On May 30, 2006, our daughter, Anastasia (Annie) Jean Gamble was born. She is our first child and we feel so blessed to have her with us, healthy and happy. At 9 lbs. 4ozs. and 21 inches long, I don't think my wife or I expected her to be so big. You might agree with us, she's a beautiful baby.

Since my wife is adopted Chookenshaw, our daughter is also Chookenshaw. She is also a child of Kiksadi, which makes her Kiksadi yadi. Her Tlingit name will be determined at a later time and will be given by the Eagle clan.

Much of my time in the last two months has been spent preparing for Annie to arrive and then caring for her once she did arrive. We are very happy. As time goes on and we learn how to care for her most efficiently, I will have more time to update this blog and my site. For now, small changes will suffice. There is much happening in the Tlingit community in Sitka that I hope to document as time allows.

It was a little over a month ago since I last wrote on this blog. I have been updating my main website making some major changes there. I figured for now, it would be best to write a short note here about things that have happened the last month and what is coming up in Sitka.

For starters, I was jogging through Totem Park one day and ran across some people from Lincoln, Nebraska who are here doing an archaelogical dig in the park. They are looking for remnants of the Battle of 1804. This the park's main attraction for many because it has alot of history important to Sitka's Tlingit people. The battle was between Russian fur traders and Tlingit's from Sitka and nearby villages.

Also at the park, a totem pole carving has begun. The pole was commissioned by the Sitka National Historical Park and is being carved by a couple young artists from Hydaburg. Another totem is being carved on Japonski Island by Wayne Price and was commissioned by Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC).

Celebration 2006 is happening this week in Juneau. Unfortunately the timing is bad for me and I won't be able to attend, but I will provide pictures of the Native festivities. This is a bi-annual event primarily where Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimpshians from all over Southeast and parts of Canada congregate.

There is much activity in the Tlingit community right now and once our child is born and we're settled I hope to update this blog with all this information.

Sitka is a small town. Visitors might think there isn't much to do here if they are passing through. But locals know better. It's a rare day when I have nothing to do. The City and Borough of Sitka actually covers the largest area of any city in the United States. That's because the limits span Sitka Sound. There are many opportunities to explore the area by boat and often times, be the only person or group in a particular part of Sitka. Recently, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) took part of our town away from us. They ruled in favor of allowing Geoduck farming in Mielkoi Cove, which is about 7 miles south of Sitka (picture courtesy of Sitka Conservation Society). Last week, the Sitka Tribe, Sitka Conservation Society, and the City of Sitka appealed the decision.

Geoduck (pronounced "gooey duck") is a Nisqually native word for "dig deep." They are the largest burrowing clam in the world and are a delicacy in Japan and China. The industry is relatively young; commercially it's less than five years old. Found along the West Coast, there are harvestable amounts in Washington State, British Columbia, and Southeast Alaska. Geoduck are an odd looking shellfish, having a neck that can get up to three feet long and they may live to be over 100 years old (they are measured by the rings in the shell). They are eaten raw or lightly cooked. There is even a documentary about them.

The Sitka Tribe's main concern, according to my brother (he's on the tribal council), is the cultural impact to its citizens at the selected clam farm sites. These include traditional harvesting of native foods, historical or ongoing ceremonial use, and historical clan ownership of the area. Financial impacts will be brought to tribal citizens who commercially harvest geoduck in the form of direct competition from such farms as proposed for the Mielkoi Cove site and the restriction to the area as a result of DNR's decision to lease the area for farming. Additionally, public use of the area will be limited or restricted and will impact its general use.

The City of Sitka and Sitka Conservation Society's concerns in addition to the above include the impacts to commercial and sport fishing, recreation, and tourism, among others. On their website, they mention the expansion of a current farm in the Sitka area as well as Mielkoi Cove. But most alarming are the applications for 140 new sites around Southeast Alaska.

To be fair, in tonight's local newspaper, the applicant for the Mielkoi Cove site defends his position in a letter to the editor. He explains how the impacts may be exaggerated because his farm is at depths of forty feet, the buoys won't be an obstruction to navigation, and each permit application costs $5,000 to process (even if it's turned down). The details of the application process and current status are outlined here.

