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It’s never too late to say Thank You To the Editor: While Memorial Day was last week, I want to share a story of a powerful encounter I had with a veteran that brings tears to my eyes to this day. Years ago, I was at a craft show people-watching. I noticed an elderly couple hobbling down the aisle. They shared a striking resemblance to my own Midwestern parents: The wife had permed gray hair, polyester pants and was clutching her purse. The husband wore a flannel shirt, suspenders and a ball cap. As they (very) slowly made their way closer, I c...
The "Kéet Yaakw" – or the killer whale canoe – launched from Petersburg on Sunday morning and reignited a tradition of canoe-based transportation – the first such departure in at least 100 years. Traveling by canoe to Celebration – the biennial gathering of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribes in Juneau – has been a tradition for tribes in the region. This year Petersburg joins the paddling tradition for the first time since Celebration became an event. ShaaL'aanee Brandon Ware is Petersburg...
The Petersburg Community Foundation distributed grants totaling nearly $50,000 to nine local organizations at its annual award reception Saturday, highlighting during the event that the local foundation's invested endowment has officially crossed $1 million for the first time. Board chair Glorianne Wollen opened the ceremony by tracing the milestone back to the foundation's founding in 2008 as an affiliate of the Alaska Community Foundation, when its initial fundraising goal was $50,000. "It is...
The 68th year of Little Norway Festival opens Thursday, May 14, for four days of parades, smørbrød, live music, competitive herring-tossing and all manner of communal revelry that could only happen in this town. The celebration runs through Sunday, May 17. "I love that everybody comes to town," said Kelli Slaven, who coordinates the festival schedule for the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. "I love seeing all the people downtown - the kids running, familiar faces and new ones. It just kind of mak...
Walk downtown Petersburg during Little Norway Festival and you'll find artwork just about everywhere you look. It's in the galleries and on the walls of pop-up shows. It's on the parade floats. And it's in the storefronts of Petersburg-Wrangell Insurance, IGA, First Bank and Wells Fargo - where the students of Rae C. Stedman Elementary School have their work on display for anyone passing by. "[The festival] is quite a concentrated experience of visual creativity," said Firelight Gallery owner Ma...
On Missing Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day, Tuesday, May 5, Petersburg Indian Association organized a noise parade to raise awareness of the high rates of violence against Indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada, and to urge advocacy in Alaska which has the country's highest rate of MMIP and where Alaska Native women experience violence at a rate nearly ten times higher than the national average. During the parade (pictured right) Leann Marie Johnston and Priscilla Brusell displayed...
Construction has begun on the expansion of the Tlingit and Haida Airport Subdivision near Mountain View Manor, and the first visible sign of that work - the removal of roughly 300 feet of the area's popular boardwalk trail - has prompted some dismay from residents who say they were caught off guard by the closure. The boardwalk trail section that runs through the muskeg from the Mountain View Manor area toward the Hungry Point Loop trail will remain closed to the public for the duration of...
There are two types of people in the world, those who salivate at the idea of being a lighthouse keeper, and those whose mouths go dry at the idea. What is it about lighthouses? They're a symbol of isolation, but their purpose is to connect with and protect others. They're used as a metaphor for everything from hope to knowledge to love, but name a book, movie, or TV show with a lighthouse that doesn't have someone die in it. Lighthouse keepers are stereotyped as antisocial hermits, but who...
The Keet Yaakw is the first Alaska Native-designed canoe to be launched out of Petersburg, at least since Petersburg was incorporated as a town in 1910. Petersburg Indian Association Tribal Council Vice President ShaaL'aanee Brandon Ware described the feeling of bringing the new canoe towards shore at Sandy Beach, where it was unveiled to the public. "Coming into the bay, I knew we were seeing the same thing our people have seen since time immemorial... when it was a seasonal fish camp for thous...
The unofficial 2026 Petersburg Indian Association election results are in. Tribal members re-elected Carol Martinez to a one-year term as council president, and elected Stephanie Silva to a two-year tribal council seat. Martinez and Silva were the only candidates running for spots on the tribal council this year, leaving two council member seats unfilled. This year’s election had a significant decrease in candidates compared to previous years. Last year, 11 candidates and two write-ins ran for six available seats. The 2024 election had nine c... Full story
January 2025 The Petersburg Borough Assembly agreed to transfer seven parcels of borough-owned land in the Airport Addition Subdivision to Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority (THRHA) in exchange for the developing road and utilities for 11 residential lots. The snowpack at the Raven's Ridge snow survey site at 1,650 ft elevation measured zero inches. One of only two years on record without snowpack in January. Rock-N-Road Construction was awarded the contract for the borough's Pump Station...
