KFSK - Petersburg

The Organized Village of Kake is working to turn its historic cannery into a tourist destination.

The tribal government already has worked to save the buildings in the complex, so the next step is to bring the buildings up to code so the community can use them.

A private company opened the cannery in 1910, which was purchased by the Kake about 40 years later.

Former Kake Executive Director Gary Williams has been working for years to get funds to preserve the cannery.

He never saw the cannery in operation, but he has heard secondhand how important it was.

“As I listen to elders over the years it seemed like everybody in Kake was somehow involved in the cannery,” Williams said. “It was like the heartbeat of the community from everything I can gather.”

People from across the world came to Kake to work in the facility before it closed in 1977.

Williams moved to Kake shortly after the closing. For the next couple of decades, the local economy chugged along, he says.

Jobs were available in logging and cold storage and the village population was large enough to support two grocery stores.

“Then in 2004, it was the first year that there wasn’t any major logging nor did the cold storage operate,” Wiliams said. “It was a double whammy for the economy and we’ve been working to build ourselves back from that ever since then.”

Throughout all these changes, the cannery was standing by.

The National Parks Service named it a National Historic Landmark in 1997 for its part in the history of labor and salmon in Alaska.

“After that, we started looking at things that could be done with it, and also of course saving it, because literally as an NHL it is a national treasure. And there’s a responsibility that comes along with that,” Williams said.

The cannery buildings were at risk of crumbling. A couple of them actually did.

About three years ago, contractors began work to stabilize the structures, paid by Kake and a grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Local workers and local timber brought the project full circle, Williams said.

“We saw people working in there that were the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of people that perhaps worked in there a hundred years ago stabilizing it,” Williams said. “Lumber going in there that was locally milled from perhaps the same stand of trees going in there, second growth of the first growth that had gone in 100 years ago.”

The community will use $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce to add plumbing, electricity, public bathrooms and a commercial kitchen, plus fire protection.

“The sprinkler system and fire system will open the door to have larger groups of people to do the tours and the dancers to perform,” Williams said. “From an economic standpoint, the vendors can have spaces to sell their artwork, their different wares and services.”

The hope is that having tours, performances and vendor space will enable Kake residents to earn income from tourism and raise the community’s profile among small tour groups.

Williams said another asset of the cannery is that it is right next to the dock used by cruise ships and other boats. It is also near the airport and ferry terminal.

The cannery project is a major piece of Kake’s Comprehensive Economic Development strategy.

Williams and others see it as a tool to bring money into the community and keep it there.

It looks like voters will not have a chance this fall to weigh in on a legislative ethics ballot measure. Alaska’s lieutenant governor and the attorney general’s office have determined a bill passed by the Legislature this spring is similar enough to keep the issue off the ballot.

More than 40,000 voters last year signed a petition to put the Alaska Government Accountability Act on the ballot. It seeks to end per diem pay for legislators if they fail to pass a budget in the first 121 days of the session. It would also toughen state law on financial conflicts of interest for legislators, gifts from lobbyists, reimbursement for foreign travel and campaign spending by foreign corporations. House Bill 44 passed in May would do many of the same things.

Sitka Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has backed both the ballot measure and the legislation. He prefers a public vote on the issue but called the reforms in the legislation a huge improvement over the existing situation in Juneau.

“You know the no-budget, no-pay concept which I think is a substantial disincentive to be in session for months and months and send out pink slips and all the dysfunction that we’ve seen the last three years,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “Some reforms with lobbyists buying legislators $100 dinners at fancy restaurants, which I think just disagrees with people’s sense of probity and propriety, particularly when, by the way, we do get per diem every day so we can buy our own meals, or should be.”

The attorney general’s office looked at the ballot measure and the legislation and concluded the two were similar enough that the measure should be bumped off the ballot and the lieutenant governor agreed. Prior to that decision, Gov. Bill Walker in May said he’s likely sign the bill if it was found to be similar enough to the ballot measure.

“I like the idea of it going to a vote in some respects,” Walker said during a visit to Petersburg in May. “The advantage of that is it can’t be changed for a couple years. Once it goes to a vote that’s the advantage of that. So I like the people being able to say something about that, but if it’s substantially similar, I think to veto it just so there could be a vote, I think that’s probably not in the best interest, but I do like the idea of people being able to vote on that, I do.”

Walker also proposed cutting off both salaries and per diem pay for lawmakers if they didn’t pass a budget by the 90-day session limit passed by voters in 2006. Lawmakers have continued to meet well after that deadline. Last year, it took multiple special sessions and the Legislature waited until days before a shutdown of state government before passing a budget bill.

Nikiski Republican Mike Chenault was one of 15 in the House voting against the ethics reform bill this year and said he doesn’t know how effective it will be.

“We stay in Juneau a lot longer anymore but most of that’s not due to the budget cycle, most of that’s due to the governor calling us back for either additional revenue measures or some other piece of legislation, the gas pipeline, things like that,” Chenault said, also during a recent visit to Petersburg. “I think we can get our business done in 90 days. I don’t think we should be there any longer.”