No matter the outcome, this is another example of Native resources in jeopardy. It is an ongoing struggle throughout Tlingit/Native Country. Under the guise of "no evidence the proposed farm's location is in a heavily used area," the DNR has ruled favorably for the applicant. But as my uncle likes to say in response to those types of arguments, "I have an old boat in my yard that I don't use very much anymore, but that doesn't mean anyone can just come and take it."

After the hard winter comes spring. Sometimes it's a little more harsh than others. But it always starts with the herring spawn in Sitka. During this time, the whole area becomes a wildlife wonderland. Seagulls, eagles, seal, sea lion, and humpback whales are seemingly everywhere you look. And though the commercial fishing boats are a threat to the subsistence fishery, it's still an amazing sight to see. It's all a part of the beginning of spring. The whole town is brought back to life by the arrival of the herring; the start of the food chain in Sitka Sound.

This year was a very good year for subsistence as opposed to last year (I blogged a couple months ago about last year's harvest). My brother, his girlfriend, and our cousin took turns gathering hemlock trees, tying rocks, and setting the branches over a period of several days during the first week of spring. The weather was amazing, which is unlike what locals call "herring weather," when we can experience what feels like four seasons in the span of a couple hours. It usually rains, hails, snows, then sunshines, all along with gusting winds for the duration of the spawn. However, this year was an exception with clear skies, little wind, and calm waters.

Nevertheless, getting herring eggs is a lot of work. It starts with finding some good-sized rocks off the beach to tie up with twine. Then cutting some hemlock trees near the ocean and dragging them to the boat. There, the trees are tied together, spaced out several feet apart and laid in the boat. The rocks are then tied to the branches in a couple places to weight them down.

Scouting for herring spawn is next. It's easy to tell where a good spawn is happening because the water turns a milky color. This is because the female herring have laid their eggs and the males are fertilizing them. They spawn near land in water of various depths, but mostly in shallow water. It's important to find a spawn where the bottom is rocky vs. sandy. If you lay the branches in a sandy area, the eggs will be sandy.

Once satisfied with the area, the trees are let out of the boat one-by-one. The number of trees used are determined by the amount of spawn in the area. They are set several feet off the beach. After a couple days, if the spawn is good, the herring will have laid thick eggs, or roe, on the hemlock branches. The roe are also deposited on macrothisis; called ne in Tlingit (soft e like in Nebraska).

This is where the hard work comes in. The trees can be heavily weighted from the eggs. The branches near the surface are clipped off and put into a container. When the tree is light enough, it can be drug back into the boat. It is possible to have your branches "robbed" by someone else, so it's important to check them often. After about three days, the spawn on the set is done and the branches must be pulled.

The eggs are usually bagged in freezer bags for preservation. They can also be dried if the sun shines and it gets warm enough. But for the first fresh harvest of the year, we simmer some water with a little seal oil mixed in and dip the eggs, still on the hemlock branches, into the water several times until they're hot. Ideally, you avoid cooking them too long. At their best, if they're cooked just right, they're translucent in color. If they're cooked too long, the eggs turn white.

Some people like dipping the eggs in butter and garlic. Our family likes dipping them in soy sauce and maybe a bit of seal oil. What do the eggs taste like? Since it's seafood, they have a salty taste to them. The seal oil adds a richness to the flavor. Seal oil, Tlingit style, is derived from boiling seal fat that is cut into small pieces, then filtering out the oil. It is a delicacy like herring eggs are a delicacy. The spring is also the best time to harvest seal because they are fatter this time of the year.

The subsistence herring fishery provides a time for Sitkans, not just Tlingits, to share the wealth of the land. Those with open boats and skiffs flock to the ocean. Of all the communities in Alaska that have a herring spawn, Sitka's is the largest harvest and most anticipated. Much bartering and sharing of the eggs takes place throughout the year. People often stock their freezers full of eggs to share at large parties like the Koo.eex' I talked about in my previous blog. Those who don't have boats or elders who cannot make it to get their own are usually provided for in one form or another.

There are other ways to harvest the eggs too. Some like getting roe on kelp. There is a fishery based on this type of harvest. In some southern villages, they use spruce branches to get the roe instead of hemlock. Commercially, the whole herring are taken and the eggs are squeezed out of them. No matter how they're harvested, the eggs provide a welcome transition to spring. After months of short, cold days and long nights, the activity brought by the herring turns Sitka into a thriving community that extends through the spring and summer. For Tlingit people, it is a very spiritual time of the year when everything comes back to life.