Tribal members will decide who will serve as the Petersburg Indian Association’s council president and who will fill three seats on the tribal council when the tribal government holds its election on Jan. 5. The president serves a one-year term, while tribal council members serve two-year terms. Current council members Heather Conn and Nathan Lopez and Heather Conn will not be seeking reelection. Conn will be taking time to care for herself and her family, and Lopez is moving out of Petersburg. Conn has held a seat on the tribal council for s... Full story
Petersburg is feeling the impact of the federal government shutdown leaving families without their November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. But local organizations are responding quickly to ramp up food distribution efforts. "It's already hitting our community hard," said Veronica Ware, the Johnson O'Malley and Social Services Director at the Petersburg Indian Association. "I've already had calls from citizens in tears because they don't have any food and they don't have any...
The final piece of funding is in place for replacement of the deteriorating breakwater system at Banana Point, with construction expected to begin next spring. The Petersburg Borough Assembly accepted a $78,000 contribution last week from the Petersburg Indian Association to close a gap between the project's existing budget and the lowest construction bid. The borough has issued a notice to award to bidders and plans to present a contract for assembly authorization at its next meeting,...
This Saturday, the Petersburg Public Library is hosting the opening reception for TalisWoman, this year’s iteration of Petersburg’s long-running Women’s Art Show. While the library regularly features art displays and maintains a permanent art collection, hosting a curated exhibition complete with an opening reception is a rare occasion. The last time the library hosted a curated art show was the touring exhibition “Decolonizing Alaska” back in 2018, which spanned the library and the Clausen M...
Bob Lynn's decision to run for mayor wasn't made lightly. "It wasn't an easy decision for me at all."But he sees a need for the community to become more self-reliant as times become more challenging and costs shift from state and federal government to the local level. He says he is willing to listen to and work with all and has demonstrated his ability to help guide decision making: "I have the time to do this, and I have the experience. I'm hoping that I get a chance to try some ideas and see...
To the Editor: At the July 21, 2025, assembly meeting, I should have recused myself on the vote regarding the application by Mr. Ohmer to purchase property on Haugen. I didn’t. I should have and I was wrong. Prior to that meeting, I had studied the agenda and thoughtfully considered if this proposal in particular would be a conflict of interest for me. I determined it was not as it would not benefit me financially, substantially or otherwise, regardless of whether or not this proposal passed or not. What I failed to do in this situation was con...
After years of planning and months of craftsmanship, Petersburg Indian Association has installed a traditional dugout canoe at Sandy Beach Park, marking the completion of the Hutli Plaza portion of their broader cultural and recreational project. The 10-foot children's canoe, carved by Juneau-based artists Herb Sheakley Jr. and his brother Samuel Sheakley, now sits on a sandy foundation near the 3,000-year-old fish traps that mark the site as a historic fish camp. The canoe, called a "yaakw" i...
Friends, family and community members gathered near the Petersburg Indian Association's Hallingstad-Peratrovich Building on June 28 to celebrate the town's first annual Amy Hallingstad Day, honoring a Tlingit woman who shaped Petersburg's history in the 20th century. Nicole Hallingstad, Amy Hallingstad's granddaughter, flew in from Anchorage to welcome attendees to the event, which was organized with PIA. She said her grandmother's decades of activism for Alaska Native rights inspired her to...
Petersburg Indian Association disposed of ten junk vehicles from around the community last month. "Ten junk vehicles for people who couldn't get them up to the dump," said Brandon Thynes who oversees the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) for PIA. "It went really well, people were really up for it and it helped the community," said Thynes. "We contracted a towing company, and they towed the vehicle and took out the fluids and did the tires." More residents signed up than...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved Resolution #2025-08 on April 21, formalizing the expansion of the Airport Addition Subdivision that will double the project to 22 borough-owned lots to be developed in partnership with the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority (THRHA). The amendment to the January 7 agreement adds 11 additional lots to the project, bringing the total development to 22 residential parcels. In exchange for financing and constructing the infrastructure...
Petersburg Indian Association Council President Carol Martinez portions out frozen Sitka herring eggs on branches into gallon bags for Petersburg's tribal citizens. A fisherman volunteer collected and provided these eggs for free distribution by PIA. Herring roe on branches is not something that can be bought or sold, so PIA appreciates those volunteers who help to gather the subsistence foods. In recent years, the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Tribes purchased herring roe on kelp - which...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly has once again rejected a proposal to establish a police K9 unit, voting against the request by a 5-1 margin despite grassroots advocacy efforts and significant financial pledges. The proposal, which returned for reconsideration at Monday's assembly meeting after being initially rejected in February, failed to gain approval even with new funding commitments from the Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) and local businesses. Perspectives on the drug dog proposal...
The Petersburg Police Department's previously rejected K9 unit proposal has gained significant momentum through community financial support and grassroots advocacy efforts. Reconsideration of the proposal is anticipated at the Borough Assembly's first meeting in April. The Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) has emerged as a major supporter, pledging $14,000 from opioid settlement funds to help cover the unit's maintenance costs. "We received opioid settlement funds from class action lawsuits...
