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Patagonia Video – The Chilkat’s Fight Against the Palmer Project

Arial View of Chilkat Valley

Tim Gibbins   |   Sep 5, 2019

Klukwan is a village of 90 people in Southeast Alaska that’s home to the Chilkat Indian Village, a federally recognized tribe, on the banks of the Chilkat River 22 miles north of Haines, Alaska. The Chilkat have lived in the Chilkat Valley for over 2,000 years. It’s a land of natural bounty. The braided glacial river hosts all five species of wild Pacific salmon, and the people of the Chilkat Indian Village live a subsistence lifestyle based on the salmon, berries and wild game, such as moose, that live in the valley. The natural health of this ecosystem is now under threat by Constantine Metal Resources, a Canadian mining company that is in the advanced exploration stages of a copper, zinc, gold and silver mine near the headwaters of the Chilkat River.

Read More on the Patagonia website

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Two rehabilitated eagles return to the wild during the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival | KHNS

Sidney Campbell and Jack Strong help a lucky bidder release a bald eagle into the wild. (Henry Leasia / KHNS)

Two rehabilitated eagles were reintroduced to the wild this weekend during the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival’s Flight for Freedom event. The eagles were released at Klukwan’s Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center during a ceremony that included singing, dancing and storytelling.

Read More on the KHNS website

Image: Sidney Campbell and Jack Strong help a lucky bidder release a bald eagle into the wild. (Henry Leasia / KHNS)

 

Jack and Daniel at the Bald Eagle Festival
Photo by Tom Ganner
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A Native Village In Alaska Where The Past Is Key To The Future : NPR

All Things Considered 
What does it mean to lose your land, your language, and your heritage?
For Alaska Natives, these are existential threats.
On a trip to Southeast Alaska, I traveled to one village that is finding new ways to survive: Klukwan, ancestral home of the Tlingit tribe.
Read the full article…

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Whale House posts worth the pilgrimage

ADN.com September 14 by Mike Dunham
I missed the Homer hoopla because of a quick road trip to Haines, or rather to Klukwan, the Tlingit village 20 miles north of the city. Since learning of the opening of the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center this spring I had made it a priority to get there as soon as possible to see the ancient carved pillars from the Whale House. The sculptures are 200 years old or older. They were the subject of several well-known photographs made around 1890-1900, and a five-part series published in the Dispatch News some years ago, now available at the Alaska Native Knowledge Network website.
Read the full story… (scroll down about 6 paragraphs)