AILSA CHANG, HOST:
In 1882, the accidental death of a prominent member of the Indigenous community of Angoon, Alaska, led to an escalation with the U.S. Navy. The Navy bombarded the entire village, decimating the community and killing at least six children. For decades, the community of Angoon has been asking for an apology, and this past weekend, close to a century and a half later, they finally got one. KTOO's Yvonne Krumrey has this story.
YVONNE KRUMREY, BYLINE: One hundred and forty-two years ago, Angoon went up in flames. X'ash Kuge' ka Yaanasax, Barbara Cadiente-Nelson's grandmother, survived the bombardment as a young woman.
BARBARA CADIENTE-NELSON: Can you imagine my grandmother at 26, having to scramble and run with her family and the fear, the real fear?
KRUMREY: According to oral accounts of villagers who survived the bombardment, it all started because a Lingit shaman for the community was killed in a whaling accident. U.S. government documents at the time claimed other Lingit villagers took two of the white whaling crew as prisoners and demanded compensation of 200 blankets from the whaling company. Lingit accounts deny that prisoners were taken. Then the U.S. Navy got involved. They said the village wasn't owed anything and, in fact, would be fined 400 blankets for taking prisoners.
NELSON: They scrambled to come up with blankets at the onset of winter.
KRUMREY: They only delivered about 80. And as a result, the Navy attacked. Since the 1980s, representatives from Angoon have been asking for an apology. In June of this year, the Navy announced that they would issue one. They planned it with Angoon elders for the anniversary of the attack, October 26.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing in non-English language).
KRUMREY: On Saturday, hundreds of Lingit people gathered in the Angoon High School gym. Angoon elders opened the event with a traditional Lingit song and dance. U.S. Navy rear admiral Mark Sucato presented the apology.
MARK SUCATO: The United States Navy hereby apologizes on behalf of the United States Navy to all the Lingit peoples of Angoon for the pain, suffering and generational trauma inflicted by the bombarment of their village, acknowledges that the Lingit people of Angoon did not deserve nor provoke the bombardment and subsequent destruction of their village by United States Naval forces.
KRUMREY: As he finished, the gym filled with applause.
(APPLAUSE)
KRUMREY: Then clan elders responded. Here's Alan Zuboff...
ALAN ZUBOFF: Admiral Sucato, the Dog Salmon are very happy to say we accept your apology.
KRUMREY: ...And Dan Johnson Jr.
DAN JOHNSON: None of us in this room will ever forget ever. We will take it to our graves. We will teach it to our children.
KRUMREY: Still, Cadiente-Nelson says many in the community have mixed emotions about the apology.
NELSON: How do you restore a human being? How do you restore a family? How do you restore a community who have been the target of annihilation?
KRUMREY: But for Shgendootan George, telling the right story of what happened is a good first step. She's a retired high school teacher who taught this event to her students for 20 years.
SHGENDOOTAN GEORGE: It doesn't matter how many times I talk about it and how many times I talk with students about what happened. Like, every time, I tear up. It's going to be amazing to be able to say the right thing happened, you know, finally.
KRUMREY: She says she's relieved this apology will finally be part of the story. For NPR News, I'm Yvonne Krumrey in Angoon.
(SOUNDBITE OF PARTYAT4 SONG, "FWM") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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