Sealaska foresters working on Prince of Wales Island have unearthed a partially complete Haida canoe from the forest floor, and are estimating its age at more than 100 years old.
A Sealaska Timber Corp. surveyor working in the area during the winter discovered the canoe. Later, when snow melted, it was confirmed to be an ancient canoe, the company said.
Several cedar trees in the area appear to have been felled with traditional tools, and the canoe was constructed with traditional tools, said Sealaska Heritage Institute officials.
It was likely created before the modern Organized Village of Kasaan was founded nearby, said Rosita Worl, the institute’s president.
“The Sealaska Board of Directors views this Haida canoe as a tangible tie to Haida ancestors, who made this canoe and who left their footprints on the land,” said Clarence Jackson, a Sealaska board member and chairman of the institute’s Council of Traditional Scholars.
Worl said by the time present-day Kasaan was founded in 1900, its residents had commercial tools available. While the canoe pre-dates the newer Kasaan village, the area was traditional Haida territory and other villages were in the area.
The cedar forest around the nearly 34-foot canoe is around 500 years old, said Sealaska Timber Corp. President and CEO Wade Zammit.
University of Alaska Southeast anthropology professor Daniel Monteith surveyed the site for Sealaska, and found evidence that traditional tools, not modern saws, had been used to cut the trees and hollow the canoe.
The carving of the canoe was nearly complete, but it had not yet been steamed, a process used to give the craft its final shape, they said.
Another cedar log that had split when harvested was also at the site, and some of its wood appears to have been salvaged for other uses, Sealaska said.
Worl said the Organized Village of Kasaan will decide what to do with the canoe, but for now Sealaska is keeping the site private and secure.
Worl said she hopes the canoe can be replicated so modern Haida canoe-makers can study its pre-commercial techniques, and that the site could possibly become an educational forum for future carvers.
“The canoe symbolically unites past, present and future,” she said.
“We are taught to honor our ancestors by ensuring that their knowledge is taught to future generations.”
Sealaska is also using the canoe discovery to advocate for the land legislation that it now has before Congress.
“We believe sites like this one will be better protected and preserved under Alaska Native ownership,” Worl said.
Sealaska Executive Vice President Rick Harris said he was proud Sealaska Timber Corp.’s field personnel, who are trained to recognize potential cultural resources, spotted and saved the canoe.
“They are instructed to immediately secure the area, stop any activities that may negatively affect the cultural resource, and contact Sealaska Heritage Institute, which oversees these matters,” Harris said.
• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 523-2250 or at patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.
Comments (33)
Add commentPosted at SSU............
Is this us forest service lands?
If it is, the logging contractor has to report it, so it wouldn't matter if it is Sealaska land. the contractor still has to report it to the feds, therefore it wouldn't matter if Sealaska owned it in terms of protecting the found canoe.
Why hasn't Sealaska ever found anything out there in all these decades of clear-cutting? SSU member
Typo!!!!!!
So where exactly is the Price of Whales Island?
Was it carved by Haida people?
If the canoe is 500 years old, are they sure it was carved by Haida-speaking workers? As far as I have been able to find, the Haida were on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Then two or three hundred years ago expanded into what was then Tlingit territory in what is now Southeastern Alaska.
It may be better to describe it simply as a Native canoe.
In any case, it is a wonderful discovery and I hope they preserve it well.
I know someone who would wanna look at this!
I know who would love to see this and his builds this style canoe thats my dad (Wayne Price) if there looking for some one to look at it talk to my dad...and i would like to see it to as i am trying to be like my dad
@Ak_Mom
Prince of whales Island is by Wrangell and Ketchikan
wmolson
You're right, Wally, I thought the same thing.
Sparks99801
I know where it is - It was sarcasm because when they first put up the on-line paper they didn't spell it correctly.
Sealaska land grab
"Sealaska is also using the canoe discovery to advocate for the land legislation that it now has before Congress."
Talk about perfect timing for Sealaska; at a time when their PR war around their land grab deal was at the point of total implosion.
I wonder how hard it would be to 'plant' an old canoe in a valuable area of the Tongass, then claim that find as "HISTORIC BEYOND BELIEF!" then, to use that rationale to grab thousands of acres of prime publicly-held land.
It's a canoe, a hollowed out log. There are older things hanging up at the Alaskan bar.
