2
Letter from the editor It’s everyone’s (okay, my) favorite time of year in Southeast Alaska. Spring and summer are the busy season, when we’re all out fishing, hiking, socializing, having bonfires, and festival-ing during all the daylight and blue sky hours we can fit in. Southeast Alaska knows how to enjoy sunnier, warmer weather and warm days when we’ve got it. So this summer, get out and feel the sun on your face. Watch kids race slugs they found in their backyards at the Ketchikan Blueberry Arts Festival. Try some of Coffman Cove’s delicious seafood at the “By the Sea” Arts & Seafood Festival. Listen to some amazing local and visiting talent at the Juneau Jazz and Classics Festival. Celebrate the raising of a Raven and an Eagle totem at Xunaa Shuká Hít, the Huna ancestors’ house in Glacier Bay. Hope the late-arriving king salmon do much better than the spring kings, then get out there on a boat or on a point and fight the twisting silver of a fish on the line. Summer can be short. Fortunately, here in Southeast Alaska, we know how to make the most of every daylit and every darkened hour. — Mary Catharine Martin, Capital City Weekly managing editor
YAKUTAT TERN FESTIVAL, p. 5
• Yakutat
NORTH WORDS WRITERS SYMPOSIUM, p. 5
GREAT ALASKA CRAFT BEER & HOMEBREW FESTIVAL, p. 4 SOUTHEAST ALASKA STATE FAIR, p. 12 AMERICAN BALD EAGLE FESTIVAL, p. 18
Klukwan •
• Skagway
HAINES •
Elfin Cove • Pelican •
• GUSTAVUS
Hoonah •
XUNAA SHUKA HIT TOTEM RAISINGS, (Gustavus, Hoonah) p. 4
• JUNEAU
JUNEAU JAZZ & CLASSICS FESTIVAL, p. 3 GOLD RUSH DAYS, p. 7
TENAKEE SPRINGS • SITKA SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL, p. 6 SITKA FINE ARTS CAMP, p. 6 WHALEFEST, p. 17 SITKA ARTS & SCIENCE FESTIVAL, p. 15
SITKA •
• Angoon
• KAKE
KAKE DOG SALMON FESTIVAL, p. 13
capital city weekly contacts Publisher Deedie McKenzie | deedie.mckenzie@morris.com General Manager Brian Naplachowski | brian.naplachowski@morris.com
‘BY THE SEA’ ARTS & SEAFOOD FESTIVAL, p. 14
Point Baker • COFFMAN COVE •
• WRANGELL
Managing Editor Mary Catharine Martin | editor@capweek.com Staff Writer Clara Miller | clara.miller@morris.com
Klawock • CRAIG •
Intern Mackenzie Fisher | mackenzie.fisher@capweek.com
Advertising Manager Kathryn Fritz | kathryn.fritz@morris.com Multi-Media Sales Representatives: Mona Wigg | romona.wigg@morris.com Hadassah Nelson | hadassah.nelson@capweek.com Shandra Comas | shandra.comas@morris.com Distribution Manager Jack Marshall | jack.marshall@capweek.com
ALASKA BEARFEST, p. 9
• KasaAn
HYDABURG •
Graphic Designer Matt Wilkinson | matthew.wilkinson@morris.com
• PETERSBURG
LITTLE NORWAY FESTIVAL, p. 3 TONGASS RAINFOREST FESTIVAL, p. 16
Hyder • KETCHIKAN BLUEBERRY ARTS • Ketchikan FESTIVAL, p. 13
FOUNDERS DAY, p. 14
METLAKATLA •
3
Founded in 1987 by Linda Rosenthal, the festival, now in its 31st season, is known for the variety of its offerings, not just in terms of the genres of music features — from jazz to blues to soul to classical to rock — but also in the way the music is presented. Attendees can enjoy free lunchtime concerts or opt to take part in one of the more formal recitals held at the Shrine of St. Therese or the Juneau Arts & Culture Center. Outreach is also a major part of the festival, with guests working in the schools and offering workshops to musicians of all levels while they are in town.
