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The stories that you appear here
were first published on the 50th
Anniversary of The Last Great Potlatch,
the dedication of Chief Shakes Island
which occurred in 1990. The special
pull out section appeared in the
Wrangell Sentinel and won a first place
award for the newspaper that year.
The stories were researched and written
by me and are copyrighted. They have
been incorporated into a future book
called "Totem Tales" that I hope to have
published in honor of my adopted
mother, Sadie Campus. Sadie, a Tlingit
Elder, honored me by adopting me into
the Eagle Tribe during the re-dedication
of the Tribal House, and gave me the
name of her great-great Aunt, Tsa Yees.
Tlingit Elder Marlieta Wallace designed
and made the ceremonial robe that was
given to me at that time.
The Last Great Potlatch
copyright 1990 Patricia A. Neal
"The
Last Great Potlatch" was the unofficial
title given to the events of June 3-4,
1940. During these festivities, Native
people from across the Panhandle
elevated the last Chief Shakes to the
position of Chief of the Stikine Tribe.
Included in the planning and activities,
however, were not only Wrangell's Native
residents but the non-Natives as well.
Invited to attend were "white chiefs,"
including the president of the United
States, Alaskan Territorial dignitaries
as well as people from Alaska and the
Outside.
Skash Gue Named Chief Shakes
Speaking through an interpreter,
Charley Jones formally accepted the
honor of becoming Chief Shakes VII
before a public meeting held at City
Hall on March 28, 1940. With his
acceptance of this honor, the beginning
of the plans for a huge Potlatch began
to take form.
Speaking through his interpreter,
Louis F. Paul, President of the local
Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp No. 2,
Jones told the gathering in his Tlingit
language, that while it was "not his
wish to be elevated to the venerable
position of Chief Shakes," he would
agree to the wishes of his People and
accept that honor. Until that day, Jones
had never been officially elevated to
the position of Chief Shakes, although
he had that right by birth and rank.
Escorted by Paul, Mrs. Paul, George
Collins, Joe Thomas and William Tamaree,
the Chief-elect was given the place of
honor at the meting call to discuss
plans for the dedication of Shakes
Island and the induction of Charley
Jones as Chief Shakes VII.
Not since Chief Shakes VI died in
1916, had there been a new chief
installed by the Stikine Tribe. Although
Jones had fulfilled his obligations
necessary to be worthy of accepting the
position of Chief, he had never gone
through the ceremony which would
officially elevate him to that of Chief
of the Stikine Tribe.
When Chief Shakes VI passed away,
according to Tlingit custom, Jones had
to make the arrangements for the
funeral, pay for the expenses of the
funeral and take care of the gifts to be
made as part of the respect to be shown
the departed Chief Shakes. While he
carefully carried out his duties, it was
the litigation over Shakes Island which
caused the problems with his following
through with the ceremony.
According to Tlingit custom, Jones
would have become the next Chief Shakes
upon the death of Chief Shakes VI, but
times had changed. According to white
man's law, the property of Shakes Island
was inherited by Mary Shakes, widow of
Chief Shakes VI. While it was noted in
the court records that Jones had a right
to the island according to tribal law,
it was the laws of the U.S. Government
which took precedence. Jones could have
contested the estate, but he chose not
to do so.
By the time Mrs. Shakes passed away,
she had sold part of the island to Axel
Rasmussen and willed the remainder of
the island to her heirs. Her will ended
up in a long court litigation with the
entire estate eventually being awarded
to her son, George Shakes. The entire
property was eventually turned over to
the U.S. Forest Service so that the CCC
could be allowed to conduct their totem
project in Wrangell. Upon completion of
the project, Shakes Island was turned
over to the jurisdiction of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs who controlled the
property until the early 1980's.
At the time of the CCC project,
Jones was 76 years old and his People
felt that it was time to complete the
honor that was due this stately
gentleman. With the assistance of the
Wrangell Chamber of Commerce and the
community of Wrangel but without the
right to the island or to the tribal
house and with much of Chief Shakes'
ceremonial robes and staff owned by
others and loaned for the occasion,
Charley Jones, was elevated to this
rightful position as Chief Shakes VII on
June 3, 1940.
Wrangell Potlatch, Inc.
Wrangell Potlatch, Inc. was formed
to provide the management and
organization necessary to put on the
Potlatch in 1940. While representatives
from virtually every organization in the
community were appointed to the
committees, it was headed up by Ed
Keithahn of the Wrangell Institute.
Keithahn, who was in charge of rhe arts
and crafts at Wrangell Institute, was
considered the man for the job at
potlatch manger.
