Chief Little Owl watches over Bethany Beach

Thousands of people ride along Route 1 past the Whispering Giant at the entrance to Bethany Beach and have no idea of the backstory surrounding the 24-foot totem pole.

Known as Chief Little Owl, the one you see today is actually the third totem pole, which has become a Sussex County landmark. It was named in honor of Charles C. “Little Owl” Clark, who served as chief of the Nanticokes from 1933 until his death in 1971.

The first totem pole was given to the town in 1976 by famed wood-carver Peter Wolf Toth, who has donated similar totem poles to every state in the U.S. in honor of Native Americans for his Trail of the Whispering Giants project.

The Bethany Beach totem pole was his 10th creation. The original was weakened by termite damage and was toppled during a high wind storm in 1992. The second totem pole, carved by Dennis Beach, lasted until 2000, when rot forced the town to take it down.

Toth came to the rescue. He returned in 2002 with a red cedar log from the Northwest and carved the town’s third totem pole, which rises 24 feet over the resort town. Toth said red cedar would last at least 50 years.

During the July 15, 2022 dedication of the totem pole, Nanticoke member Charles “Little Owl” Clark IV, a descendant of the earlier Little Owl, blessed it with traditional song, prayer and tobacco smoke.

The totem pole features a carving of Chief Little Owl and an eagle. The Clark family has been synonymous with the Nanticoke Tribe since it was formed  as the Nanticoke Indian Association in 1921. The Nanticokes date back to the early 1700s in the Indian River area. Today, more than 700 Nanticokes live in Sussex County.

The carver’s story

Toth’s story is a fascinating one. Born in Hungary in 1948 behind the Iron Curtain, he lived in a dirt-floor peasant’s home with his parents and 10 siblings. In the mid-1950s, his family fled Hungary following a violent anti-Communist uprising against Russia. The family eventually ended up in Akron, Ohio, in 1958, when he was 11 years old.

Toth always had an interest in wood carving, and it didn’t take long before he embarked on his mission to carve a totem pole in all 50 states. The first wooden carving was installed in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, in the early 1970s.

He’s actually carved 74 poles, ranging in height from 20 to 50 feet, placing some in Canada and one in his native Hungary.

Toth said he was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” speech.

Although he has no Native American relatives, he has a deep passion for their plight throughout history. He took to the roads in a van he called Ghost Trip as he traveled the U.S., partnering with cities, parks departments, chambers of commerce and private individuals to erect the giant structures.

He has never taken any money for his totem poles and has supported himself selling smaller carvings. That’s substantial, because a typical artist would charge from $25,000 to $60,000 to carve a giant totem pole.

Toth, 76, has tried to interpret Native American culture in each state where he has carved one. That’s why the Bethany Beach pole is dedicated to the Nanticokes.

He completed his 58th carving and ended his quest to place one in all 50 states in May 1988 in Hawaii. After completing his final carving in 1988, he has dedicated his life to maintenance of the poles and replacement of ones that have been destroyed.

TOTEM POLE TRIVIA

There is another Whispering Giant totem pole, erected in 1976, at the Ocean City, Md. Inlet. Toth returned to the carving in 2022 to make repairs.

Totem pole comes from the Algonquian word odoodem, meaning “his kinship group” of family or clans of Native Americans.

In 1980, Toth published a book titled “Indian Giver: Gifts of Statues for all 50 States to Honor the Indian.”