Past legislatures have passed a bill, keeping an issue off the ballot, only to turn around and repeal that bill later. The constitution prohibits that within two years of the passage of a ballot initiative. Those who oppose the reforms say they’ll start making changes in next year’s session.

“I personally feel the restriction of no alcohol allowed to be purchased by a lobbyist in a dinner, you know, not a glass of wine, not anything, is a little ridiculous,” said Sitka Republican Bert Stedman, among the six voting against the bill’s passage in the Senate. Stedman expects the Legislative Council, made up of House and Senate members, to address any ethical problems for lawmakers and he opposes the changes in the bill and the ballot initiative.

“So the Legislature took action on it themselves so we’ll be back changing it next year,” Stedman said. “Frankly there’s some things in it that are just ridiculous. You know, it’s a feel good type of bill. We don’t have the legislative ethic issues we had a decade ago, anywhere near that I’m aware of.”

Other lawmakers have said the reforms will make it so they can’t afford to continue to work in the Legislature.

Supporters of the reforms including Kreiss-Tomkins say they’ll fight attempts to change or repeal the legislation next year. They can still challenge the ruling knocking the issue off the ballot.

Memorial Day weekend was quieter than past years for several small towns in Southeast.

Slumping king salmon numbers and a ban on sport fishing in inside waters drove Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan to cancel their annual king salmon derbies.

Petersburg resident Richard Carr, who has been fishing for 60 years, said he supports the restrictions on king salmon fishing – he is actually worried they don’t reach far enough.“These fish don’t always travel the same areas, so I think when they shut these things down everybody needs to be shut down – not just the portion around the river.”

Carr also supports a rumored consolation prize for Petersburg. If not a king salmon derby, a contest for coho salmon. He said, “that might be something that they could substitute until the kings come back.”

A silver, or coho salmon derby would be held toward the end of the summer and would mean a late season boost for local businesses like Hammer & Wikan, which supplies derby contestants with groceries, fishing licenses, bait and gear.

General Manager John Mason said he would know in a few days how much of a difference these events usually make in terms of sales.

“It won’t be a huge impact to our business overall as far as annually, but we are looking at somewhere between a 70 and 90 percent reduction in sporting goods purchases directly related to the derby,” Mason said.

But, as Tagaban said, people are still fishing this spring, and local businesses are still busy from that and tourism.

Chamber of Commerce Administrator Mara Lutomski said the town’s seasonality has complicated plans to hold a coho salmon derby later this summer. There are just not enough people available to make it happen.

“We did some advertising looking for chairmen; we called around and asked some people who we thought might be interested in doing such an event,” Lutomski said. “Unfortunately we were turned down in all of those avenues, so we haven’t been able to get it up and running.”

The earlier king salmon run fits better with the schedules of volunteers.

“Coho derby being in August or even possibly being over Labor Day Weekend sounds overwhelming to someone who might want to volunteer, because they are so busy during the summer season,” Lutomski said.

Ketchikan and Wrangell will both host coho derbies beginning mid-August and running through Labor Day.

Lutomski said the “book isn’t closed” on the king salmon derby – the committee will resurrect it in future years if the fish come back in better numbers.

Sitka Republican Senator Bert Stedman missed some of the final days of this past legislative session attending his daughter’s university graduation in Montana.

Stedman, who represents Petersburg in the state senate, explains Alaska is not out of its fiscal crisis.

He said if he had been there he would have opposed last-minute spending added into state budgets to get agreement on the spending plan and bring about an end to the session.

The senator was in Petersburg for the Little Norway Festival and he stopped by KFSK.

Joe Viechnicki asked him about the end of session and his resolution on co-management for sea otters in Southeast Alaska.

State senator Bert Stedman plans to re-introduce a smaller percent of market value draw from the Alaska Permanent Fund next year.

He also wants a statewide vote on enshrining the full Permanent Fund in the state constitution to prevent the legislature from spending down the earnings reserve.

The Petersburg Public Library has a new storyteller’s pole created by Tlingit artist Tommy Joseph of Sitka. Native and non-Native community members celebrated the pole’s unveiling Thursday afternoon despite earlier concerns that the library had skipped traditional protocol.

The Seetka Kwaan Dancers formed a line in front of the library wearing red and black traditional regalia. The pole behind them was wrapped in a tarp and duct tape, so only a handful of people in town had actually seen it uncovered. When the dance was over, former Petersburg resident and native leader Nicole Hallingstad began to speak, paying tribute to her Norwegian and Tlingit grandmothers. She said both Alma Wallen and civil rights leader Amy Hallingstad of Petersburg were excellent storytellers.

“The stories of other places, of the clothing, of the food, of the dances of their people, opened up a universe that was so much bigger than the town I lived in,” Hallingstad said. “So it’s no wonder I spent so much time at the Petersburg Public Library exploring that universe.”

Hallingstad called the tall sculpture to her left “a new form of storytelling.” New, because this is not a traditional totem pole. It does not contain tribal crests or represent a particular clan.