Guest artists for the 2017 festival include Richard Thompson, Will Ransom, the Vega String Quartet, Elizabeth Prigden, Zuill Bailey, Bill Sears, David Coucheron, Leo Sanguiguit, Evan Drachman, Julie Coucheron, Gary Motley, The Defibrulators, the Axiom Brass Quintet, Mae Lin, Jessica Change, Janet Clippard, and The Congress. Also held during the festival is Community Day on Campus from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the University of Alaska Southeast on Saturday, May 20. Now in its 14th year, Community Day on Campus draws close to 1,000 visitors. Community artists, nonprofit organizations, merchants and food vendors sell their wares, share information, take registrations for summer activities and help celebrate Juneau’s creative vitality. Free Jazz & Classics concerts are offered as part of the event. A complete listing of festival events can be found at www.jaz-
Little Norway, held during the third week of each May, mixes Vikings, Valkyries, and Petersburg residents dressed in Norwegian bunader dancing down the street. The festival commemorates Norway’s Syttende Mai (May 17), the date the country’s constitution was signed in 1814. The festival was first organized by Petersburg residents Bernadine Trones and Alma Wallen on May 17, 1958, and is going strong(er) almost 60 years later. If you go to Little Norway, be prepared to be swept
Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file photo
The members of Third Coast Percussion, Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin and David Skidmore, perform a free “brown bag” lunch-time concert in the atrium of the State Office Building on Monday as part of the 30th Annual Juneau Jazz and Classics Music Festival in May 2016.
zandclassics.org, where you will also find links to the artists’ websites. Tickets for the events that require them can be purchased on-
away by people wearing fur and carrying swords, or by the taste of a delicious Norwegian breakfast. Little Norway is sponsored by the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. It includes food and craft booths, a parade, a Scandinavian pageant, music on the streets, a herring toss, a walk-run race, and a community fish bake at Sandy Beach, among other events. The festival also celebrates U.S. Armed Forces Day, the coming of spring and the beginning of the fishing season.
GETTING THERE Petersburg is served by the Alaska Marine Highway and by Alaska Airlines, which is offering a discount for flights to Petersburg during Little Norway. It is also served by numerous small airlines.
line, at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center and at Hearthside Books.
www.jazzandclassics.org info@jazzandclassics.org
Mary Catharine Martin | Capital City Weekly
Children, followed by a Viking ship, dance clad in Petersburg bunads during Petersburg’s annual Little Norway parade in May 2014.
http://www.petersburg.org/visitor/littlenorway.http://www. petersburg.org. 907.772.3646 Chamber@petersburg.org
4
Xunaa Shuká Hít totem raisings One of last year’s biggest events was the dedication of Xunaa Shuká Hít, the Huna Ancestors’ House in Bartlett Cove. During those days, all four original clans from Glacier Bay – the Chookaneidí, the Kaagwaantaan, the Wooshkeetaan and the T’akdeintaan - returned to Glacier Bay from Hoonah and other communities. This year, the Huna Indian Association is raising two totem poles – one Raven and one Eagle pole, in order to balance between the moieties – on May 20 in an all-day celebration in Bartlett Cove. Prior to arriving in Bartlett Cove, said HIA tribal administrator Robert Starbard, two catamarans, one from Juneau and one from Hoonah, will meet at the National Park Service boundary line at the mouth of Glacier Bay. Paddlers in the two 40-foot spruce dugout canoes carved by Wayne Price and his apprentices will meet, challenge, and then invite the passengers to join them in raising the poles.
GETTING THERE Gustavus, “The Gateway to Glacier Bay National Park,” is served by Alaska Seaplanes, Fjord Flying Service, other small airlines, and the Alaska Marine Highway. For more information, go to http://www.gustavus.com/.
Maxwell Crutch, one of the brewers at Anchorage’s King Street Brewery, readies a keg handle Saturday, May 23, 2015 at the Great Alaska Craft Beer and Homebrew Festival.
James Brooks | Juneau Empire file photo
Mary Catharine Martin | Capital City Weekly
Tlingit language teacher Heather Powell, pictured with drum at far right, leads a song inside Xunaa Shuka Hit during its August 2016 dedication.
This year is the 25th anniversary of the Great Alaska Craft Beer and Home Brew Festival, and as has become a spring tradition, this annual event in Dalton City, Haines (the film set where “White Fang” was shot) is already sold out. Three main events are the Gourmet Brewer’s Dinner ($95) at 6 p.m. Friday, May 26 at Harriett Hall; a noon – 5 p.m. Connoisseur’s tasting ($60) at Dalton City on Saturday, and a 1-5 p.m. General Tasting ($40) at Dalton City. Juneau chef Lionel Uddipa will be creating the five-course menu for the gourmet dinner. If that sounds like too much excess, then start your Saturday with the Slammin’ Salmon 5K and 10K Fun Run at 9 a.m. at the Dalton City Fairgrounds. There is a $10 entry fee and you can register online at seakfair. org/ beer-fest/. Organizers recommend contacting the Haines Convention and Visitors Bureau at 907-766-2234 for lodging and transportation information as lodging can run out over beer fest weekend — even the campgrounds, so book early. Attendees must be 21 years and older with valid ID to purchase tickets and attend the festival. Dogs, children and infants are not invited.
