Last weekend, the U.S. Navy visited Angoon to apologize for the 1882 bombardment of the Lingít village.
Hundreds of people with ties to the community attended the event. For some in the crowd, the apology held another dimension.
When the Navy made its long-awaited apology inside Angoon High School, clan leaders responded one by one. One of them drew attention to the veterans in the room.
“Today we have 45 living veterans in Angoon,” said Alan Zuboff, L’eeneidí Dog Salmon Clan Leader. He served in the Army during Vietnam.
Later, he said that this apology meant a lot to the community’s veterans.
“All our veterans have been waiting for this for a long time, even if we, you know, the military did this thing to us,” he said. “We still join because we still think we’re fighting for our land.”
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Indigenous Americans serve in the military at a higher rate than any other group.
Ike Wilson is a former Army colonel based in Florida. He researches the militaryʼs relationship with civilians.
Wilson, who is Black, said that people who serve in the military as members of marginalized groups, or “hyphenated Americans” as he put it, have historically had a complicated experience.
In many cases, they put their lives on the line for a country that once oppressed them or their ancestors.
“We are living lives where the very principles and ideals that we’re promoting and protecting and defending we at home, maybe the marginalized victims of denial of those very rights,” Wilson said.
Tlakwadzi Kahklen Selina Joy was raised in Washington, but her family is from Angoon. She served as an Army medic for 24 years. She visited for the apology, and brought a statement she wrote for the event.
“Many of us wear the uniform of the United States militaries, not as an act of submission, but as a testament to our enduring strength and values,” it reads. “We are warriors, healers and protectors, just as our ancestors were. By standing in these spaces, we honor them and ensure their strength and values guide the actions of today’s armed forces and that our people have a say in the world we create.”
She said the Navy’s apology means that the young people in her family get to live in a new chapter of history.
“We want to use this kind of launch them into a place where like ‘you don’t have to start your journey the way we did 142 years ago,” she said. “You can start this knowing that we are an equal people going forward in the eyes of the society and the government we live in.’”
And that journey started Saturday, with a 15-hour celebration and a new chapter for Angoon.