Old doesn't necessarily mean historic. Artifacts and relics should never be the basis of granting thousands of acres of publicly held land into hands of a disreputable for-profit corporation.
@sparks99801
Wales....not....whales
Prince of Wales: An Island in southeast Alaska. It's also the name of the future King of England--Charles, Prince of Wales.
Wales: a place in England
Whales: pretty mammals that swim around southeast Alaska
Wales v Whales
I kind of like Prince of Whales. Wonder if we can change the name....
To Wally & yanyeidi
Need to read the article a little more carefully - the canoe is thought to be around 100 years - the cedar forest around it to be 500 years :)
Stormy
I am in the photo (top, right) but gained a new nickname by the author/fact-checker/interviewee. We did have a "Stormy" along, though he is not pictured. It was inspiring and exciting to finally see the canoe in person (found out about it November 2010). Sealaska graciously brought 3 of us from the Organized Village of Kasaan, a Federally recognized Tribe, to see the canoe.
Funny previous comment mentioned this possibly planted by Sealaska to help their land legislation. Having visited the site myself, I have to laugh at that one.
Frederick Otilius Olsen, Jr.
JDHS, Class of 1979
PS--the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Dispatch also published articles regarding this canoe, all having a little different information.
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/sealaska-discovers-ancient-haida-c...
http://www.adn.com/2011/07/12/1964710/canoe-as-old-as-500-years-found.html
You've GOT to be kidding me.
Well, I have a Masters Degree in Anthropology and have been to many dig sites. BUT...I'm one lucky person, because I hike all over Southeast, and I have come across DOZENS of canoe-like rotten logs. DOZENS. And the ALL look almost exactly like the "canoe" in the picture in this article. All are rotted from the top inward...and they ALL have rather pointed ends...as the broken ends of the fallen cedar tree tend to rot from the outside edges first and the core last, thereby making "pointed ends". But LOOK! There goes Elvis!! Cedar canoe. Really. Right.
Don't be to hasty.
This is a wonderful discovery but I wouldn't be to hasty to say the dig out canoes are Haida.
Kasaan was Tlingit land. Taan ta Kwaan had a village long before the Haida People moved in. My Great Grandfather was born in Kasaan, George Williams. He is Tongass Tribe.
I think more research and a study is needed for more verification on the canoes and other artifacts found in Kasaan. Regardless, Sealaska doesn't have to log a historic sites. I trust Dan Monteith to do a good study on the canoes.
Gunalcheesch ho ho for finding the canoes.
Never fear.............
The DNA on the tools will lead directly to Rosita.
Etruscan cream
With your degree in anthropology (and I assume you mean in archaeology and not just social, cultural or linguistic anthropology) I am sure you can or should be able to distinguish fallen logs, even with pointed ends, from a canoe form which is clearly the result of human activity.
One can't just look at photos and claim that something is no more than a fallen log with pointed ends.
I too have hiked through Southeastern forests with Forest Service archaeologists, spent several summers doing archaeological excavations with the Japanese, seen fallen trees (some perhaps pecked away with stone tools) and seen unfinished carved canoes in various places. I, and many others can tell the difference between fallen trees and and half-carved canoes, but we certainly don't do that by looking at a photograph - we call it "on the ground field research." Perhaps it is that kind of field experience you need prior to making a statement.
Wally Olson, retired teacher of anthropology, history and archaeology.
Dr. Monteith and "etruscandreams" commentator
I have great respect for Dr. Dan Monteith and his research, work and study in Southeastern Alaska for decades. I feel sure that if he, and local Native people, looked at what appears to be an unfinished cedar canoe, that it is precisely what it is.
I wouldn't say "You must be kidding me," when faced with "hands on" field research.
You may have a master's degree in the wide field of anthropology, but how many years of experience do you have in doing archaeological field work in Southeastern Alaska?
common
I've lived in S.E. for 37 years and seen a few "laying" around. I know where there is one over by Wrangell that's in better shape laying on it's side. It was burned off the stump so that would make it old I guess
@ MacNamara
The point of implosion? If you were paying attention you would know that Sealaska's lands bill has been moved out of committee; not too long and the final selections of land entitlements will be released to the rightful owners.
"Land Grab" is a phrase used by jaded bigots who are light on the issues and heavy on emotions, and fail to be mindful of the history of this region. The so-called "land grab" occurred in the 19th century when the United States "bought" something that never belonged to the entity that "sold" the property.