Over the last several years I've noticed a sobering trend as the wintertime ends. It seems many elders hang on until the very end of the season and over the course of a few weeks, one by one, the news comes that someone else in Sitka has passed on. This year has been no exception. It prompts me to write about how death in the Tlingit family is handled.

Keep in mind, there are many variations on what is done when a death occurs. Briefly, Tlingit are a matrilineal society meaning we follow our mothers bloodline. There are two clans, the Raven and the Eagle. My mother is Raven and so I am too. It is customary to marry the "opposite" clan to keep our bloodlines separate. So my wife must be from the Eagle clan, or she is adopted into the Eagle clan if she is not Tlingit.

When a death occurs in the Tlingit family, it is tradition for the opposite clan to come forward with support. Various forms of support include comforting the family with speeches. Also, help in planning and supporting ceremonies for the deceased are provided by the opposite clan. Present-day practice commonly sees the opposite clan giving money to the family experiencing the loss to help pay funeral, burial and other costs.

Some families call on the caretakers of their respective clan houses (Coho House pictured) to have the body lie in state for 24 hours prior to the funeral. The Naa Kahidi House (Community House) in Sitka is sometimes used to host a traditional ceremony prior to the body being transported to the clan house. It is also used for the funeral itself particularly when a non-denominational ceremony is desired.

A Forty Day party has been held more frequently in recent decades in memorial of the deceased. It is arguable this was not a long-time Tlingit custom, but one brought by the Russian Orthodox Tlingit. There are opposing opinions of its origins because some non-Orthodox communities hold the party. In Sitka, it is a common ceremony.

A party usually lasts only a few(2-3) hours and consists of the favorite foods of the deceased put on by his/her family for the opposite clan. Speeches are given starting with the hosts, then the guests follow. Sometimes humor is used but only in good taste to cheer up the host family. The Forty Day party symbolizes the departure of the spirit from the material world. At times families will leave a plate of food for the deceased on the eve of the fortieth day.

The Koo.eex takes place usually a year after the death, but may be held up to several years (or not at all) after depending on a number of factors. It may also be called a potlatch or payoff party, and is one form of Koo.eex. The ceremony is meant as repayment to the opposite clan for their support at the time of the death. Today, this party lasts about 20-24 hours. In traditional days it could go on for several days.

Invitations are sent to the opposite clan to attend this large memorial. The Koo.eex takes place in the fall after the hosts have had time to hunt, fish, pick berries, and do other harvesting in preparation for the party. It also gives the family time to save money to give to the guests as part of repayment.

There are four main transitions in a memorial of this type (I cannot cover them in great detail in this blog but will go in depth on my main site at which time I will add a link from here). The following information is taken from Nora Marks Dauenhauer and Richard Dauenhuaer and their excellent book Haa Tuwunaagu Yis, for Healing Our Spirit.

Preliminary Activities - Typically, at the start of the party, the guests arrive over a span of a couple hours. At this time, money is discreetly given to the hosts to help them pay the opposite clan back and much socializing takes place during this time. The walls are lined with the gifts to be distributed during the party. Reserved seating is given to honored guests and the hall is arranged to optimize the space necessary for speeches, dancing and passing of gifts. The host family is usually positioned in front either sitting or standing. Their at.oow (Tlingit regalia) is removed from chests and arranged on tables at the front of the hall. In Sitka, the ANB Hall most often hosts the party.

The Cry - Once underway, the hosts start with speeches and four mourning songs. The guests then respond with a ceremony to remove the grief of the hosts. Then, the floor is returned to the hosts at which time there are speeches to the guests thanking them for their support. A complex sequence takes place involving at.oow. I must skim by this portion to save the risk of dishonoring the ceremony. As I said, it is best covered in much more detail on my main website.

Food, Gifts, Songs and Dances - These are all very important to Tlingit culture. During this ceremony, two meals are usually served to the guests. The evolution of the ceremony over the years seems to indicate the first meal will be non-native foods while the second consists soley of traditional foods.

Much food is passed to the guests including "fire dishes." Originally, "fire dishes" meant the burning of food to feed the spirits. Now it is a collection of foods that fit in a bowl for the guest to take with them. In addition, jars of salmon, deer meat, berries, fruits, sodas, candy, crafts and clothing are typically passed to the guests.