www.seakfair.org/beer-fest/ director@seakfair.org (907) 766-2476
5
The North Words Writers Symposium brings writers together in informal settings where they can make the most of writer-participant interaction. It also offers a range of location-specific activities, including a White Pass & Yukon Route train ride-trail write, a Dyea cabin retreat cookout with music, and a closing banquet at Poppies at Jewell Gardens. This year’s theme is “Exploring the Frontiers of Language.” The keynote speaker is Paul Theroux, a prolific author who has traveled the world writing fiction and nonfiction for more than 50 years. Among other books, he is the author of “The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train through Asia,” “The Mosquito Coast,” “Doctor Slaughter,” “Half Moon Street,” and “Dark Star Safari.” “Theroux has brought his readers along to some of the world’s most remote corners for nearly four decades,” reads his bio on North Words’ website. Faculty this year include Deb Vanasse, John Straley, Sherry Simpson, Tom Kizzia, Andy Hall, Lenora Bell, and Theroux. Panel topics include “Gawping at the Exotic: Writing About Common Humanity Amidst the Extraordinary,” “And Then It Happened: Making True Stories Readable,” “Why Is It So Hard to Write About Good Sex?” and “Scenery Shot: Nature as Backdrop, Center Stage, or Character,” among others. Faculty will also give readings, consultations, and book signings, and there will be lots of camaraderie. Registration is $375. North Words is sponsored by the Skagway Development Corporation, with support from the Municipality of Skagway and other sponsors.
James Brooks | Capital City Weekly
Douglas Smith joins other writers Thursday morning, May 29, 2014 at the Skagway, Alaska public library for the start of the North Words Writers Symposium.
• http://nwwriterss.com • northwordsinfo@gmail.com or carlin_donahue@hotmail. com • (907) 973-2354
GETTING THERE Skagway is accessible on the Alaska Marine Highway and via Alaska Seaplanes. It can also be reached by car from Canada or Haines, if you bring your passport along. (It’s about eight hours from Haines to Skagway by car, and less than an hour by ferry.) Visit www.skagway.com for more information.
The Yakutat Tern Festival celebrates the natural and cultural resources of Yakutat and highlights the community’s role as a front-runner in the field of Aleutian Tern research, including studies on population trends, nesting ecology, and migration patterns, about which little is known. Yakutat hosts one of the largest and southern-most known nesting colonies of Aleutian Terns. It also hosts Arctic Terns, and up to 200 other bird species nest
in or migrate through the area. The festival is family friendly and offers activities for birders as well as non-birders, including field trips, seminars, kid’s activities, evening banquets and other programs, bird banding demonstration, and art. This year’s keynote speakers is Julia K. Parrish, University of Washington Professor of Ocean Fishery Sciences and the Associate Dean of the College of the Environment. She’ll speak “on the recent seabird die-offs in the North Pacific and the role of citizen science in assessing the impacts of a changing climate,” according to a press release from the U.S. Forest Service, which organizes the event. The featured artist is violinist Linda Rosenthal. She will both perform solo and in concert with actor Bill Blush in “Strings & Stories” programs for children. Rosenthal created “Strings & Stories” as a “dynamic pairing of music and theater for audiences of all ages.” There’s also a Yakutat Bay charter boat field trip, art workshops, bird calling, Tlingit language and tie-dye pairings, a field trip to Harlequin Lake, kayaking, a 10K race, a performance from the Mount St. Elias Dancers, seminars and more.
www.yakutatternfestival.org www.facebook.com/TongassNF
• soehlers@fs.fed.us • (907) 784-3359
Photo by Bob Armstrong
An Aleutian Tern is backdropped by Mount Saint Elias in Yakutat during the 2012 Yakutat Tern Festival.
Getting There Yakutat is served by the Alaska Marine Highway System and Alaska Airlines; Alaska Airlines has a discount code for airfare to the festival. Check www.yakutatalaska.com and www. yakutat.net.
6
The Sitka Summer Music Festival has been Alaska’s premiere classical music festival for decades, presenting exquisite music to the community. This four week event brings together some of the worlds finest musicians to celebrate both Russian and American composers. The Evening Concerts throughout June will showcase works by Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Arensky, Taneyev, Shostakovich and more as well as American composers John Corigliano, Phillip Glass, Michael Daugherty, and Amy Beach. Zuill Bailey, the Artistic Director of the Sitka Summer Music Festival has set up a phenomenal roster of performers, including Russian-born musicians Natasha Paremski, Yuliya Gorenman, and Nikita and Margarita Borisevich. As well as returning artists Attacca Quartet, Paul Rosenthal, Navah Perlman, and many others. Visit their website at http://alaskaclassics.org/events/sitka-summer-musicfestival/ for program details and ticket options.
