Chuck Smythe, Ph.D., History and Culture Director for Sealaska Heritage Institute, standing next to reproduction of Tlingit battle armor by Sitka artist Tommy Joseph, gives a tour of new temporary exhibit, “War & Peace” in the institute’s gallery on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. The exhibit opens Friday, Dec. 6, for Gallery Walk and will be up until February. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Chuck Smythe, Ph.D., History and Culture Director for Sealaska Heritage Institute, standing next to reproduction of Tlingit battle armor by Sitka artist Tommy Joseph, gives a tour of new temporary exhibit, “War & Peace” in the institute’s gallery on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. The exhibit opens Friday, Dec. 6, for Gallery Walk and will be up until February. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

A wound still bleeding: New exhibit lays bare war and peace in the Southeast

The cruelty and callousness of the past still linger

The Sealaska Heritage Institute unveiled its newest exhibit, War and Peace, Friday for Gallery Walk.

“The Tlingit word for war was also the Tlingit word for law,” said Chuck Smythe, the history and culture director for the SHI.

Both the Russians and, later, the Americans would come to know the inhabitants of Southeast Alaska as fierce warriors, Smythe said, though that didn’t stop either from bringing violence to the Alaska Native tribes for slights both real and perceived.

The Tlingit had a highly developed sense of property law, Smythe said. Based on responsibility for indemnities intentional or not, clans would seek redress for injuries, losses, thefts or deaths caused by other clans or groups. This was the root of a number of one-sided incidents where the American military jumped straight to blunt force, lashing out and bombarding, at various times, Wrangell, Kake and Angoon.

“They can all be traced to conflicts between the legal system,” Smythe said. “Basically, it was a life for a life.”

A U.S. Navy shell used in the bombardment of Kake in 1869 by the U.S.S. Saginaw on display in the new temporary exhibit, “War & Peace” in the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s gallery on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. The exhibit opens Friday, Dec. 6, for Gallery Walk and will be up until February. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

A U.S. Navy shell used in the bombardment of Kake in 1869 by the U.S.S. Saginaw on display in the new temporary exhibit, “War & Peace” in the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s gallery on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. The exhibit opens Friday, Dec. 6, for Gallery Walk and will be up until February. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Rosita Worl, president of the SHI, wrote that the difference between the individualist western laws and collective laws of the Tlingit were frequently at odds. When negligence caused the death of a Tlingit shaman, Teel’ Tlein, in a whaling accident, members of his clan sought reparations from the company in the form of 200 blankets, Worl writes, taking two white employees into custody.

In response, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Edgar Merriman took the Revenue Service Cutter Thomas Corwin and a company of Marines. Demanding 400 blankets in tribute from the Tlingit, Merriman opened fire when his demands were not met, levelling the village. The U.S. Navy has still failed to apologize for the attack, Worl writes, and several attempts by the Tlingit to redress the wrong have gone rebuffed.

“It’s still remembered and still part of history, and the wrong has not been righted,” Smythe said. “It would start with an apology and a negotiation.”

SHI will also be showing the film “Haa Shagoon,” which shows the peace ceremony elders of the Tlingit attempted to perform along the Chilkoot River in 1980 to seek redress for the interruption of a salmon breeding river, the disruption of a burial site and the demolition of a landmark marking a neutral ground for peace negotiations. The U.S. government declined to sit down at the table, and the grievance still exists.

Chuck Smythe, Ph.D., History and Culture Director for Sealaska Heritage Institute, gives a tour on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, of a new exhibit, “War & Peace” that includes a Congressional Gold Medal presented to the Dakl’aweidi (Killer Whale Clan) of Angoon in recognition of Tlingit speakers who served in World War II. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Chuck Smythe, Ph.D., History and Culture Director for Sealaska Heritage Institute, gives a tour on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, of a new exhibit, “War & Peace” that includes a Congressional Gold Medal presented to the Dakl’aweidi (Killer Whale Clan) of Angoon in recognition of Tlingit speakers who served in World War II. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Many of the artifacts in the exhibit are examples of clothing or other signifiers of shaming for grievances inflicted on the Tlingit people, including naval uniforms and military headwear, Smythe said. The exhibit also shows original or replica weapons and armor carried into battle by the Tlingit in their wars, both between the clans and against the Russians in the Battle of Sitka.