The second land grab occurred in the 20th century when President Roosevelt signed the act that seized the Tongass from the Northwest coast peoples of Alaska. To reclaim what was taken is not a "land grab". Perhaps if you abandoned your useless emotional attacks, and devised positive alternatives and offer reasonable solutions to complex issues, you might actually make a logical argument.
response to aklogr
Great ! What you need to do is talk to the Forest Service archaeologist, the folks at the Wrangell Museum or just someone who will listen and respect your findings.
When people like you find something and don't harm or damage it, those who know what to do should be told about your find. Academic scientists are not "enemies," they, like you would just like to find out the truth about things.
In the past Native people burned trees off the stump, pecked away at the base of a tree to fall it and make something of it. They were doing the best they could with what they had as far as "technology."
What good scientists are trying to find are exactly the kinds of things you mention. They rely on people like you to let them know what you have found.
Dan Monteith, at UAS, has a long history of work in Southeastern Alaska, is highly respected and is a "good person." If you can't find anyone else to tell about what you have found and know, please contact him.
Don Young
He introduced a bloc amendment that says none of the lands Sealaska selects can be in conservation units. It also says they’ll be subject to state and federal permit requirements.
Cool find
This is a cool find. Would be nicer if it were older - definition of "ancient" being stretched a little here - but still a great find.
Given how moist SE Alaska is, I'm suprised it's not rotted away. Moving it will be an interesting feat. I don't suppose its location is that easily accessed.
How can someone find something bad to say about this?
Only Dominic Slob-ato, Mr. letmypeoplego can find something bad to say about a news story like this. I think Mr. letmypeoplego needs to lethisobsessiongo and get a life.
Sucker............
Only a sucker can't see what this story is leading to....
excuse me JimmyJO, I almost left you out, and Sealaska flunky's........
Don't get caught............
Don't waste your time arguing this bill out on these stories that amount to a diversion. Contact legislators directly. Send the Video "Hoonah's Legacy" so they can see for themselves exactly the degree Sealaska practices stewardship of the Tongass.
Per the US Department of Interior
Sealaska isn't a tribe, the Native Village of Kasaan is and their traditional or IRA council has rights to this canoe under NAGPRA. Rosita is on the review committee for the National Parks Service for NAGPRA and she knows this, so the canoe doesn't belong to Sealaska but rather to Kasaan.
I find it strange that after decades of clear-cutting around Hoonah, Kake, all over Southeast Alaska, this is the first canoe they found - one on Prince of Wales Island, a place that is outside of the box for the Sealaska lands bill.
For reference on the US Department of Interior Solicitor General's Opinion re: Sealaska and other ANCSA corporations are NOT tribes, see this link:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nagpra/DOCUMENTS/Solicitors_Memo_ANCSA_03182011.pdf
Sealaska is not a tribe and cannot keep this canoe
The US Department of the Interior issued an an opinion stating under NAGPRA that ANCSA corporations are not tribes:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nagpra/DOCUMENTS/Solicitors_Memo_ANCSA_03182011.pdf
Rosita Worl is chair of the NAGPRA review committee for the National Park Service and knows this already, the rightful owner is the village council of Kasaan as they are a tribe as determined by the US Department of the Interior.
seadog55
Did you actually read the WHOLE article? Did you miss this part:
"Worl said the Organized Village of Kasaan will decide what to do with the canoe, but for now Sealaska is keeping the site private and secure."
Changing history to fit their needs is wrong.
After thinking about the canoes find is amazing. I find it interesting that knowledgeable people try to change history to fit their needs. They don't tell the whole story.
Sealaska has their own agenda for the Timber. The real owners of the lands belong to the Tlingit Nation, Ancestrial Lands and Culture is Taan ta Kwaan (Sealion People) had a village there. I just wish the politics stayed out of it and personal motives.
"You can tell a lie a thousand different ways but you only have to tell the truth once". I just don't feel comfortable not to say something that is missing from this article about the canoe findings. Correct history not to be forgotten.
Aan Kadax Tseen
Gaanax adi Clan
Raven House
Taan ta Kwaan
Bigger guns...
We came, we conquered, we gave back. And not even to the generation we took from but instead some sleazy corporation. A corporation for Alaskan Natives, by Alaskan Natives and hated by Alaskan Natives.