Angoon – Day 1 (SEAK 25)

Guest bloggers – SEAK25: The SEAK Team traveled to Juneau Alaska from Wooster where they had been learning the basic of tree-ring dating and dendroclimatic analyses,

After spending a couple days in Juneau, our Keck SEAK 2025 Team took a seaplane to Angoon.

Seaplane at the airport waiting for takeoff! Half the team traveled to Angoon on the amphibious float plane (above) and the other half traveled via the Beaver (below) on floats.

Alaska Seaplanes Beaver on floats.

A view of Angoon’s west beach, the old ferry dock, and the first cemetery site (located next to the church, white building on the hill).

Upon arrival, we met with the Angoon Alaska Youth Stewards (AYS) group. AYS “employs a new generation of environmental and cultural leaders to care for [their] lands, waters, and communities” (Alaska Youth Stewards, 2025).

Our first meeting with the AYS crew at the forest service cabin, talking logistics about the next couple of days.

An AYS crew member coring a tree for the first time!

Another AYS corer!

We took a brief lunch and reconvened in the afternoon with S’eiltin Jamiann Hasselquist. Jamiann told us her story: She was born and raised in downtown Juneau, but her mother was from Angoon. Jamiann is involved with Haa Tóoch Lichéesh (HTL), a nonprofit that has organized Orange Shirt Day events, ocean dips, and cemetery cleanup (Juneau Empire, 2024). To honor her mother and give back to the community of Angoon, Jamiann has undertaken the large task of cleaning up and restoring some of the local cemeteries. We and the AYS crew joined in Jamiann’s efforts.

During cleanup, we uncovered a massive slab under the shrubbery. Jamiann cleaned it off, looking for any engravings.

Jamiann posing with the a headstone that we uncovered and stood up.  Prior to cleanup, this headstone was buried underneath the road.

Also on Day 1, we visited a second site with a massive obelisk. Here, we focused on clearing the weeds and cutting down a tree so the obelisk was more visible from town. 

AYS, Jamiann, and SEAK 25 with the obelisk.

Panorama looking west toward the offshore to Chicagof Island.

References

Reid, M. (Ḵaa Yahaayí Shkalneegi). (2024). Resilient peoples and place: Catalyzing healing – a Q&A with S’eiltin Jamiann Hasselquist. Juneau Empire. https://www.juneauempire.com/news/resilient-peoples-and-place-catalyzing-healing-a-qeiltin-jamiann-hasselquist/

Sustainable Southeast Partnership. (2025). Alaska Youth Stewards. Sustainable Southeast Partnership. https://sustainablesoutheast.net/sub_focus_area/alaskan-youth-stewards/

The work of Keck SEAK25 is funded by the Keck Geology Consortium and the National Science Foundation.