With the Holland America Line cruise ship Amsterdam in the background, Sitka Summer Music Festival musicians play to a full house at Centennial Hall Thursday, June 18, 2015, in Sitka, Alaska. From left, Kurt Nikkanen, Zuill Bailey and Scott Rawls played Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the free concert. Holland America Line is one of the sponsors of the summer classical music festival. Courtesy image.
People at Sitka Fine Alaska Arts Southeast Inc., or better known as the Sitka Fine Arts Arts Camp Camp offers a wide range of courses to an equally wide range of people. in 2007 Last summer their website reported that over 900 students attended stretch. camp, coming from 43 Alaskan communities, 29 states, and five counCourtesy tries. Sitka Fine Arts Camps build community in Alaska by providing image. opportunities in arts, culture and recreation in an inclusive, educational and inspirational environment. There is no requirement to have an extensive background in music, dancing, acting or writing. All that is required to attend these classes is the willingness to try. There are multiple classes for the younger generations to enjoy. Including, weeklong elementary camps where children are offered four classes each day: music theater, movement, and visual arts; and elementary workshops that are just for the afternoon. A middle school session is also available. High school students are offered a two-week intensive arts experience that ends with final performances held on July 13, 14 and 15 at 7 p.m. at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. A musical theater course is available for those that fall into the older category, including grades ten up to college sophomores. This camp consists of two weeks of pre-professional training for young artists who are ready to challenge themselves. This intensive will culminate with three performances of a full scale musical in the Sitka Performing Arts Center on July 28, 7 p.m.; July 29, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Summer Dance Intensive program is for grades nine through college sophomore. This class will culminate with a final performance on Saturday July 22 at 7 p.m. at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. Call the camp office for tickets: 907-747-3085; $20 general admission, $15 students/seniors. Adult Fine Arts Camp offers a chance to discover new artistic experiences, enliven and reignite creativity, and learn from world-class instructors who are experienced artists and educators from around the country. These are the adult camps for the summer of 2017 Creating Copper Jewelry with Mary Goddard Monday-Friday, June 12-16 from 9-11:30 a.m. costing $215. Drawing the Sitka Landscape with Norman Campell, Monday-Friday, Juneau 12-16 for $160. Mixed media: altered books with Jessica Kricheks, Sunday-Thursday, June 11-15 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. for $150. The schedule is designed to fit with the elementary sessions to give the entire family the option to join in on the fun.
7
This annual celebration of Juneau and Douglas’ mining and logging history will be held June 17-18 at Savikko Park. This year, it’s also part of several months of activities commemorating the 100th anniversary of the collapse of the Treadwell Mine, which happened April 20-21, 1917. Activities include men’s and women’s competitions such as axe throwing, saw bucking, speed climbing, vertical chopping, log rolling and tug o’war. There will also be food, information booths, a children’s carnival, crafts and gold panning.
www.facebook.com/ JuneauGoldRushDays/ juneaugoldrushdays@gmail.com Paula Ann Solis | Juneau Empire file photo
A jackleg drilling competitior takes his turn Saturday during the timed event, trying to drill one hole within a confined square. The event was part of Juneau’s 26th annual Gold Rush Days celebration at Savikko Park in 2016.
Photo above and photos at right: Juneau celebrates Gold Rush Days, a two-day event that includes mining and logging events at Savikko Park, in 2016. Konrad Frank | Juneau Empire file photo.
8
The tradition of celebrating the Fourth of July in big style has roots back in the 1880s in Southeast Alaska, according to Ann Chandonnet. In a July 3, 2004 Juneau Empire article, she wrote: “When the miners had one of their two days off a year — Christmas or Fourth of July — both pageantry and liquor consumption rose to a fever pitch. … To partake of the Fourth, celebrants came (to Juneau) by boat from a dozen nearby canneries, including the two Carlson salmon canneries at Auke Bay. A local band played lively marches, and lighted firecrackers were often “mistakenly” dropped through the cracks in the boards of the sidewalk — sometimes igniting trash fires. … Oratory by the most august personages in town was usually first on the program for the Fourth, followed by a parade with decorated floats, athletic events such as tug-o-war, rock drilling competitions, a fire department hosecart race, canoe races on Gastineau Channel and a baseball game.” Not much has changed. Here’s a sample, for example, of Pelican’s upcoming events for July 3 and 4: parades with locals’ versions of “floats” (hand-held items held aloft, usually), a community picnic, games like tugof-war, an “anything-but-a-boat” float contest in the harbor, and a longstanding Pelican tradition known as the “hold-your-breath greased pole contest”, in which competitors traverse the length of a greased trolling pole perched over the water to claim the American flag at the end. Gustavus also has special events, like a parade and a greased pole climb. “It’s pretty darn fun,” said Mayor Tim Sunday. Wherever you live in the region, your town is no doubt the best place to be on the Fourth.
