I recently shared details about the Thunderbird totem pole by master carver Don Wells Keys that’s found at Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo, Washington. This private event and wedding venue served as the filming location for The Great Northern Hotel interiors in the Twin Peaks pilot. A hand-carved bear by Keys makes a cameo twice in this episode, but it’s whereabouts were a mystery until December 2024.
WHO IS DONALD WELLS KEYS?
Thanks to a thorough article by Leslie Meyer for HistoryLink.org, I learned a lot about Donald Wells Keys, a prolific carver in the Pacific Northwest starting in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It’s a great read so I invite you to take a few moment to her article.
Keys was born on August 13, 1911, in Chatanika, a gold-mining community near Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1959, he got his first big break thanks to his wife Evelyn who “saw a blueprint for the new Northwest Hospital being built at Northgate near her doctor’s office and noticed that it included a totem pole as part of the design.” After showing examples of her husband’s work, he was hired to carve a 22-foot-tall pole. It was his interpretation of a Northwest Coast story about Thunderbird saving a village that was being threatened by a whale.
This opened the door to numerous other projects that dotted the Seattle landscape – a 22-foot-tall Hoonah Raven in front of Louie’s Restaurant, Tiki-style carvings on the beams of the Polynesia, a restaurant on Pier 51, and newel posts and hand-hewn benches for St. Bernard’s Chapel at Snoqualmie Pass.
Keys never claimed to be Native American or an Alaskan Native. He appreciated the culture and traditions of the Native communities and forged strong relationships with many elders. The Northwest Coast subject matter in his works was more imitative and less accurate than traditional styles. He applied his own interpretations to carvings that become icons of the Pacific Northwest.
WHERE IS KIANA LODGE LOCATED?
Located at 14976 Sandy Hook Rd NE in Poulsbo, the Kiana Lodge opened in 1937 for Seattleites looking for an escape from the city. In the 1960s, the Lodge was home to numerous convention groups and guests looking to get away to the “Evergreen Playground.” Ferry boats would regularly deliver visitors to a dock nearby. The beautiful Kiana Lodge was only 12 minutes from downtown Seattle by boat. Guests could enjoy the famous Kiana potlatch salmon barbecues with spectacular views of Agate Pass.
In January 1978, Poulsbo resident Bob Riebe purchased Kiana Lodge from Richard White who had turned the spot into a restaurant for convention groups. After Riebe’s purchase, the location remained a restaurant by reservation from June 10 to Labor Day, according to a Kitsap Sun article on August 11, 1978.
The Seattle Grey Line Tour company ran boat tours from Seattle so residents could enjoy a dinner of steamed clams, clam Nectar, salmon, baked potato, beverages and a dessert. Years later, the tour company would hold special Twin Peaks bus tours of filming locations.
Riebe would appear as the hotel manager in the pilot who tells Concierge hostess Julie Duvic and Audrey Horne about the Norwegian’s meeting in the dining room.
Native American artwork and carvings by the notable artist Duane Pasco are found throughout Kiana Lodge. I believe Keys was contracted to add the Thunderbird totem pole at some point in the 1960s as it appears in the undated postcard shown above. It also makes an appearance in a 1978 newspaper article from the Kitsap Sun. The much larger story pole carved by Craig Jacobrown was added in the late 1980s.
Today, the Suquamish Tribe owns this private wedding and meeting location. While they welcome visitors, they ask you give their paying clients their privacy and plan to visit when there are no events going on. Call ahead to check on their schedule – (360) 598-4311.
DON KEYS’ CARVED BEARS
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Keys created a number of works throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The HistoryLink.org article about Keys included this 1964 photograph of Makah elders Helen Peterson (left) and Mabel Robertson with Naanee (grizzly bear) with a bear carved by Don Keys in Neah Bay.
The carved bear found at Kiana Lodge was one of two bears Keys made. The sister bear seen holding a fish was created for Ivar’s Acres of Clams which can still be seen at Ivar’s Salmon House on Lake Union.
I spotted Keys’ Kiana Lodge bear during my first visit to the Poulsbo, Washington location on August 9, 1996. I was attending the 1996 Twin Peaks Fan Festival and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the bear in person.
By then, the bear had been relocated from the dining room to the fireplace where Ben Horne spits while discussing contracts with Leland Palmer.
The bear remained by the fireplace in the years that followed. Former organizer and fellow Twin Peaks super fan Jared Lyon took this photo of the bear on August 19, 2002. By the mid-2000s, the bear was gone. I’ve found no additional photos of the bear online but hopeful someone reading this article may have one from after 2002.
In 2017, the former Kiana Lodge Manager Luther “Jay” Mills from the Suquamish Tribe shared the carved bear was affectionally called a “honey bear” by Lodge staff. The bear, however, was no longer in residence, but the Thunderbird remained on the property (it would be eventually repainted and moved from a different spot seen in the series).
On December 20, 2024, Jim Munn posted the following item in the spam-filled Facebook group – TWIN PEAKS (1990-2017) THE OFFICIAL FACEBOOK FAN CLUB. He states he obtained the carved bear “from a friend of mine after he passed away. He owned the restaurant it was filmed in.” He posted this information in the Twin Peaks: Between Two Worlds Facebook group on December 27, 2024.
“I was given this by Bobby [Riebe] the owner of Kiana Lodge about 15 years ago,” said Munn in a follow-up to his Facebook post. “He was living in Quilcene, Washington. I think he kept it for a reason. I only knew him for a short time before he passed away.”
Riebe passed away on Friday, April 10, 2009 at the Messenger House Care Center on Bainbridge Island. He was 71.
The bear appears to have all of the same marks as the bear I found at Kiana Lodge in August 1996. I took the original 1996 image and placed it over the image above. The knot on the left breast, the marks above the left eye and other details appear to line up. The bear appears darker but that is probably due to the passage of time and lighting.
Here is a closer look at the bear carving from Munn, who said the “carving is 59-inches tall.”
CARVED BEAR APPEARANCES IN TWIN PEAKS
The bear is first seen as Great Northern Hotel Concierge hostess Julie Duvic (played by the late Diane Caldwell) enters the dining room. She was named for the late location manager who first traveled to Snoqualmie Valley on February 9, 1989 for a location scouting trip.
Sadly, Duvic passed away on December 12, 2010 in Los Angeles at age 55. She’s buried in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. Actress Diane Caldwell passed away on March 29, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey at age 70 (check out WelcomeToTwinPeaks.com for a nice tribute).
The best image of the bear is seen when Leland Palmer leaves the dining room with Julie to take a phone call from his wife Sarah Palmer.
Later, we see the bear near the dining room entrance just before Audrey Horne enters the room.
Despite being told not to interrupt the Norwegian’s business meeting, Audrey enters the room anyway. The bear is perched on a wooden box in this scene.
A wide angle view of the Norwegian’s business meeting shows the bear in the upper right corner of the room.
This would be the final appearance of the honey bear in the series.
