The people of Angoon walked in remembrance of the 1882 U.S. Navy bombing of their city on Wednesday, the 129th anniversary of the event.
Angoon Mayor Albert Howard said the “Celebration of Life Walk” was supported by the city but organized by clan leaders and elders in the Alaskan Native American village who felt it was important to commemorate the incident.
According to a June 11 column in the Juneau Empire by Jack Marshall, in 1882, Edgar Merriman, commander of the USS Adams, ordered the city of Angoon to be shelled and burned after two Native chiefs did not pay a fine of 400 blankets for destroying their canoes.
The chiefs had destroyed the canoes because while the Northwest Trading Company was whaling in the Kottzenoo Lagoon, a bomb, shot from the whale boat at a whale, accidentally exploded and killed a Native shaman, one of the crew. The almost all-Native crew overpowered the two white men in the boat and took them prisoner; captured the boat, nets, whaling gear, and steam launch of the company and demanded payment of 200 blankets for the dead man.
It was a Native custom that if a Native was killed or injured, his surviving relatives could demand from the parties who were responsible a certain payment or tribute consisting generally of blankets.
The bombing resulted in little or no immediate loss of life, but because it was just before winter set in, the entire food storage for the village was destroyed and many did not survive the winter.
The Navy acknowledged its involvement in the affair in 1982 (almost 100 years later), saying, “The destruction of Angoon should never have happened, and it was an unfortunate event in our history.”
This is the first year the Celebration of Life was held and it was kept close-knit this year with only townspeople walking, Howard said. But he hopes next year it will be a bigger event and that surrounding communities will attend.
Comments (18)
Add commentWhy stir things up again?
Why stir things up again? It was over a hundred years ago. Frankly, I don't think it was fair for the tlingets to kidnap two white men and hold their boats hostage for an accident.
And quite frankly, I think it's sick to profit over someone else's death.
History
This is history. As we all know, some of our history is not pleasant, but it's history just the same. There is a big difference between history, and labeling it 'resentment'.
What we can do is acknowledge this history, respect this sufferage, as we do many other events we have: 9/11 is a great example. I silently respect the healing of our people from this, and it too, is now our history.
God bless the community of Angoon, and the beautiful welcoming spirit that has survived their history. igu aay ax x'wan! (be strong!)
Sorry Skirz, but this wasnt
Sorry Skirz, but this wasnt the Little Big Horn. We barely remember the french and indian wars in our nations history, let alone an isolated shelling of a little village in Alaska. This is about the same as the southerners who still claim the civil war is ongoing and the south shall rise again! Except on a much much much much smaller scale
Frankly...
This is an important event in history. Maybe we should not be comparing this event to Little Big Horn. This was its own event which had a huge affected the natives who lived in Angoon at that time. Why should we deny our involvement in what happened? Why should we not acknowledge that Edgar Merriman maybe should have shown a bit of restraint? Why not respect Angoon and their choice to remember any part of their history? And in all reality, what are the odds that this truly was an accident? I'd believe that the bomb blowing up when fired would be an accident. My bet, from what little is written here detailing the event, that the white men saw the whale and the natives going after it and thought, "Great, we can kill a whale and a few natives." I may be wrong. The white men firing the shot are the only people who will ever know the truth surrounding this event.
As far as the previous posts basically saying, "Why do we care?" Exactly, why do you care if the natives of Angoon decide to recognize a part of their history? Do you feel threatened by them remembering an event that happened 129 years ago? Do you think they are going to start rioting on the streets of Angoon? Does it bother you to think that white men may have acted in a poor fashion? I'm sure this isn't the only example in history which shows people of any culture making poor decisions and having poor judgment.
This event, in the end, shows them that times have changed. That we respect them and the right they have to march proves that. This is their right to assemble in their own village. You don't need to apologize to them because you yourself did anything wrong, but it wouldn't hurt to offer an apology for what took place. You are not guilty in any way, you weren't even born yet. It never hurts to show a bit of respect and compassion.
Other Relevant Facts
We actually just watched a documentary on this for 9/11.
The article is omitting is the fact several weeks before the incident, the navy had announced they would no longer pay blood prices. I imagine they didn't pay their own families money if they died on the job either.
The natives took the boats from the navy (in particular, the one the shaman died in) because the blood price wasn't paid for their dead shaman; also because they didn't want the boat used during their time of mourning.
The tape is called "Angoon, One Hundred Years Later" if anyone is curious.
I dont really care what they
I dont really care what they do in Angoon, I am just tired of constantly being blamed for this event because I am white. I also dont carry around my dog that died when I was a kid, mourning him every year on his death anniversary. Bury the dog and get on with being alive.
Actually Skirz, I get it a
Actually Skirz, I get it a lot. The anti white faction of the native groups use that as the symbol for which they stand. The bombing of the poor defenseless and totally undeserving village by the whities. Were they blameless? No. Was it a bad thing? Yes. All sides were at fault. Should we keep dragging the dead dog around? No. Bury it.