Juneau turns out for the annual Juneau 4th of July parade on Monday, July 4, 2016.
Fourth of July fireworks display over Juneau in 2016. Photos by Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file
9
The eighth annual Wrangell Bearfest, scheduled for July 26-30, combines a focus on bears with a celebration of the region’s natural and cultural resources. Festival activities include Anan Wildlife Observatory bear tours, a bear photo contest, movies, photography workshops, bear country workshops, a marathon, symposiums, a regional arts fair, a salmon bake on Shakes Island, live music, storytellers and more. Wrangell is 30 miles northwest of the Anan Wildlife Observatory, one of the state’s best bear viewing areas. www.alaskabearfest.org fun@alaskabearfest.org A black bear looks around after snagging a salmon Friday, July 25, 2014 at Anan Wildlife Observatory.
James Brooks | Capital City Weeklyy file photo
10
James Brooks | Juneau Empire file photo
Tom Fulop of Whitehorse swings the hammer at the carnival-style strength tester Saturday, May 23, 2015 at the Great Alaska Craft Beer and Homebrew Festival. Fulop said it was his first time attending the festival.
Michael Penn | Juneau Empire
Royal Riley, 6, controls an underwater robot with help from Rebecca Farrell and advice from his father, Josh, at the SeaPerch Program booth during the 2015 Juneau Maritime Festival at Marine Park on Saturday.
Musicians from a previous Sitka Summer Music Festival. Photo by Basil Childers.
11 Right: The Pimentos perform on the Klondike Stage Saturday, May 23, 2015 at the Great Alaska Craft Beer and Homebrew Festival. James Brooks | Juneau Empire Far right: The Bria Skonberg Quintet plays a brown bag concert in the Juneau State Office Building’s atrium during a previous Juneau Jazz & Classics. Michael Penn | Juneau Empire
Michael Penn | Capital City Weekly
Canoers respond to welcoming calls during the Coming Ashore ceremony at Sandy Beach at a previous Celebration, which happens on even years.
12
A finalist in the Southeast Alaska State Fair ax-throwing contest lets fly Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015 in Haines.
Mary Catharine Martin | Capital City Weekly
Musicians, wearable artists, loggers, fishermen and fiddlers share space with goats, ponies, chickens and bunnies at the state fair, a major draw for Haines in the summer. Events and contests include the parade, live music, Haines Hustle half-marathon, a wearable art review, fisherman’s rodeo, the Guy Hoffman Memorial Horseshoe Tournament, a most loveable dog contest and a volleyball tournament. The lineup for the festival includes Eric Krasno Band, Delhi 2 Dublin, Jon Wayne and the Pain, Onry Ozzborn, New Sound Underground, and Gordie Tentrees, among others — the fair hosts days of live entertainment on three stages. Go to www.seakfair.org for admission prices and more information, or contact director@ seakfair.org, (907) 766-2476. GETTING THERE Haines is served by the Alaska Marine Highway System and Alaska Seaplanes, among other carriers. From Skagway, another option is the Haines-Skagway fast ferry (hainesskagwayfastferry.com) and from Juneau, there’s also Alaska Fjord Lines (alaskafjordlines.com.) Travel information can be found at www.haines.ak.us.
13
T h i s is festival that provides a little something for everyone is hosted by the Ketchikan Arts and Humanities Council. This entire event is in honor of one of Southeast Alaska’s favorite foods: the blueberry. Hundreds of local artists will set up booths in the city parking lot next to Redmen Hall on Main Street. Food vendors offering the community a wide range of tasty treats such as the famous blueberry crepes will also be setting up shop. music stage where local bands battle to win the title of “Best Band” will also be close by to all the action. More on the list of fun things to do at Ketchikan’s biggest festival is the Blueberry Beard and Mustache contest, a spelling bee, trivial contest, slug race, blueberry art gallery and contest, pie eating contest, a variety of races, and more. The Gigglefeet Dance Festival, a community celebration of dance cosponsored by the First City Players, Ketchikan Area Arts & Humanities Council, and Ketchikan Theatre Ballet is on the Friday and Saturday surrounding the festival, Applications for the 2017 Blueberry Arts Festival will be available on Friday, May 5, 2017 at the Arts Council/Main Street Gallery and online. Although the specific events for this years’ Blueberry fest are not yet listed, looking at the past years events will give you a good idea of what this years festival will look like.
