Aatlein Gunalchéesh!
Dear Editor: On behalf of Katlian Collective Incorporated, and Point House Revitalization, thank you to all of those who supported Hít Wóoshdei Yadukícht “Dancing our House Together” in Sitka and Juneau.
This was a huge undertaking centered in cultural restoration and highlighting the need to fully restore our way of life. We applied 21st century tactics to invite in the broader community to bring awareness to a solution for the Sitka Indian Village and its clan houses. The result was two beautiful evenings filled with music and positivity. It wouldn’t have been possible without a community of people coming to our aid.
These events started with a request to Portugal. The Man, and the Pass the Mic Foundation to answer the call with the idea of “more than a land acknowledgment.” The idea is to align with those who recognize our vision and can support a place-based Landback model that is already in motion. An innate part this Landback model, is our Lingít values, including reciprocity and witnessing. So we start by thanking them both, the band, and their foundation for answering the call.
Thank you to Ya Tseen and Nicholas Galanin for bringing their identity and vision to this program. Samantha Crain, you are a poet. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Lee Burkhart designed our logo and helped us wrap our identity into this. Our ancestors saw us this weekend making history together. Dr. Xh’unei Lance Twitchell, you are the mortar to our bricks, but instead of building walls, you are building roads. Gunalchéesh! To our clan leaders Ray Wilson Aanyaanáx – Gagaan Hít Kiks.ádi, Herman Davis Sr. L’éiwtu Éesh – Kayaashka Hít – L’uknaxh.adí, it was an honor to have you stand with us.
Thank you to our fiscal sponsors Shee Atika Inc., Sealaska, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and Central Council of Tlingit & Haida. Thanks to business sponsors Alaska Airlines, Alaska Seaplanes, Amara Enciso/Brava Bespoke, Christine Southall, Dechand Dave’s, F/V El Tiburon, F/V Kathleen, Harbor Mountain Brewing Co., Harborview Hideaway, Harry’s Custom Services, Huna Totem, In Bocca al Lupo/Beau Schooler, Katlian Street Suites, Ludvig’s Bistro/Edith Johnson, Mean Queen, NATIFS/Rob Kineen, Native Movement, Northwind Architects, Port Chilkoot Distillery, Sitka Flowers and Chocolate Moose, Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal, Tradish Fish, and Xút’aa Hídi.
We are grateful for all of our volunteers, who are too many to be named, who helped make the events happen including Lakota Taśina Ska Win Harden, Outer Coast students and faculty, the Eagle/Raven Dance Group, Sheet’ka Kwaan Dancers, Sitka Coast Guard, and the Sitka Chamber of Commerce. We appreciate your support! Our host venues Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall and Harrigan Centennial Hall were transformed into concert halls thanks to their staff and sound technicians Bryan Lovett, Betsy Sims, Jeanne Stolberg, John Hirschenrider, Josh Fortenberry, Gonzalo Apango, Elias Erikson, and numerous sound techs/volunteers.
To the numerous artists who donated their artwork and time towards a greater cause, your community is always the most generous. Artists are the first to be asked, and always the most generous to give. We hold our artists in high-esteem. Your work carries on a greater message of resilience that we hope to one day teach in our clan house.
Thank you to my clan and our opposites for recognizing the journey we have ahead of us towards restoring our clan houses and our way of life. The Kiks.ádí and our nonprofit intend to stand with you when the time comes to rebuild or restore your homes. We will support you in telling your stories too. You are important to us, and we hope to create balance in our houses.
To our tribal government and corporations: we have the resources and ability to rehabilitate all of our clan houses in all of our villages. The community is calling for this. We owe it to our youths. It’s time to leave things better than they were given to us, for our grandchildren’s wisdom and health.
To my friends who constantly hold me up, especially Heather Powell Mills, Mike Miller, Rachel Roy, Chas Didrickson, Tonia Puletau-Lang, Anavera Carrillo, Rebecca Poulson, James Poulson, and board members Steve Johnson, Neilgaa Koogéi Revels, and Will Peterson, thank you for all your hard work. Also, my nuclear family, Cayrn Coleman, Kendra and Robert Pountney, and my chosen family, Josh and Cassandra Branthoover, Cass and Stewart Pook, Cayla and Lance McCutcheon, Seth and Cedar Pook, Chloe Turner and Corrine Parker, I love you all. As we move forward in this work, we bring forward the next generation of leadership to continue this important work.
