Legislature(2021 - 2022)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
04/27/2021 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB10 | |
| SB81 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 10 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 81 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 10-FUNTER BAY MARINE PARK: UNANGAN CEMETERY
3:31:33 PM
CHAIR HUGHES announced the consideration of HOUSE BILL NO. 10
"An Act relating to the Funter Bay marine park unit of the state
park system; relating to protection of the social and historical
significance of the Unangan cemetery located in Funter Bay;
providing for the amendment of the management plan for the
Funter Bay marine park unit; and providing for an effective
date."
She identified the invited testifiers.
3:32:20 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SARA HANNAN, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau,
Alaska, sponsor of HB 10, explained that this legislation
proposes to add the cemetery in Funter Bay to the existing
Funter Bay State Marine Park, which is located about 14 miles
due west of Juneau on the northern tip of Admiralty Island. She
said this was an ocean away for the Unangax people who were
forced to relocate from the Pribilof Islands, and the ecosystem
was completely different.
She noted that this bill was heard in the 31st legislature, but
did not make it through the process.
3:33:32 PM
CHAIR HUGHES recognized that Senator Wilson had joined the
committee.
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN continued the introduction of HB 10
relaying the information in the following sponsor statement:
[Original punctuation provided.]
HB 10 will transfer the parcel of land that includes
the Unangax cemetery in Funter Bay from the Department
of Natural Resources Division of Land Mining and Water
to the Department of Natural Resources Division of
Parks and Recreation. The parcel will be added to the
Funter Bay Marine Park unit of the state park system
for land management.
HB 10 will preserve the cemetery and ensure its
protection so that we may remember those who died and
recognize the social and historical significance of
the site.
When the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands during
WWII, the Unangax people were forcibly removed from
the Pribilof Islands and interned in Southeast Alaska.
Some were sent to Killisnoo near Angoon, others were
sent to Burnett Inlet, some were sent to other
Southeast locations and the rest were sent to Funter
Bay near Juneau. They were given little notice and the
villagers could take only what they could carry. It
was hasty and traumatic. The Unangax were abandoned in
old cannery bunk houses not meant to house so many
people and not built for protection from winter's
harshness. Entire families were sheltered in small
cubicles that were separated sometimes only by
blankets. The living conditions were unsanitary and
there was inadequate food supply, no medical care, and
no facilities for bathing, cooking or using the
bathroom.
Less than 30 miles away in Excursion Inlet, 700 Nazi
Afrika Korps officers were imprisoned at a POW camp.
The Nazis, sworn enemies of the United States and
allies, were treated far better than the Unangax
because their conditions were guaranteed by
international law. The 700 German prisoners all
returned home after the war without a single one dying
during their imprisonment.
Back on the Pribilofs, the homes of the Unangax were
occupied by the U.S. military and looted, vandalized
and some were even burned down. The Unangax men were
forced back to the Pribilofs to harvest seal during
the summer months because the revenue was a source of
income for the U.S. government. The men did not want
to leave their families but were told that they would
not be permitted to return to their homes after the
war if they did not help harvest seal. This is a
disturbing parallel to when the Russians enslaved the
Unangax nearly two centuries earlier and forced them
to harvest seal on the then uninhabited Pribilofs.
The Unangax were left in the camp almost two years
after it was considered safe to return home. The
deadly conditions of the camp left the Unangax people
to suffer needlessly. As a direct result of this
policy, many Unangax interned in Southeast died and
some are buried in a cemetery in Funter Bay. The
descendants of those who were lost have maintained the
grave sites for 75 years.
This bill will protect the cemetery and surrounding
area for future generations without any additional
cost to the state.
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN stated that HB 10 would move 250 acres of
state land in Funter Bay into an existing state marine park that
was established in the early 1980s. She explained that when
constituents brought the idea for protecting the cemetery
forward, she approached the Department of Natural Resources who
suggested moving all remaining parcels of state land in the bay
into the state park. The department pointed out that
consolidating management under the Division of State Parks and
Recreation would be more efficient than the current two agency
management and oversight system.
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN said HB 10 will protect the historical and
cultural significance of the cemetery that has about 35 graves.
She directed attention to an image of the Unangax Cemetery and
noted that the first headstone was for a baby that died in the
fall of 1942, just a few months after arriving. She pointed out
that the residents of the other internment camps throughout
Southeast were able to return home two years earlier than those
who were held in Funter Bay.
She summarized that SB 10 preserves the cemetery by placing it
in an existing state park, and it is at the request of
descendants of those who have family members buried at the
Funter Bay Unangax Cemetery.
3:40:09 PM
CHAIR HUGHES asked if the baby whose grave marker she mentioned
died the same year as the relocation.
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN answered yes; it was June 1942.
CHAIR HUGHES asked what year the Funter Bay detainees were
allowed to return to the Pribilofs.
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN answered that people from Dutch Harbor
were allowed return home in 1944.
3:41:12 PM
CHAIR HUGHES asked if there is any formal designation of the
cemetery as an historical site and if it has a formal name.
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN answered that the cemetery has always been
known and it will be protected by being in the state marine
park, but it is rural and rustic. The Russian Orthodox Church
has been working with descendants to arrange memorial visits and
a working group has been cleaning up and maintaining the grave
sites for five or six years. The working group and the Friends
of Admiralty Island have plans to put up historical markers and
signage. She deferred further explanation to her staff who is
part of the working group.
3:44:25 PM
TIM CLARK, Staff, Representative Sara Hannan, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, stated that the working group has
been meeting weekly for about three years. This is a dedicated
group of descendants from Saint Paul and Saint George, people
from the Aleutians, the Tlingit & Haida community in Southeast,
Friends of Admiralty Island, and the Juneau City Museum. He
advised that the signage that was mentioned is intended to help
identify the short trail from the beach to the cemetery.