Money - Toward the end of the party, after all the money is counted, it is handed out according to who helped the most during the hosts time of grieving. Before it is passed, announcements are made to give credit to those who gave money to help the hosts "payoff" the opposite clan. In my experience, this proves to be a very touchy situation for both sides as managing money often is.

The Koo.eex is the last step in memorial of a deceased Tlingit. This article cannot cover the many complex aspects of the memorial. The way in which a death is handled can vary greatly from family to family.

It is difficult to portray death in the Tlingit family in a broad manner. Until now, I didn't even introduce the topic of cremation. Cremations took place in the not-so-distant past and were part of the opposite clan's responsibility. This is another topic I'd like to explore more deeply, again, on my website where it can be better organized.

Lastly, Tlingit belief includes reincarnation. When someone passes, they are reborn into the same clan. When Tlingit children are given their name, it is the name of a deceased member and that child becomes that person. For instance, a second cousin of mine was recently born and given the same name as my grandmother. Now, our customs say, she is my grandmother.

There are many complex aspects of death among Tlingits. Though we are saddened by the number of recent deaths in our families, we can take comfort the deceased will be honored the way they have always been honored and they will return to us in our newborn children.

It has been over two weeks since my last post. Though I try to post weekly about Sitka and Tlingit history, I found it difficult to narrow this next topic down. There will be a number of topics to come relating to Mt. Edgecumbe.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School celebrated Founders Day the week of February 20, 2006, and does so annually. One of the highlights had to have been the "Gathering of Cultures" night on Wednesday, February 22. Along with all the Tlingit dance groups in Sitka, the Aleut, Yupik, Inupiat, and Athabaskan dancers performed that night. The historic B.J. McGillis Gymnasium was filled to near capacity as the basketball court was turned into a traditional stage for the dancers, many of them Edgecumbe students.

Edgecumbe is a boarding school run by the State of Alaska. It's name comes from a dormant volcano near Sitka (Actually, when a local hears the name Mt. Edgecumbe, they might identify it with the school, the mountain, or Japonski Island). The majority of its students are Alaska Native from all over the state. However, until about 1982, it was a federally run facility specifically for Natives. The federal funding was cut that year and it shut down for 2 years. In 1985, the state reopened the school with an aggressive and innovative curriculum based on Pacific Rim studies. Enrollment is competitive due in part to its acclaimed focus on Total Quality Management.

At its peak, Edgecumbe High School's largest enrollment was around 700 students. Located on Japonski Island (future topic), it is one of three high schools in the Sitka area. In its early days, there were many federal employees housed on the island, and there were many more houses than there are now. The facility was built during World War II as a naval military base.

After the war, the facility was vacated by the military and the Alaska Native Service (ANS) took over its management. Later, the ANS turned into the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). And in 1947, it was opened to educate Native students from all over Alaska whose villages didn't have high schools. When the school filled up quickly, other schools were opened in the states such as Chemawa, Oregon and Chilocco, Oklahoma. Issues arose about the schools stemming from loss of contact with the family and culture. As a result, another regional vocational school opened in Nome; the William E. Beltz school. Further opposition to the expansion of Mt. Edgecumbe school in 1968 led to other regional schools opening in Kodiak (1968) and Bethel (1972).

Edgecumbe has played a large role in many of the elder members of my Tlingit family. My parents met at Edgecumbe. My father transferred from Wrangell Insitute and was part of the only eighth grade class at Edgecumbe. He graduated from and also learned how to make dentures there. My mother earned her LPN certification from the nursing program it offered. Both of them made a living either at the school or at the nearby health care facility. Other traditional vocations were offered by the school ranging from carpentry to automotive.

My aunt took advantage of an opportunity to become a teacher through a program offered at Edgecumbe, and during her subsequent teaching career, was named Teacher of the Year for Alaska. Her brother also graduated from the school and went on to be a legislator and leader of Sealaska, the regional Native corporation for Southeast Alaska. As a matter of fact, ANCSA was built on the mindshare of the Alaska Federation of Natives, to which many boarding schools' alumni belonged.

Edgecumbe has expanded its enrollment from 370 students in 2004, to 420 students in 2005. The growing number of students moves them from the 3A category to the 4A category in the interscholastic statewide status. This becomes interesting because their sports teams, a whole topic in itself, may be competing with the state's best. It can be said that the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves are again the envy of the state. There will be more to come later on the rest of Japonski Island's treasures.

