Anchorage Daily News

KLUKWAN

POPULATION: 101

LOCATION: On the north bank of the Chilkat River at the junction of the Kleheni and Tsirku rivers, about 22 miles north of Haines and 100 miles northeast of Juneau.

DESCRIPTION: A traditional Tlingit village known for its Chilkat blankets and dance robes woven from mountain goat hair and cedar bark. It is the only inland settlement in Southeast Alaska, accessible from the Haines Highway, which is connected to the Alaska Highway through Canada. Fishing, logging and subsistence activities support the community. Besides weaving blankets, several residents also make jewelry and sew moccasins. The area hosts the largest concentration of bald eagles in the world, at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Reserve. Residents subsist on salmon and eulachon from the Chilkat River, and they also harvest halibut, shellfish, deer, mountain sheep, bear and berries. There is a single school, attended by about 40 students.

HISTORY: In 1880, the U.S. Navy reported the name of the village as "Chilcat of Klukquan," said to mean "the old town." The Chilkat tightly controlled the trails to trade with Interior Indians. Then the Chilkat numbered about 1,000 among five villages. In 1881, the Willard mission and school were constructed in Haines. Four canneries were built in the area by the turn of the century. By the early 1900s, Klukwan was the last remaining Chilkat village in the area.

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