Attendees at the 39th annual Blueberry Arts Festival collect “blueberries.” Mary Catharine Martin | Capital City Weekly
A
• http://ketchikanarts.org/events-programs/blueberry-arts-festival/blueberry-arts-festival • KathleenL@KetchikanArts.org
The Kake Dog Salmon Festival, the only Native festival in Southeast Alaska, will be held Saturday, July 29. Two canoes will be sent to Kake for a canoe dugout that will be used in the Dog Salmon Festival Canoe Race. The annual festival got its start in 1994 as a celebration of the millionth pound of seafood processed in a season, and is organized by Kake Tribal Heritage Foundation. “It is a unique event, the only one I know based on fish processing,” said co-founder Peter Metcalfe of Juneau. Former Kake Tribal Corporation President Gordon Jackson, who co-founded the event with Metcalfe, said the festival’s beginning was “by accident.” At the time, Kake fisheries held a local festival. During a 1994 board meeting, Jackson proposed that “maybe next year we can do something different and have a dog salmon festival and we can invite all our chums.” The idea was a success and the rest has become part of Kake tradition.
Patrick Bean competes in the the salmon-filleting competition Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015.Sam DeGrave | Juneau Empire file photo
GETTING THERE Kake is served by the Alaska Marine Highway; additional service is usually offered on Allen Marine catamarans during Dogfest. It can also be reached by small plane.
14
Metlakatla will celebrate the town’s 130th birthday on Founders Day, observed Aug. 7 every year. Festivities include the arrival of canoes from other communities, traditional dancing, foot races, other contests and games, and a community-wide feast. The day commemorates the arrival on the site of Bishop William Duncan and 826 Tsimshian pioneers in 1887 from “old” Metlakatla, in British Columbia, following a series of disagreements between Duncan and his church. Duncan, an early advocate for indigenous land rights, helped stake out a new town where the residents enjoyed more autonomy. After Duncan’s death in 1918, the town’s government took over the management of the community. Metlakatla is the only community in Southeast Alaska that is predominantly Tsimshian and it is also the only reservation in the state. Officially called Metlakatla Indian Community, it is governed by a 12-member tribal council, mayor, secretary, and treasurer. Find out more at http://www.metlakatla.com/ and http://www.laughingberry.com/.
GETTING THERE
Metlakatla, on Annette Island, can be accessed via the Alaska marine Highway or by a short flight from Ketchikan. Independent travelers need to make arrangements ahead of time before coming to the island. They should call the MIC council at 907-886-4441 for information about places to stay, and people to contact for tours and other amenities.
A patron at the 2013 “By the Sea” Arts & Seafood Festival at Coffman Cove looks through some of the many arts and crafts available for sale. Courtesy photo.
More than 40 vendors come to sell their art, crafts and produce as bands perform live music at Coffman Cove’s annual festival, which runs Friday Aug. 11 from 3-10 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 12 from 12 – 10 p.m. It includes live music and a fisherman’s poetry slam, as well as local seafood, which will be served throughout the festival. The tentative menu includes clam chowder, fried fish and reindeer sausage. Coffman Cove, located on the northeast coast of Prince of Wales Island, has about 200 year round residents. It has a gas station, general merchandise store, take-out restaurant, liquor store, bar, cabin rentals, lodging with or without meals, car rentals, boat rentals, marine repair, seafood freezing and storage, RV park, local greenhouse produce, a harbor with electricity and water, public library with wireless internet, fishing, hunting and more. http://ccalaska.com 907-329-2233
GETTING THERE
The town is accessible by land, sea and air. Rainforest Islands Ferry travels between Coffman Cove, Wrangell and Petersburg, with shuttle service at each port. Go to www.rainforestislandsferry.com or call 844-329-2031 for more information. Coffman Cove is connected to the Prince of Wales road system and is 70 miles from the Inter-Island Ferry Authorities terminal in Hollis. The Inter–Island Ferry offers regular service between Ketchikan and Hollis. For reservations or more information visit www.interislandferry.com or call 866-308-4848. Breakaway Adventures out of Wrangell has jet boat service to Coffman Cove. For reservations or more information visit www.breakawayadventures.com or call 888-385-2488. Island Air Express has daily service between Klawock and Ketchikan. Air service direct to Coffman Cove is availably from Taquan Air, Southeast Aviation and Sunrise Aviation. Coffman Cove also has a full service harbor for those with their own boats.
