The commander of the U.S. Navy said Saturday that the shelling of an Alaska Native community 142 years ago killed six children and caused widespread suffering for residents as they lacked food and shelter during the winter. I apologized.
Rear Adm. Mark B. Scatto, commander of the Navy’s Northwest Division, apologized at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the bombardment in Angoon, Alaska, about 160 miles south of the state capital Juneau.
Six children were killed in the Oct. 26, 1882 shelling of the area, according to the Sealaska Heritage Institute, a Juneau nonprofit that works to preserve the culture of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples of southeast Alaska. died and residents were left stranded.
“Children died, homes burned and winter food stores were destroyed,” according to Alaska.org, a travel website about the state. Blankets and ceremonial items were also taken. That’s what it means.
It is not clear exactly what led to the attack, but it is generally agreed that it started with the accidental death of a Tlingit shaman, who was his employer. A man was killed when a harpoon gun exploded on board a whaler owned by the North West Trading Company. According to the Associated Press, the company.
The Navy said the tribe members forced the boat ashore, possibly taking hostages, and demanded 200 blankets as compensation, as is customary, the Associated Press reported.
The Navy sent an expedition to provide assistance and "shelled and burned the village of Angoon” after the hostages were freed, according to the Naval Heritage Command website.
Among other acts of destruction, the navy collected all the canoes in the village, chopped them up and burned them. One canoe that was believed to have been out at sea at the time survived. The canoe was used to collect wood for building houses and new boats.
In a letter to the Kutznu Heritage Foundation in 1982, the Navy acknowledged involvement in the attack, saying: “The destruction of Angoon should never have happened and was an unfortunate event in our history.” .
“The Navy recognizes the pain and suffering inflicted on the Tlingit people and recognizes that these injustices have resulted in loss of life, loss of resources, loss of culture, and the creation of… We acknowledge that this has resulted in the loss of culture.” It caused intergenerational trauma to these families. ”
He added: “The Navy takes the significance of this action very seriously and recognizes that an apology is long overdue.”
Local leaders also attended the ceremony and offered and accepted their apologies.
Rosita World, director of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, thanked the people of Angoon for “keeping our culture so alive and strong.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said at the ceremony: Your journey will now be 142 years old. ”
She added that she and other leaders gathered on Saturday “for ceremony and recognition and reconciliation.”
In 1973, a Tlingit lawyer filed a claim for damages arising from the attack, and Angoon received a $90,000 settlement with the U.S. government. This amount was the estimated value of the tribal property destroyed in the shelling.
Still, leaders have long demanded an apology from the Navy.
Dan Johnson Jr., a representative of the Dice Turn family who spoke at the ceremony, said, “We have reached a stage that many of our grandparents only dreamed of,” and that the Navy’s apology is a response that their grandparents “longed for.” “It was a thing,” he added. to listen. ”