CELEBRATION OF LIFE
You see how it was called Celebration of Life?? Well the event that took place yesterday was to commemerate that our people all those many years ago decided to stay in this village and rebuild rather then go else where.
They choose to stay and for that we are a grateful people and proud of our community. And it was a very exciting event and I am for one glad it will become an annual event.
I don't understand why people have to see the negative of everything and not the positive. My goodness if you didn't agree or like what you were reading, turn the page or back click as it may be. Or come and see for yourself next year just what it is about. :)
If we use Kpawsuh's logic,
If we use Kpawsuh's logic, all sides were at fault when the Holocaust occurred. Or the Armenian genocide of WW1. Or the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslav states (actually, that one was kinda both sides, but the innocent civilians who were actually murdered were definitely not at fault).
This type of faulty logic is called "false equivalence," which is when you justify the actions of one party by claiming the other party is just as much at fault, either by precipitating the event or through past actions of their own. It's generally a tactic used to absolve one side of blame, but it's purely rhetoric--the argument is not valid.
3 sneers for PP....Chief
3 sneers for PP....Chief Opinion Approval Officer. somehow you think that just because somebody has a different opinion on something than you do, their opinion isn't valid. Love how open minded you are.
The Better Angels of Our Nature..
Steven Pinker just released a work documenting and making the case that humanity, right now, is arguably living in the most peaceful time of our species' history. This flies in the face of the conventional wisdom in the media sirring up unsupported nonsense that the world is generally going to "hell-in-a-handbasket."
The Shamans of today (Big Religion) would have us believe things are going to get really, really bad (and supposedly are). Where is this evidence? Oh, revelation. Makes good copy, but as usual, they live in a different reality.
Of course, individuals are not mere statistics. People suffer everywhere. But the trend since the Age of Enlightenment is toward peace, democratic peace. Steven Pinker gives the goods, the evidence, why we are in a Long Peace. I don't plug many books, but if Prof. Olson is reading, I bet he would relish it.
Anyway, events like this Celebration Walk are great examples of how humans can indeed move forward in a non-violent manner while engaging in culturally binding actions.
If time permits, I think I will try and make the 130th Walk and make my own observations.
Cheers,
Mike
So PP, I dont think the Jews
So PP, I dont think the Jews in the Holocaust seized any of the Nazis "canoes" or held any of their personnel hostage. If there is an accidental death on a ship, that is a tragic thing. To then seize the property and personnel and threaten to cause harm is an act of aggression. I personally think that the retaliatory act of aggression was above and beyond what was needed, but I think I am safe in saying both sides were at fault.
Celebrating Life
Way to go, Angoon! It's nice to see a positive response to a negative historical event. A community coming together to remember, unify and walk side by side - inviting others to join in - is a good thing.
A good thing
This is a good thing, because this will never be in the history books. The whole story was never told. My grandfather told me he never knew his grandparents because after this happened they (the elders) had a meeting and many decided to walk into the forest.They knew that there was not enough food for everyone to survive the winter.
Live or Die...
History never fails to repeat itself as we strive for coexistence with one another. Tlingits were a tribe of people who remained strong with their tradition and lifestyle adapting to society to enhance their lives as they saw fit. Always changing with the times we as Americans did what past ancestors did by working with their very being to change for the better. Our traditions were an eye for an eye so to speak. The insurance policy we demanded for another life is not uncommon in today’s society. One just has to pay the price to obtain one’s own policy. A monetary gain does not heal the injustice of a life cut short, but it is accepted as an alternative for the peoples who have lost a love one. Blame is always going to be there, if you cannot accept the responsibility of your actions, then don’t do it. To move forward one must understand a payment of some sort is needed. We all have to pay for our actions one way or another. Food for thought.
Celebration of LIFE
I am 32 years old, and I wasn't around, nor thought of when the Bombardment happend. We weren't walking to demand any kind of payment or sympathy. We were walking to remember, walking to pay our respects to those who were there that day, those who stayed, those who made sacrifices so that ANGOON is still here. We were walking to say we didn't forget, we were walking to say Thank you. Quite simply it was a celebration. Again, please don't make assumptions about why you think this day of events happened. If you don't understand, ask. If you need clarification, ask. But please, don't be disrespectful by making assumptions about what we are doing over here in Angoon, and if you were mourning your dog, or whatever you were choosing to mourn, we wouldn't be so disrespectful as to poke fun or mock your reasoning. Thank you to all who have left your comments and support this event. It is an annual event, and plans are underway for next year. From the bottom of my heart I am grateful to those who stayed after the tragic events of that day, and I choose to keep remembering, and to take part to honor those people and show my appreciation.
Thank you...
Gunalcheesh!