In the late 1990s, I watched a documentary called The Land is Ours. It focused on Sitka and the Tlingit people's civil rights struggles in the early 1900s. The key figure in this film was William Paul. He was the first Tlingit lawyer in the United States. He and his brother, Louis, were instrumental in growing the Alaska Native Brotherhood into a political force. They used this along with William's power in Alaska politics to desegregate Natives in Alaska's public schools. His story, as portrayed in the documentary, was very influential to me. After seeing it, it lit a fire that drove me back to school to get a bachelors degree.

William Paul's legacy paved the way for other Natives to combat racism. He deserves, and will get, his own entry on this blog. However, today, I want to focus on Elizabeth Peratrovich. Her story has been told on numerous websites on the Internet, but I would like to dedicate today's post to this great woman.

She has been described as a beautiful, educated, strong-willed Tlingit woman. In 1941, she and her husband were president of the Alaska Native Sisterhood and Brotherhood Grand Camps, respectively. They had moved from Klawock, where her husband, Roy, was from, to Juneau; thinking there was a better life to be had for their kids.

When they found a home they liked, they were told they could not lease the home because they were Native. Other discrimination was found all over the city, including schools, restaurants, theaters, etc. The Peratrovichs decided to use their power as officials of the ANB/ANS to write a letter to the Governor. Because then Governor Ernest Gruening had already been alarmed by the discrimination he saw throughout Alaska, gaining his alliance took little effort. He knew, however, that he could only stand by the Natives. It was the Natives' fight to win.

And this is where Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich excelled. They both lobbied other Natives to join the battle against discrimination. Together with the Governor and other allies, they began crafting legislation to be voted upon by the legislature. It had been turned down in a fierce battle in 1943.

But the Governor was able to get the house and senate enlarged. After doing this, he urged the ANB/ANS to go to the polls and elect Native leadership. They did, and in the fall of 1944, they passed Resolution Number 2 to battle discrimination. Many Alaska Natives know this story well.

In February, 1945, on the day the anti-discrimination bill was to be voted on, it drew a standing room only crowd. The House of Representatives passed the bill with little opposition. However, the Senate debated for two hours. One senator, Allen Shattuck, was quoted as saying: "Who are these people, barely out of savagery, who want to associate with us whites with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind us?" Another said he did not want to sit next to an Eskimo in the theater because "they smelled."

Roy Peratrovich was invited to speak on behalf of the Natives. He noted how the Governor had recognized the existence of discrimination in a report to the Secretary of the Interior. He also pointed out present members of the Senate from Fairbanks who supported a program for action on behalf of Natives. He said, "Only Indians can know how it is to be discriminated against. Either you are for discrimination or you are against it accordingly as you vote on this bill."

When he was done, a call was made to anyone present to voice their views. Elizabeth Peratrovich came forward. Her presence was met with a tense silence. She spoke these words:

"I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentleman with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights. When my husband and I came to Juneau and sought a home in a nice neighborhood where our children could play happily with our neighbors' children, we found such a house and arranged to lease it. When the owners learned that we were Indians, they said 'no.' Would we be compelled to live in the slums?

There are three kinds of persons who practice discrimination. First, the politician who wants to maintain an inferior minority group so that he can always promise them something. Second, the Mr. and Mrs. Jones who aren't quite sure of their social position and who are nice to you on one occasion, and can't see you on others depending on who they are with. Third, the great superman who believes in the superiority of the white race."

She continued that discrimination suffered by herself and her friends had "forced the finest of our race to associate with white trash." When asked by Senator Shattuck if passing the anti-discrimination bill would end discrimination, she replied: "Do your laws against larceny and even murder prevent those crimes? No law will eliminate crimes but at least you as legislators can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of the present situation and speak your intent to help us overcome discrimination."

The crowd roared their approval, and history was made on that day, February 8, 1945. The anti-discrimination bill was passed by the Senate, 11-5. In 1998, the Alaska Legislature declared February 16 as Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, making it a state holiday.

Elizabeth and Roy's fight for equality continues to resonate in Alaska's history. With strong Native leaders like them and William Paul in our past, many of us are compelled by their stories. Surely they have influenced people of all races with their courage to stand up for what is right. In a small way, I do my best to honor them by learning as much as I can about what they fought for and how I can make a difference. Stories like this drove me to a college education and prompted me to make a website dedicated to Tlingit people.