Over 150 years have passed since the U.S. Navy bombarded Kake, a Tlingit village in Southeast Alaska. Navy representatives visited this weekend to formally apologize for the winter attack, which left many people to starve or die of exposure after the village was destroyed.
At Kake’s community center on Saturday, about a dozen elders walked or were wheeled to the front of the crowd, where they saluted the American flag as a Navy musician sang the Star-Spangled Banner. The men wore Tlingit button vests and blankets over their shoulders, and veterans’ caps on their heads denoting the military branch and foreign wars they served in — Korea, Vietnam, Iraq.
Joel Jackson is the president of Kake’s tribe, called the Organized Village of Kake. He said he couldn’t help but point out the irony.
“Our veterans have been in every major conflict,” Jackson said. “Even though they took our land, our men still went and fought for their country. I’m very proud of them for their service.”
To Jackson’s right, a totem pole, carved by local artist Rob Mills, stood behind the American flag. Half of the pole was blackened by fire, to represent the centuries of colonial violence endured by the Tlingit people.
Jackson said the Navy’s apology was a long time coming.
“I talked to a lawyer, and he said the military will never apologize or offer restitution for what they have done,” said Jackson. “I’m glad it’s happening in my lifetime.”
‘Wrongful military activity’
The attack took place in January of 1869, just two years after the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia — in the dead of winter.
The year before, American soldiers had attacked a Chilkat leader, Colchika, who left the fight with one of their rifles. Soon after, an army sentinel shot and killed two Kake Tlingit people who were trying to leave Sitka by canoe. The group’s lone survivor, a clan leader, asked the Army garrison for compensation for their deaths. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis refused.
About a month later, in retribution, a party of Kake Tlingit people killed two white trappers on Admiralty Island. Jackson says they were acting in accordance with Tlingit law.
When Davis learned of those killings, he ordered the USS Saginaw to attack Kake. The warship’s crew found the village mostly empty, but they burned and bombarded it to the ground — destroying homes, food caches, canoes, and totem poles.
The bombardment left the people of Kake without food or shelter. Though historians haven’t determined the number of deaths, oral history records many — especially among elders and children.
In its apology, the Navy called the attack “wrongful military activity.” But Jackson calls it part of a series of acts of genocide .
“It basically is still in our DNA today,” said Jackson. “Because it wasn’t just a bombardment, it was the boarding schools and all the pandemics that we had back then. Trying to erase our people from this land.”
‘The beginning of a dialogue’
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is an adopted member of the Tlingit Deisheetaan clan, spoke at the ceremony. She said she hopes the Navy’s apology will promote healing.
“At some moment, there has to be the time that the healing can begin, and that moment needs to be now,” she said. “It is my hope that we can move together forward with respect and understanding for each other’s cultures, for each other’s worldviews, and that with these words of apology, respect is finally afforded to the people of Kake.”
Navy Rear Adm. Mark Sucato stepped up to the podium and said the service regrets how long it took to apologize.
“The Tlingit people of Kake did not deserve the destruction of their villages by U.S. Naval forces,” he said. “We are invested in supporting Kake’s healing. This is the beginning of a dialogue towards making amends.”
Jackson, the tribal president, didn’t accept the apology outright. Instead, he turned to the clan leaders at the gathering.
“You all heard the apology — what do you think?” Joel asked. “You don’t have to answer, but as the tribal president, I believe we should acknowledge the apology and move forward.”
Some clan leaders then shared stories from their ancestors who survived the attack. Others thanked the visitors for the apology, which the tribe ultimately accepted.
But the Navy’s work isn’t over. Now they’re speaking with Wrangell and Angoon’s tribes to apologize to clans that also suffered in the series of attacks. Those ceremonies will take place later this fall.
KTOO 360TV will air the U.S. Navy’s apology for the Kake bombardment on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 12:30 p.m.