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.