“They were made to look ferocious, to inspire fear,” Smythe said of the war helmets and collars.

Tlingit clans had to be careful when prosecuting war not to attack those they had no grievance with, Smythe said, often closing to verify that the enemies at hand were the ones they sought before retreating to gather themselves and then attacking in earnest. Tlingit preferred to fight at close range, Smythe said, with daggers tied to their arms and spears.

Many of the artifacts, including some of the uniforms, were donated or loaned to the museum by the families who took them in the first place, Smythe said.

The museum also honors the five Tlingit code talkers, who served honorably in WWII. Doing for the Army what the perhaps better-known Navajo code talkers would do for the Marines, the Tlingit code talkers would use their native language against Japanese forces in the Pacific. They were not recognized for their service in life, but have since been honored by the SHI and the Alaska Legislature.


• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.


More in News

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File
The Aurora Borealis glows over the Mendenhall Glacier in 2014.
Aurora Forecast

Forecasts from the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute for the week of March. 19

The FBI Anchorage Field Office is seeking information about this man in relation to a Wednesday bank robbery in Anchorage, the agency announced Thursday afternoon. Anyone with information regarding the bank robbery can contact the FBI Anchorage Field Office at 907-276-4441 or tips.fbi.gov. Tips can be submitted anonymously.  (FBI)
FBI seeks info in Anchorage bank robbery

The robbery took place at 1:24 p.m. on Wednesday.

Kevin Maier
Sustainable Alaska: Climate stories, climate futures

The UAS Sustainability Committee is hosting a series of public events in April…

Reps. Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, and Andi Story, D-Juneau, offering competing amendments to a bill increasing the per-student funding formula for public schools by $1,250 during a House Education Committee meeting Wednesday morning. McKay’s proposal to lower the increase to $150 was defeated. Story’s proposal to implement an increase during the next two years was approved, after her proposed amounts totalling about $1,500 were reduced to $800.
Battle lines for education funding boost get clearer

$800 increase over two years OKd by House committee, Senate proposing $1,348 two-year increase

A call for a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature to cast a vote that would reject recently-approved salary increases for legislators and top executive branch officials is made by State House Speaker Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, during a press conference Tuesday. Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, rejected the joint session in a letter to Tilton on Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
House efforts to nix legislative pay raises hit Senate roadblock

Call for a joint session rejected by upper chamber, bills to overturn pay hikes may lack support

A simulated photo shows the tailings stack and other features of Hecla Greens Creek Mine under the most aggressive of four alternatives for expanding the mine in an environmental impact assessment published Thursday by the U.S Forest Service. The tailings stack is modestly to drastically smaller in the other alternatives. The public comment period for the study is from March 24 to May 8. (U.S. Forest Service)
New study digs into alternatives for Greens Creek Mine expansion

Public comment starts Friday on four options that could extend mine’s life up to 40 years

This image shows the Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament's logo. The club is looking for submissions of logos for the historic tournament's 75th anniversary. The winning artist will receive a $250 prize. (Screenshot)
Take your shot at a Gold Medal logo

Upcoming milestone prompts call for art.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Thursday, March 23, 2023

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The Juneau School Board recently announced the three finalists for the district’s superintendent position: Frank Hauser, Carlee Simon and Thom Peck. The district is hosting a public forum from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 27 at Thunder Mountain High School for students, parents and staff to meet the three candidates. Additionally, the trio will be interviewed by the school board on Tuesday, March 28. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
School district announces finalists for superintendent post

Public forum and interviews scheduled for next week.

Most Read