A graduate of the University of
Washington, with a major in anthropology
and a minor in journalism, Keithahn had
spent several years in the Indian
service throughout Alaska. He spent
three years operating his own newspaper
in Tenino, Washington where he was
involved in directing the activities of
the annual Thurston County Fair.
With permission of General
Superintendent C.M. Hirst of the Office
of Indian Affairs, Keithahn was lent to
the potlatch committee as manager of its
affairs for 60 days. With that
appointment, Wrangell Potlatch Inc.,
opened up its office in the J.C. Johnson
plumbing store building. Members of the
committee estimated it would take close
to $2,000 to put on the potlatch. In the
end, the potlatch came in $329.82 in the
red.
According to the Wrangell Sentinel,
the Central committee was made up of
James Nolan, Elks; Louis F. Paul, Alaska
Native Brotherhood; Frank S. Barnes,
Redmen; E.M. Campbell, American Legion;
Mrs. Mary Anderson, Civic Club; George
Fabricius, Wrangell Public Schools; Miss
Sue Smith, Eastern Star; E.L. Keithahn,
Wrangell Institute; Mrs. Louis F. Paul,
Alaska Native Sisterhood; Lew Williams,
chamber of Commerce.
Ten additional committees were named
to handle the finances, publicity,
ceremonials and even the weather.
Reception duties, invitations, banquet,
housing, contests and decorations also
were duties performed by others in the
community.
Dances were held in advance to raise
money. Russian tunics, in bright colors,
were the dress of the day. Displays were
arranged in storefront windows to
promote the local resources. The
community knew that a large number of
visitors would be attending the
ceremonies at Shakes Island and they
knew tourism would be important to the
town. Everyone dug in and did their part
to make the community attractive.
Invitations were sent out to
dignitaries inviting them to attend the
special ceremonies. The first invitation
sent by the chief-elect went to
President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Others
went to members of the Indian Affairs
committee of the U. S. Senate and House,
the Interior and Agriculture
secretaries, postmaster general,
Territorial Gov. Ernest Gruening, Alaska
Delegate Anthony J. Dimond, as well as
many others.
While mailing invitations to what he
called "white Chiefs" broke with
tradition, Chief-elect Kudanake (Charley
Jones) insisted that traditional
personal invitations be made to the
tribes in Southeast Alaska. And so,
accompanied many times by U.S. Forest
Service personnel in their government
vessel, Jones and several others
traveled about Southeast personally
inviting the people to the potlatch.
While Kudanake was busy making his
personal invitations, local residents
were busy purchasing Wrangell Potlatch,
Inc. stationery so that they, too, could
invite visitors to the activities.
The Last Great Potlatch
The following are excerpts from The
Wrangell Sentinel, June 7, 1940. It is
fitting to allow the words of Winnie
Williams, former owner and editor of The
Wrangell Sentinel, to relate the
happenings of the day as she recorded
them over fifty years ago.
"Colorful Ceremony Marks Coronation of
Chief Shakes VII"
Before an audience that packed the
ANB hall to the rafters, Kudanke became
Chief Shakes VI, tribal ruler of the
Tlingit people, at impressive ancient
ceremonies Monday afternoon, bringing to
an end a regency of 24 years since the
death of the last Chief Shakes.
Stately and dignified, Chief Shakes
accepted the honor conferred upon by his
people speaking his appreciation in his
native tongue while a hundred of his
fellow tribesmen in bright colored
blankets and other native dress, went
through the ceremonies just as they had
been done centuries ago before the
coming of the white man. The chief
pledged himself to carry on as fair and
impartial leader of his people,
stressing to his people that they should
be happy to be living under the Stars
and Stripes, mindful of trouble which
were besetting the world elsewhere.
"Be happy," he said. "Be happy. It
is an occasion for joy, not alone that
we are gathered here in joyful
celebration but that we should be happy
that we are at peace and not in the wars
which are now besieging the world."
"1500 Visitors Here to Attend First
Potlatch"
Approximately 1,500 visitors, more
than doubling Wrangell's population of
1142, streamed into town on Monday and
Tuesday to take part in Wrangell's first
annual Potlatch which marked with
colorful ceremonies in connection with
the coronation of Kudanake as Chief
Shakes VII.
They came from as far away as New
York, Phoenix, Arizona, in the States
and from all over the Territory, leaving
with the virtually unanimous voiced
opinion that the Potlatch was one of the
most colorful affairs it had ever been
their pleasure to witness.
Gove. Ernest Gruening made a flying
trip from the national capital, where he
had been called recently, to get back in
time for the Potlatch. He canceled one
important conference of governors in
Duluth in order to make the Alaska out
of Seattle last Saturday and arrived
here on Monday in time to be Chief
Shakes' principal guest speaker at the
banquet that evening.
