Alaska Native groups urge respect amid totem pole TikTok trend
Organizations responded to videos of travelers reenacting a scene from The Proposal at cultural sites in Southeast Alaska.
A TikTok trend features travelers dancing around totem poles in Southeast Alaska while mimicking a scene from The Proposal to the Lil Jon song Get Low. Some videos associated with the trend date to August 2025.
The Ketchikan Indian Community, Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Alaska Native Heritage Center and Sealaska Heritage Institute issued a joint statement urging visitors to respect totem poles and Alaska Native cultural sites.
Emily Edenshaw, identified as CEO of the Ketchikan Indian Community, said mocking the poles shows disregard for the communities, ancestors and living traditions they represent. Kelsey Ciugun Wallace, president and CEO of the Alaska Native Heritage Center, said visitors are welcome to experience Alaska Native cultures but have a responsibility to respect the people, places and traditions that make those experiences possible.
It is unclear how many participants in the trend arrived by cruise ship. According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, cruise passengers accounted for 66% of Alaska’s 2.7 million out-of-state visitors in summer 2025. The association said 75% of cruise passengers that year traveled on round-trip itineraries, while 25% used cross-gulf itineraries involving ports such as Whittier, Seward and Vancouver.