“The Haida word for a totem pole is gyáa’aang, which literally translates to history standing straight up. It tells that singular story,” Hallingstad said. “What we’re about to see does not contain one story. It represents common figures, and the story it tells will depend entirely on what the viewer takes away from it.”

The piece includes characters inspired by popular children’s stories, but nothing straight out of a book. It is also different from a totem pole in that it was installed without a traditional pole-raising, which involves ropes and tripods and a group of people working ceremonially. Joseph said space was limited by the landscaping in front of the library, so the pole was raised using machinery.

“We covered it and had it all ready for the unveil, and we don’t have to worry about kids running around. When you have heavy equipment I’d rather just do that without people around,” Joseph said.

But, especially covered up, it looked like a totem pole. So when it appeared, some Native people in the community were frustrated that they hadn’t been involved. The morning of the unveiling, Joseph met with community members to talk through their concerns.

Brenda Louise was one of about ten people circled up in a library conference room. She said she drove by when the pole was going up and the scene looked and felt empty.

“I don’t wish any ill will or take any offense. You know my concern is that it all feels good in a good way, and that there’s appreciation for what you’ve done. And reciprocation too. And that it’s a win. That everyone feels they’re a part of it,” Louise said.

Eventually, the group began reminiscing about when two totem poles, also works of Joseph’s, were placed downtown nearly 20 years ago. Mike Schwartz served on a committee to bring those poles to town.

“The pole was to be raised in the fall, on a rainy, windy, raw day at one o’clock. And three of us are looking at each other at 12:30 going, where are the people? By five to one, we had 600 people,” Schwartz said. “There was a healing that happened here, when those totems went up.”

“Yeah, for a lot of people,” Louise said.

Compared with that memory, the quiet arrival of this new pole was disappointing for some. But practically speaking, Will Ware said there is no protocol for installing a pole like this one.

“Who do you contact – who do you talk to about putting a pole up that has a rabbit with big bunny ears and a jacket on? It’s a story pole,” Ware said.

Traditionally, you’d contact clan leaders, discuss which crests and designs to include, and seek permission. But this piece was dreamed up by Joseph – he pitched it to library staff years ago, and they asked some big donors to help pay for it. Ware asked Joseph how he’d like the community to celebrate his work.

“I would love to see members from both sides – eagle, ravens, maybe do a song? That would be awesome. I don’t really know all of the Native community here – that would be great,” Joseph said.

Eagle and raven are the two Tlingit subgroups or moieties, which are further divided into clans. “Maybe give a balance from that side. Because there is an eagle and a raven on this pole. Without being specific to any clan or anything, it’s just our people. I couldn’t not have us represented in there.”

Members of the Seetka Kwaan dance group who were in the room made plans to perform at the unveiling. The library staff looked relieved, and talked through the program of the event. That afternoon, both moieties were represented in the dancers’ regalia.

The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium awarded a $50,000 healthy living grant to the Petersburg Indian Association Monday night. SEARHC is a regional non-profit health care provider operating in 20 communities in Southeast Alaska. It has a 15-person board of directors representing as many communities in Southeast. The organization is awarding a “Healthy is Here” grant to tribal organizations in each of the 15 communities.

Leatha Merculieff , SEARHC’s vice president of executive administration, said the money is intended for healthy activities.

“It’s up to the Petersburg Indian Association to decide what is healthy and what healthy activities means to them,” Merculieff said. “It’s not for us to decide what they’re going to do with the money. They can build a playground, they can buy vegetables for tribal members. It’s really up to them what they think is healthy.”

SEARHC started distributing checks about a month ago. Projects are not yet decided but Merculieff said they’ve heard some of the ideas for using the grants.

“In Klukwan they’re going to, (they have) the idea of expanding their library for their kids and their community,” she said. “We’ve heard ideas of purchasing a whole bunch of canned vegetables and fruit in Angoon for having a closet full of vegetables so their tribal members can come and get canned vegetables and canned fruit. It varies across. Craig had the idea of sponsoring a basketball tournament, so it just really varies.”

Ross Nannauck III is a SEARHC board member from Petersburg and he’s confident the PIA tribal council will be able to find a good use for the money in the community.

“There’s always the need for something,” Nannauck said. “Right now a lot of places are having problems with the addictions that are going on and that‘s one of the things, such as our ANB (Alaska Native Brotherhood) here in town is starting up a talking circle, healing circle to help address that and I was mentioning to them about the grant.”

The full Petersburg Indian Association tribal council hasn’t yet had a chance to meet and decide how to spend the money.

“We have already received multiple requests and ideas, all of which will be taken under advisement as we begin the decision making process,” said tribal council president Tracy Welch in an email. “Many areas of need have been identified and we look forward to putting the funding to good use. We’d like to thank SEARHC for their generosity and commitment to bettering the lives of the citizens that they serve.”

The grant could be annual depending on the bottom line for the regional health care provider. Tribal organizations have to spend the money by September 30th in order to be eligible for a grant next year.