Weather beatdown leaves towering Maine landmark surrounded by crime scene tape
Police tape surrounds the Skowhegan Indian statue in Skowhegan, Maine on Tuesday March 5, 2024. The 62-foot-tall sculpture is currently missing an arm and part of its face, and it's believed to be due to the effects of the weather and a windstorm that left part of its face, an arm and a spear missing. Credit: AP/Rich Abrahamson
SKOWHEGAN, Maine — Crime scene tape surrounds the Skowhegan Indian, a local landmark in Maine, after an assault by Mother Nature.
The towering wooden sculpture is missing part of its face and arm, as well as a spear. The damage is believed to have been caused by wild weather and a windstorm.
The 62-foot (19-meter) sculpture depicts a Wabanaki fisherman and was completed in 1969 by artist Bernard Langlais, a student and teacher at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the Chamber of Commerce said. Before it was damaged, the fisherman was holding a spear in one hand and a fishing weir, or trap, in the other.
The face was damaged months ago and a Feb. 28-29 windstorm knocked off part of the sculpture’s arm and the spear it held.
The sculpture was last restored a decade ago. The chamber is now trying to figure out how to fund another restoration, Luke York, who chairs the board of directors of the Skowhegan Regional Chamber of Commerce, told the Morning Sentinel newspaper.
The sculpture remains an icon in the community, which renamed the mascot of the high school, formerly known as the Indians. The high school’s sports teams are now called the River Hawks.
