Tongass National Forest

Tongass Home » About the Tongass » Heritage » Alaska Archeology Month

Welcome Home!

Artifacts recovered from ancient sites on the Tongass National Forest returned home in November 2004. The sites represent a variety of site types and date from 10,000 years ago to the most recent site, approximately 120 years old.

The artifacts came from sites excavated on the Juneau Ranger District by Dr. Robert Ackerman of Washington State University. He excavated three sites between 1965 and 1973 and took the artifacts for analysis and study to Pullman, Washington.

At the request of the Hoonah Indian Association, working with the affiliated clan leaders, the artifacts were retrieved from Washington and brought back to Hoonah.

The site known as Ground Hog Bay, is one of the oldest sites yet discovered in Alaska, dating back 10,180 years ago. The site is one of the most significant in Alaska and could hold clues to the early peopling of the New World. Artifacts from this site include stone tools made by chipping obsidian and other stone into points, microblades and scrapers. In addition to the artifacts, the complete scientific collection in this case also included original field notes, photographs and maps from the archaeological excavations.

Another site that Dr. Ackerman excavated, known as Kaxnoowu, Grouse Fort, is a very important village site for the Hoonah people, often described in oral tradition. In fact it was excavated only a few decades after the last residents living there moved to Hoonah. Artifacts from this site included tools made from groundstone and copper as well as artifacts of glass, ceramic and metal indicating it was inhabited from the era before European contact until as recently as the mid 1900’s. Several very intriguing artifacts from this site include incised rocks. These incised stones are found at many archaeological sites in Prince William Sound, Kodiak, on the Alaska Peninsula, and even as far away as Port Angeles Washington. However, their purpose or use remains a mystery.

The Hoonah Indian Association and the Hoonah Ranger District hosted a Welcoming Home event in Hoonah in July 2005 to formally acknowledge the return of the artifacts to Alaska.

Representatives from the Hoonah Indian Association, the Hoonah Ranger District, the Tongass Heritage Program, the Tongass Tribal Relations Program, the Kaagwaantaan, the Wooshkeetaan, the Takdeintaan, the Chookaneidi and interested members of the community were invited to the Hoonah High School to view the artifacts that were laid out on tables for people to view. Archaeologists were on hand to help interpret the artifacts and hear what folks in the community knew about the sites and the artifacts.

It was a wonderful opportunity for lots of knowledge to be shared. Many folks stopped in to learn about the artifacts and to share their knowledge of the places and things on display. The artifacts are another way of understanding the oral traditions that place the Tlingit people in Southeast Alaska for many years.

The folks at the Hoonah Ranger District, Hoonah District Ranger John Baldwin, forest archaeologist Mark McCallum, Hoonah archeologist Pat Bower and Tongass tribal relations specialist John Autry helped make this event happen. Folks from the Hoonah Indian Association worked very hard for a long time to bring this event to fruition, including Johanna Dybdahl, Tribal Administrator, David Belton, HIA Natural and Cultural Resources, and Mary Beth Moss, the HIA Ethnographer. And Kaagwaantaan Clan leader Frank White shared his wealth of knowledge and the community of Hoonah were very gracious hosts.

USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest
Last Modified: April 03, 2006