Dr. Ira Gabrielson, chief of the new
department of Fish and Wildlife Service,
and his official party were here for the
banquet and throughout the two days they
came from every point of the compass.
An estimated 175 persons came over
by plane and boats from Petersburg. Many
business places in the neighbor city
closed their doors on Monday and Tuesday
in order to take part in the Potlatch.
The Coast Guard Cutters Nehaha and Cyane
came with the Cutter Haida with
officials from the capital city headed
by the Territory's First Lady, Mrs.
Ernest Gruening. Arriving early was a
delegation from Prince Rupert by boat,
its mast gay with flying pennants.
"Dedication is Feature of Potlatch
Event"
Despite inclement weather on the
opening day, resulting in the
cancellation of the children's sport,
the Potlatch program went off as
planned, opening with the dedication of
Shakes Community house on the Island
Monday morning and concluding with the
colorful costume Potlatch dance on
Tuesday night.
Dedicatory ceremonies at the Island
Monday morning were in charge of the
U.S. Forest Service and speakers were
Regional Forester Frank Heintzleman,
General Superintendent Claud M. Hirst of
the Office of Indian Affairs and William
L. Paul, Grand Secretary of the Alaska
Native Brotherhood.
Following the luncheon hour the
Chief's inaugural ceremonies took place
in the ANB before a packed house, more
than 100 native people in colorful
costume taking part. Sixty-eight dancers
were here from Kake alone, in addition
to local dancers and others from Angoon
and Klawock. It was estimated that more
than 500 Indian people were here for the
celebration coming from virtually every
village in southeast Alaska.
The ANB dance was the feature of
Monday evening and the opening of the
second day was marked with the
dedication of Walter C. Waters' Tagcook
pole at the head of Front Street, where
the dedicatory remarks were made by E.L.
Keithahn, Manager of the Potlatch.
One of the most impressive and
colorful affairs was the Chief's burial
canoe ceremony at the Island on the
second day, marred only by a severe
shower. Here in picturesque setting, the
hundreds of visitors were able to
witness a ceremony not seen before by
many white men and not presented by the
Indians in dozens of years. It harkened
of many centuries ago when Potlatch
ceremonies continued for long periods
and were untainted by modern conditions.
"Potlatch Banquet of Chief Shakes Grand
Success"
It was with undisguised pride that
people of Wrangell, both native and
white, sat in the banquet hall of
Wrangell Institute last Monday evening
and listened as Chief Shakes standing at
his place at the head table, gave a
speech of welcome to more than 200 of
his invited guests to the Potlatch in
which he assumed the title of Chief
Shakes.
Introduced by George W. Barrett,
toastmaster and superintendent of the
Institute, the Chief stately and
dignified, delivered his message of
welcome in his own Tlingit tongue
through William L. Paul, interpreter. He
expressed deep appreciation at having as
one of his guests the "great white
chief: Governor Ernest Gruening and Mrs.
Gruening, and the heads of the Indian
Bureau and Forest Service who had done
so much to make his potlatch the
outstanding success that it was. He also
paid high tribute to the Wrangell
Chamber of Commerce and the Potlatch
committee telling them that, according
to Tlingit tradition, they were now
adopted brothers into his nation for
having helped so unselfishly in the
festivities. The Kake people whom he had
invited to partake in his coronation and
dancing and singing, according to native
custom, came in for special appreciative
thanks and were seated at a special
table for them in the center of the
room.
Governor Gruening expressed himself
as deeply impressed with the ceremonies
he had witnessed and, after paying
tribute to Chief Shakes and those who
had taken part in making the Potlatch
possible, said that it was with deep
satisfaction he found people once again
taking an interest in and reviving the
ancient arts and cultures of past
generations and compared Wrangell's
future to that of Hawaii where tourists
come from thousands of miles to see the
ancient dances and arts of the islands.
He hoped, he said, that this Potlatch
would be only the beginning of annual
Potlatches for many years to come.
Federal Judge George F. Alexander,
of Juneau, who attended with Mrs.
Alexander, said he was sincerely
appreciative of his invitation from
Chief Shakes to attend the Potlatch.
Other guests who spoke before the group
were Dr. Ira Gabrielson, Fish and
Wildlife Service; Claud Hirst, head of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, at Juneau;
Frank Heintzleman, chief of the Forest
Service in Alaska; Rev. Paul Mather of
Ketchikan, a member of the Raven tribe
in Ketchikan; and Louis Paul of
Wrangell.
Clever favors, carved by students of
the Institute, were pinned to each place
card and were small pins depicting the
whale, rave, killer whale and frog
emblems of different branches of the
Tlingit tribe. Following the banquet
guests returned to Wrangell to attend
the Potlatch dance at the ANB hall.
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