15
The Sitka Arts & Science Festival gives its participants the chance to reunite themselves with nature. This event is for curious scientists and artists that wish to embrace any and all problems with a creative outlook. All ages and experience levels are welcome to join. Participants design their own camp experience. Options range from fish skin sewing to Northwest Coast carving; from botanical diversity to harbor seal skeleton reconstruction. All courses represent diverse fields in science and arts. Participants receive hands on interaction with their chosen course topic. At the week’s end, each participant will share their work from the festival. Workshops all cost $445. For Week 1, scheduled to run July 22-28, the four workshops will be: Muskeg Mycology and Meadows: Exploring the Botanical Diversity of Southeast Alaska with Kitty LaBounty; Collage: medium, design tool & way of life with Ellen Weinstein; The Elements of Photography with Clark James Mishler; and Sewing with Fish Skin with Audrey Armstrong. For the second week running from July 29-Aug. 4 the workshops will be: Exploring the World by Listening to Nature, People & Places with Richard Nelson; Harbor Seals and their Neighbors: Studying Marine Mammals with Shannon Atkinson; Northwest Coast Carving with Donald Varnell; and Diving Through the Page with lê thi diem thúy. There will also be a few different local excursions, including a guided hike to a salmon stream, a wildlife boat tour and also a trip to the Sheldon Jackson Museum. According to a press release from the festival “Ellen Weinstein, an internationally recognized illustrator and instructor, chose to teach at the festival this year because of its uniqueness - uniting the arts and sciences in a handson, immersive camp setting. “I’m excited about my course but also the Festival, who comes and their interests,” Weinstein said. “I teach all over the world and I’ve never seen a workshop like this.”” For more information, visit http://www.sitkafestival.org
Courtesy images from the 2016 Sitka Arts & Science Festival.
16
The Tongass Rainforest Festival, an annual event held during the second week of September in Petersburg, is designed to bring participants closer to the natural world through education, exploration and the arts. This year is the 10th festival; in that anniversary’s honor, organizers are “resurrecting” some previous years’ artwork. Some of the festival’s annual, popular events include “Dive for Science,” in which two divers bring things found off the Petersburg docks to the surface for kids to see and touch, as art activities for kids and adults. There’s also a poetry reading Saturday night, a multimedia and a keynote address, an art opening, glacier field trips, and trips up the Stikine River. This year, said Petersburg Agent for the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program Sunny Rice, the keynote topic is ocean acidification. A speaker from the Ocean Acidification Network will give the talk. The art show’s theme this year is “convergence.” Artists from around Southeast Alaska are invited to submit their work. The exhibit, which is at the Clausen Museum, will open Friday, Sept. 8. Sunday night, Sept. 10, they’ll repeat a tradition they started this year – a local foods dinner. http://www.akrainforestfest.org/ https://www.facebook.com/rainforestfestival/ 907-772-3381 information@akrainforestfest.org
Left: Artwork for the 10th annual Tongass Rainforest Festival, created by Kellii Wood. Above: Joe Viechnicki led a plein-air painting field trip up the Stikine River in 2016 during Petersburg’s Tongass Rainforest Festival. He’ll be leading the trip again this year. Photo courtesy of Joe Viechnicki.
17
Celebrate marine life with Sitka’s unique science festival: WhaleFest. Sitka Sound Science Center brings this event to the community and blends local knowledge with scientific inquiry of the marine environment of northern oceans. There will also be community and cultural activities, the weekend events include lectures, marine wildlife cruises in beautiful Sitka Sound, a marine-themed artisan market, music, local foods, art show, interactive student sessions, and a fun run or walk. Online registration will begin on June 1. Paper tickets will be available at the Sitka Sound Science Center (834 Lincoln Street, Sitka) beginning on Oct. 1st and at Old Harbor Books (201 Lincoln Street) on Oct. 20. Right: Attendees at a past Whalefest listen to a speaker at Sitka’s Harrigan Centennial Hall. Photo by Tim Shobe. Far right: A humpback whale dives in front of Mount Edgecumbe.
18
Bald eagles fight over the remains of a salmon carcass Wednesday, July 11, 2012, at the Wayside Park on Channel Drive in Juneau, Alaska. Salmon returning to the nearby fish hatchery attract fishermen and wildlife alike.
The 23rd annual Alaska Bald Eagle Festival will be held in Haines on Nov. 6-11 and marks a recurring natural phenomenon: three to four thousand eagles descending on the Chilkat Valley for a chance at the late run of salmon in a five-mile, unfrozen stretch of the Chilkat River. Attendees come from all over the world to watch the eagles congregate and learn more about them through events planned by the American Bald Eagle Foundation. Events will be held at the foundation’s museum on the corner of Second Avenue and Haines Highway and daily buses will carry attendees to the eagle preserve.
baldeagles.org/festival info@baldeagles.org (907) 766-3094
19
17th annual Prince of Wales Island Marathon, Half Marathon & Relays, May 27
Carolers sing at Skagway’s Yuletime in 2016.