Finally, to my ancestors:
Ellen Hope-Hays, Roger Lang, Andrew and Tillie Hope, Margaret McVey, Ed and Percy Kunz, Herbie and Polly Didrickson, Irene Cadiente, Bertha Karras, Chuck Miller, and many others, I hope you are proud of me. I do this work with you in mind.
It is also rare disease awareness month. Our Brother, John Gourley/Dawootl’ of PTM, has a daughter experiencing DHDDS. Our community raised nearly $10,000 to support their family and families like theirs, but they need more help. Please visit their website at franceschangedmylife.com to find more ways to help.
Gunalchéesh,
Jerrick Hope-Lang, Lduteen
Adult Spelling Bee
Dear Editor: Sitka is getting closer to the Feb. 27 Adult Spelling Bee.
A thank you is in order for the generous sponsors of the teams of two and solo spellers.
A big thank you to: The Beak, Nature Books, WildFlour Cafe and Bakery, Arrowhead Transfer, Northern Credit Services, White’s/Harry Race Pharmacy, Old Harbor Books, Christine Harrington CPA, Hanging Gardens and Boutique, NOT D.J.A, Fate Accompli Gallery and Gifts, and Team Zero.
Registration forms are at the Sitka Public Library, at the event (come a bit early to register) 6:15 p.m. at the Harrigan Centennial Hall, or email jbudd 3500@gmail.com. Thank you to Margot O’Connell and the hard-working staff at the Sitka Public Library for all their good and critical work.
Jeff Budd, Sitka
Cruise Limits Initiative
Dear Editor: Small Town SOUL was formed by a diverse group of citizens concerned that Sitka has ‘‘lost our balance’’ in regards to cruise tourism. We hope to restore that balance through our Cruise Limits Initiative. We support cruise tourism at a level that is not so disruptive to residents’ daily lives.
Allowing 4,500 passengers a day keeps Lincoln Street open for locals! Our limit of 300,000 cruise visitors stemmed from the Town Halls, and is still a LOT of people. We wish to maintain our strong cultural and historical identity as a unique place to visit, plus regain our small town character in the summer. We can do this and maintain our economic integrity. Neither of the limits applies to ships with less than a 250 passenger maximum capacity.
Congestion and pollution created by excessive cruise visitors costs our community in various ways: shortages of food and medicine impaired access to urgent and ER care, and frustration navigating through town.
Our current Sitka Visitor Industry Plan (VIP) 2.0 says: “‘Managed growth’ means Sitka should ensure that any future growth maintains the quality of residents’ and visitors’ experience of Sitka, for example, without increasing downtown congestion.” The plan is not being followed.
The cruise industry’s “economy of numbers” overwhelms a community like Sitka. Cruise companies build bigger ships to accommodate more people, sell berths for low prices, so more folks can make the trip. These visitors may not have much to spend in any port.
It is not good to close downtown to locals, place toilets in our streets and slow access to our hospital, airport, Coast Guard and housing, by virtue of excessive traffic and jaywalkers.
Sitka will do well with its diverse economy including a still robust cruise industry, independent visitors, hosting conferences, fishing industries, year-round businesses, medical and construction jobs plus state and federal employment. Sitka needs to remain a close-knit, welcoming community, not be just a mass tourist destination.
Some wish to add infrastructure, but that may have an unexpected downside. Sitka’s rural subsistence designation has to do with a combination of our use of subsistence foods, population and infrastructure. Additional infrastructure increases the risk of losing our Rural Subsistence Designation. This would hurt many families who count on subsistence to keep our larders full of fresh, healthy local foods.
The initiative’s limits are consistent with long-range plan VIP 2.0, Sitka’s big compromise, nearly two years in the making, which the business community favored. The current cruise boom overwhelms our small town. Please support our initiative to Save Our Unique Lifestyle!
Klaudia Leccese, President
Small Town SOUL
