totem pole itself became a fixture in modern history. People who grew up with the pole have used it as a backdrop for their own personal histories. Couples have taken their pictures at the pole. Old classmates waxed nostalgic as they reunited beneath the poles, gazing into each other’s eyes.
Yet, sadly, it appears to also represent a testament to changing times. Its origins lie in a group of community-minded ladies wishing to rally others to volunteer in beautifying our community. Today, the Totiakton Garden Club itself has been consigned to history, the victim, like so many other civic organizations, to changing lifestyles where people seem to not have time to join. Where the totem pole once symbolized community involvement, it now shows signs of that decaying tradition.
Ironically, while the pole was never meant to represent Seneca history, it has come to represent our history.
What makes this statement more ironic (if not worse), is that two decades before the erection of the Totiakton Garden Club’s totem pole, Honeoye Falls unveiled a true testament to the Seneca people who, a century before the Revolutionary War, once lived in a village called Totiakton (in and above the great bend of Honeoye Creek along Plains Road outside the Village in the Township of Mendon).
And you can thank the Depression Era policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for this appropriate, tasteful, and historically accurate tribute.
This year’s Festival of the Falls offers a chance to rediscover the Seneca mural and the totem pole, reflecting on their roles in our community’s immediate past, distant past, and ideal future. As for the present, relive the festive energy of 1961 and join others in the community on Saturday to celebrate Honeoye Falls’ history, business, and community pride as we carry forward the Totiakton Garden Club’s spirit of civic pride.
Reflecting 1950s–1960s Hollywood’s Western imagery, the totem pole was a playful creation, unlike the Seneca mural’s authentic tribute as you’ll find out next week when we answer the questions from our opening paragraph by starting at the beginning of the story.