3:46:48 PM
CHAIR HUGHES commented that she has roots in the general area of
Funter Bay, but she did not realize that the people relocated to
Funter Bay were from Saint Paul and Saint George, which is where
her husband spent time in the 1970s to the 1990s providing
medical care. She asked how long it takes to travel from Juneau
to Funter Bay by water.
3:47:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN answered that it depends on the speed of
the boat but generally it is from 60-90 minutes. She noted that
the limiting factor often isn't the distance, but that the water
from the northern end of Admiralty Island down to Funter Bay can
be treacherous.
3:49:08 PM
CHAIR HUGHES commented on the possibility of a committee field
trip to Funter Bay and asked how many graves were in the
cemetery.
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN answered that the U.S. National Park
Service looked at the possibility of an historical designation
for all the relocation camps and that survey determined that
there are 32 documented graves at Funter Bay. However, that does
not account for the unmarked graves and those that were moved to
the cemetery in Juneau where there was a Russian Orthodox
priest.
CHAIR HUGHES asked Mr. Clark to proceed with the PowerPoint.
3:50:28 PM
MR. CLARK advised that the PowerPoint provides visual aids for
the information Representative Hannon has already given. He
directed attention to the image on slide 2 of the Unangax
Cemetery in Funter Bay in 2017. This was the trip that he
accompanied then Speaker Edgmon and his constituents from the
Pribilofs and other locations in western Alaska to commemorate
the 75th anniversary of the relocation. He noted that the very
moving ceremony included Tlingit elders, Russian Orthodox Church
officials, and other interested parties. A large cross was
erected to mark the entrance to the cemetery.
MR. CLARK displayed the maps on slides 3 and 4 that offer a
perspective of the location of Funter Bay on the west side of
Admiralty Island relative to Juneau and a close up of the land
designations around the shoreline of the bay. The sections
marked A01 reflect the 162 acres of the existing Funter Bay
Marine Park. The section marked A02 is the primary area that HB
10 proposes to add to the existing park; it comes close to
connecting the noncontiguous A01 areas. It also includes an
island of state land in front of the cannery that would be added
to the park.
3:53:07 PM
CHAIR HUGHES asked if there was still a gap between the existing
A01 areas.
MR. CLARK answered yes, it reflects private land in the area. He
referenced the large area on the south side of the bay colored
yellow and offered his understanding of the ownership. [This
area represents old mining claims in the area, shoreline
portions of which are private recreational properties.]
3:53:52 PM
MR. CLARK displayed the images on slide 5 of a baby's headstone
and the remnants of one of the old cannery bunk houses that was
used to house the [Unangax people from Saint Paul] who were
relocated to Funter Bay. [The people from Saint George were
housed across the bay at the old mine site.]
He concluded the presentation with a graphic showing the
location of the internment camp in Funter Bay relative to the
internment camps in Killisnoo near Angoon, the Wrangell
Institute, Burnett Inlet, and Ward Lake near Ketchikan.
3:55:11 PM
SENATOR MYERS asked when and why the existing Funter Bay State
Marine Park was created.
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN answered that the park was created in 1983
as a rural marine park. She offered her understanding that it
was created to ensure that recreational boaters always have
access and that the shoreline is not entirely private. She
deferred further explanation to the current superintendent of
the park.
3:57:07 PM
PRESTON KROES, Superintendent, Southeast Region, Alaska State
Parks, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Juneau, Alaska,
explained that the Funter Bay Marine Park was created to set
aside state land for recreation purposes. The state has a number
of state marine parks but in the Juneau area there is St James
Bay, Taku Harbor, Funter Bay, Pavlov Harbor, and the 14 Channel
Islands in the Auke Bay area.
3:58:11 PM
RICKY GEASE, Director, Division of State Parks and Recreation,
Department of Natural Resources, Anchorage, Alaska, stated
support for HB 10 on behalf of the division. He said it would be
easy to accept the management responsibility for this site,
which has historical significance to the state and the culture
and memory of the Unangax people. He related that Mr. Kroes and
his staff have been privileged to work with a diverse group of
organizations and individuals on ways to provide better
management and protection for this significant cultural
resource.
3:59:22 PM
CHAIR HUGHES asked when the request first was made to add the
cemetery to the Funter Bay State Marine Park and who brought it
forward.
3:59:57 PM
MR. KROES answered that the issue was brought to his attention
shortly after he became superintendent 3.5 years ago. At that
time he learned that Martin Stepetin, whose grandparents were
interned at Funter Bay, already was working with the division's
citizens advisory group on ways to protect the cemetery. Mr.
Kroes related that when he looked at the issue he suggested a
possible solution to provide protection was to add the cemetery
to the existing state marine park. He credited Mr. Stepetin with
trying to get the site designated a national landmark and said
that while that was unsuccessful at the time, it might be
revisited in the future.
MR. KROES addressed earlier questions. He advised that the name
of the park would continue to be the Funter Bay State Marine
Park and the cemetery would be an historic site within the park.
He noted that the division was working with tribal members and
elders from Saint Paul and Saint George to develop four
interpretive panels that will be placed in Funter Bay. With
regard to the question about funding and improving the cemetery
area, he clarified that there is no funding attached to the
bill. He expressed hope that funding from an existing grant
program could be used to reroute and improve the trail, make
improvements to the cemetery itself, and install the
interpretive panels.
CHAIR HUGHES thanked him for the information and asked him to
consider whether the stakeholders might want a formal name in
statute for the cemetery.
4:03:53 PM
CHAIR HUGHES held HB 10 in committee for future consideration.