POW’s annual marathon and relays will be held May 27. The event is suitable for all levels, from walkers on up. The USATF-certified course starts at sea level on a paved highway and climbs to 400 feet toward the middle, with lots to look at along the way. Info: http://www.powmarathon.org/ Photo by Clara Miller | Capital City Weekly files
22nd annual Fran Delisle Cancer Awareness Walkathon, Skagway, June 3
This walk, sponsored by the Eagles Auxillary #25 and the Emblem Club, follows the Dyea road along the Taiya Inlet, through spruce forest to historic downtown Skagway. There is also a half walk, starting in Long Bay. Both take place on Saturday, June 3. All money raised by the walk provides cancer screenings and aid to Skagway residents diagnosed with cancer. Info: http://skagway.com/events/
Duff’s Skagway marathon, half marathon, and walking half marathon, June 10
This 26-mile run climbs multiple hills, passes through a glacially carved valley, a Sitka spruce wood, over the Taiya River tressle bridge, past numerous streams, and up West Creek Valley before reaching a forest opening with a view of West Creek Glacier. The Duff’s Skagway Marathon, Half Marathon, and Walking Half Marathon is June 10. Sponsored by the Municipality of Skagway Convention and Visitors Bureau and Duff’s Backcountry Outfitters.
Kluane to Chilkat Bike Relay, June 17
The 25th annual race is scheduled for June 17. The course covers mountain valleys and alpine passes, allowing riders to experience flats, steep descents, and long climbs. The total distance is 148.1 miles along the Haines Road, through the Yukon and Alaska. Info: http://kcibr.org/
Mudball Classic Softball Tournament
The annual Labor Day Mudall Classic Softball Tournament in Sitka is organized by the Sitka Softball Association. Info: www.sitka.org.
Klondike International Road Relay, Skagway, Sept. 8-9
The Klondike Road Relay runs every year from Skagway to Whitehorse. People dress up, have fun, and run all night. Info: http://klondikeroadrelay.com/
Capital Brewfest, September
Now in its fifth season, this celebration of beer features live music from local bands, food trucks, and lots and lots of beer. Hosted in September by Juneau Rotary and United Way. Info: http://www.capbrewfest.com/
Octoberfest Celebration, Petersburg
Held during the entire month of October, this festival features music concerts, gallery walks, go-cart races, a chili feed, an arts and crafts fair and a quilt show. Info: http://www.petersburg.org/visitor/festivals.html
Fall Festival 2017: A Celebration of Art, Music and Life in the North, Skagway
Enjoy Skagway’s Fall Festival, a celebration of art, music and life in the north, on Oct.-2022, 2017. Info: Skagway.com
Yuletide, Skagway
Celebrate the holiday season in the month of December in Skagway. Frequent events include a Yuletide Ball, Santa driving into town on a fire engine to light the town tree, and taking a ride with Santa on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. Info: Skagway.com
20
Few spring and summer traditions are more cherished than that of fishing for king salmon. Sadly, for reasons scientists aren’t yet sure of, ocean conditions have been unfavorable for this year’s returning kings. In Juneau, that has led to the cancellation of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska’s annual Spring King Salmon Derby, a fundraiser for its higher education programs. As of press time, all the other salmon derbies on this list are still scheduled. • Annual Craig Klawock King Salmon Derby May 1-June 30; July 1-Aug. 15
Now run by the city of Craig, one ticket in this competition gets you into both derbies. Proceeds support salmon enhancement on Prince of Wales Island. Info: City of Craig, 826-3275 • Annual King Salmon Derby, Wrangell, May 13-June 11, 2017.
Wrangell’s annual King Salmon Derby is held mid-May through mid-June, and distributes more than $30,000 in cash and prizes. Info: www.wrangellchamber.org/annual-salmonderby.html • Petersburg Memorial Day Salmon Derby, May 26-29
Sponsored by the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and supported by the businesses in town and the region, this derby is held over Memorial Day Weekend. Info: www.petersburg.org/visitor/festivals.html
• Annual Ketchikan King Salmon Derby, May 27, weekend one; June 3-4, weekend two; and June 10-11, weekend three.
Sponsored by CHARR (Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant and Retailers Association) this derby helps fund educational programs and is spread over three weekends. Info: http://www.ketchikankingsalmonderby. com/ •Sitka Sportsman’s Salmon Derby, May 27-29, June 3-4
Sitka’s salmon derby is held for five days, spread over two weekends. Info: www.facebook.com/Sitka-SalmonDerby-219533411398857/ • Annual Pelican King Salmon Derby, June 2-4, June 9-11
The Pelican derby is sponsored by the Pelican Chamber of Commerce and held on the first two weekends in June. Info: www.pelican.net • Golden North Salmon Derby
This year’s Golden North Salmon Derby is scheduled for Aug. 11-13. The Golden North Salmon Derby began in 1947 and is sponsored by the Territorial Sportsmen, who provide scholarships for graduating high school seniors as well as for graduate study and vocational training. For more information, go to goldennorthsalmonderby.com. Info: goldennorthsalmonderby.com
Past salmon derbies in Juneau.
File photos by Michael Penn | Juneau Empire