Native American man holding large fish, standing in rowboat, Angoon

• Other Authors: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Tlingit Indians > Subsistence activities > Alaska > Angoon; Fishermen > Alaska > Angoon; Admiralty Island; Bia; tlingit; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/alaskawcanada/id/619

On verso of image: Angoon PH Coll 1154.56 This Tlingit community is the only permanent settlement on Admiralty Island, located on the southwest side at Kootznahoo Inlet. Angoon is 60 miles southwest of Juneau. Admiralty Island has long been the home of the Kootznoowoo Tlingit tribe. Kootznoowoo means "fortress of bears." From the 1700s to the mid-1800s, fur trading was the major money-making activity in the area. In 1878, the Northwest Trading Company established a trading post and whaling station on nearby Killisnoo Island and villagers were employed to hunt whales. Whaling, a BIA school and a Russian Orthodox Church attracted many Tlingits to Killisnoo. In 1882, a whaling vessel's harpoon charge accidentally misfired and exploded, killing a Native crewmember - a Tlingit shaman, or medicine man. Villagers demanded payment of 200 blankets to the man's family, as was customary. The Northwest Trading Co. felt threatened and sought assistance from the U.S. Navy at Sitka. The village and a summer camp were subsequently shelled and destroyed by the Navy Cutter U.S.S. Corwin. Native accounts of the attack claim six children died by smoke inhalation. In 1973, Angoon won a $90,000 out-of-court settlement from the Federal government for the 1882 bombardment. Whaling did not last long, and the company switched to herring processing. During this time, many Tlingits moved to Killisnoo for employment at the plant. In 1928, Killisnoo was destroyed by fire, and many Tlingits returned to Angoon. The Angoon post office was established in 1928.