Legislature(2019 - 2020)GRUENBERG 120
05/09/2019 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HR11 | |
| Presentation(s): Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women | |
| HB28 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HR 11 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 28 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HR 11-RENAME SAGINAW BAY AS SKANAX BAY
3:05:16 PM
CO-CHAIR FIELDS announced that the first order of business would
be HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 11, Supporting the renaming of Saginaw
Bay as Skanax Bay.
3:05:26 PM
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS, as prime sponsor of HR 11, paraphrased
from the sponsor statement, which read as follows:
House Resolution 11 would express the Alaska House of
Representatives' support for renaming Saginaw Bay as
Skanax Bay. The bay is situated on the northern coast
of Kuiu Island in the Alexander Archipelago and is
located across the Keku Straight from the community of
Kake.
The bay was named after the USS Saginaw, a United
States Navy ship that shelled Kake in 1869, destroying
three civilian villages and three smaller campsites.
The destruction from the shelling led to an unknown
number of deaths by starvation and exposure during the
following winter.
The bay's current name is an affront to the local
Tlingit community and a source of discomfort for many
residents of the City of Kake and the Organized
Village of Kake. Renaming Saginaw Bay to Skanax Bay
is a constructive step toward the healing of local
Tlingit communities.
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS added that the bay to be renamed is
important for subsistence; Skanax is the Tlingit name for the
bay; and there is universal support from the community and local
governments. He said that he became aware of the bay a year ago
at the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes annual
gala. The proposed resolution, if passed, would support the
application submitted to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for
renaming the bay.
3:08:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked about the meaning of "Skanax."
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS deferred to the invited testifiers to
answer the question.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS asked whether there were any other bays
with similarly tragic histories.
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS described his interest and experience
with geographic names. He stated that he is not aware of other
place names with similarly problematic origins, except for
Saginaw Strait near Juneau - also named for the USS Saginaw -
and brought to his attention by the Alaska Department of Fish &
Game (ADF&G).
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS asked whether there is a name database
that tracks historical names in Alaska.
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS expressed his belief that Alaska may
create its own place names; however, they would not be publicly
reflected because the State of Alaska is secondary to the
federal government as an authority on place names. He stated
that the federal government does have such a database, which is
very detailed, called the U.S. Geographic Names Information
System (USGNIS).
3:12:42 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked about the full process for securing a
name change and whether there were plans to educate the
community.
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS suggested that the community is broadly
aware of the origin of the name of Saginaw Bay.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY clarified that by "community," she is
referring to Southeast Alaska.
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS concurred that awareness is hugely
important; now that the application has been submitted, efforts
can be made to raise awareness; the resolution will contribute
to the effort. In response to Representative Story's first
question, he said that the application goes to the U.S. Board on
Geographic Names; the board has criteria for evaluation; and the
criteria includes the existence of local support or opposition.
3:16:46 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked about the origin of the name
"Saginaw," which is a name used by the indigenous people of
Michigan.
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS said that the bay was named after the
USS Saginaw but added that he does not know whether the ship was
named after Saginaw, Michigan.
3:18:01 PM
MIKE JACKSON, Organized Village of Kake, testified that his
knowledge of the bombardments of Kake from 1803-1856 came to him
through family stories; his great grandfather described
firsthand the bombardment of the traditional lands of the
Natives living in Kake. He described several incidents of the
conflict, including destruction of property and lives lost. He
stated that he participated in a 1999 video-taped testimony
before federal government officials of the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) and the Department of Defense (DoD) that
recorded these events. He mentioned that "Tyee" is a
traditional name for the southern tip of Admiralty Island;
places in this area that were renamed since the conflict are
"Murder Cove," "Surprise Harbor," "Meade Point" - after Richard
Meade, captain of the USS Saginaw, and "Retaliation Point."
3:24:31 PM
DAWN JACKSON, Executive Director, Organized Village of Kake,
offered a short message in Tlingit and introduced herself. She
testified that in 2018, the Organized Village of Kake - the
federally recognized tribal government serving the Kake area -
unanimously passed a resolution [Resolution No. 2018-20] to
change the name of Saginaw Bay back to its traditional Native
name - Skanax Bay. She mentioned the traditional uses of the
bay by her ancestors. She maintained that her clan never
relinquished the rights to the bay and were well known to the
U.S. government for defending the land and the people in the
area. She said that in 2011, a shell was discovered in a house
owned by her family; the U.S. Army dispatched a bomb squad to
Kake; through the efforts of local leaders, the shell was saved
from destruction; it is currently on loan to the Sealaska
Heritage Institute in Juneau. She asserted that [renaming the
bay] would be the beginning of healing for the Native people in
the area.
3:27:56 PM
ROBERT MILLS testified that he provided Representative Kreiss-
Tomkins with the historical background for the name change
effort. He mentioned the absurdity of naming a bay after the
ship that bombarded Kake; Americans would never consider naming
any street near the World Trade Center [site of the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001] after Osama bin Laden. He
offered that his role is to bring awareness to the facts of the
history and the atrocities that have occurred. He asserted that
it is vital to acknowledge the history and the implicit bias and
stereotypes regarding Tlingit people in order to move forward,
resuscitate the Tlingit culture and way of life, and begin the
healing [process].
CO-CHAIR FIELDS closed public testimony on HR 11. He stated
that HR 11 would be held over.