Angoon bombardment

Following the Alaska Purchase, the United States Army came to Alaska to serve as the civil administering entity of the Department of Alaska. Administration of the department was transferred to the United States Navy in 1879. The U.S. authorities used common law, while the Tlingit people used indigenous law. Americans generally characterized the Tlingit legal framework as based on "revenge"; in actuality it was more complex and involved "peace ceremonies" which included compensation in either goods or human lives.[1]

In 1869, two major conflicts took place between the army and Tlingit groups following retribution killings by the Tlingit against whites:

1. In the February 1869 Kake War, three deserted villages and two forts were destroyed near present-day Kake, Alaska by the USS Saginaw. Prior to the conflict, two white trappers were killed by the Kake in retribution for the death of two Kake departing Sitka village in canoe. Sitka was the site of a standoff between the Army and Tlingit due to the army demanding the surrender of chief Colchika who was involved in an altercation in Fort Sitka.[2]
2. In the December 1869 Wrangell Bombardment the Stikine village of Old Wrangell was bombarded by the United States Army. The army issued an ultimatum to the villagers, demanding they deliver a Stikine named Scutd-doo to justice following the retribution murder of Leon Smith by Scutd-doo. Scutd-doo's son, Lowan, had earlier been killed by soldiers following an altercation in which he bit off the finger of the wife of the quartermaster of Fort Wrangell. Following a two-day bombardment of the village and return musket fire by Stikine skirmishers, Scutd-doo was handed over to the army, court-martialed, and in the first application of the death penalty in Alaska under US rule, was hung before the garrison and Stikine villagers.[3]

In 1878, the North West Trading Company established a trading post and fish processing plan at Killisnoo, Alaska, near Angoon, Alaska.[4]

Tlingit Shaman, ca. 1900. Portrait of man wearing fur cape and carved amulet necklace, holding raven rattle

on 22 October 1882, a Tlingit shaman by the name of Til'tlein[lower-alpha 1] working aboard a whaling ship in the bay died as a result of an accidental explosion of a whaling bomb.[5][6]

The Tlingit demanded two hundred blankets in compensation for the death of the shaman. In Tlingit law, compensation was also required for accidental deaths. To ensure payment, the Tlingit took two whites and two boats hostage at the plant in Killisnoo and discontinued working. [5][7][8]

The superintendent of the whaling station at Killisnoo, J.M. Vanderbilt, managed to escape on the company tug Favorite to Sitka, Alaska, arriving on 23 October, and request assistance from Commander Edgar C. Merriman, who commanded the largest ship then in Alaskan waters, the USS Adams.[6][8]

As the USS Adams was thought to be too large to navigate in the shallow waters of the bay,[8] Merriman tendered the company tug Favorite and the USRC Thomas Corwin under the command of Michael A. Healy, upon which he placed a company of marines, a Gatling gun, and a howitzer.[9][5]

Merriman's force arrived at Angoon on 25 October, and the Tlingit released the white hostages and captured property. Merriman, however, demanded four hundred blankets in tribute from the Tlingit to be delivered by noon the next day.[5] The villagers were only able to collect 81 blankets for the tribute payment. Merriman proceeded to destroy the houses of the village (with the exception of a few "friendly" houses), forty canoes, and food stores. While most of the inhabitants survived after fleeing the village, six children died of smoke inhalation.[10][11][5][7]

An unknown number of Tlingit died during the winter due to the loss of winter supplies and shelter.[10]

In 1884, the First Organic Act placed Alaska under civilian control.[6]

In 1973, the Indian Claims Commission awarded the Angoon clans $90,000 in compensation for clan property destroyed in 1882 value. The Angoon Tlingit continue to press for an apology by the navy.[11] Governor of Alaska Jay Hammond declared the 100th anniversary as "Tlingit Remembrance Day".[7]