HOONAH — More than a hundred people walked off a catamaran into Hoonah on Saturday morning. They were there to join dozens of other Hoonah residents who gathered to witness the unveiling of two memorials dedicated to veterans and their families.
The first memorial is an archway anchored by two cedar totem poles, called kootéeyaas in Lingít, depicting a raven warrior and an eagle warrior. It’s located near Icy Strait Point, and welcomes people as they walk down the seawalk path toward town.
“We see strength in these poles,” said George Bennett, an Army veteran. He said Hoonah’s roots in the military run deep, and it’s important to pay tribute to those who served.
“They give us the strength when people walk this path, hopefully they will feel the strength that we have given back to our community through our participation to be a part of the armed forces,” he said.
Hoonah is home to many veterans. Alaska consistently has the highest percentage of veterans in the country, and Hoonah has one of the highest shares of any town. Former Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand President Marcelo Quinto said it’s what makes the community unique.
“I think we, our people, have always been in line to protect our part of the country and we’re very proud of it,” he said.
Master artist Gordon Greenwald designed and carved the memorial with help from three other carvers.
“None of us are veterans, but we are honored to be able to honor you, folks,” he said. “Without veterans, I feel we would not be free people.”
A few hours later, another ceremony was held to officially unveil an honor wall at the Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Hoonah. The park is on land donated by Korean War veteran Stanley “Steamie” Thompson, who passed away in 2021.
The projects were a collaboration between the City of Hoonah and the Huna Heritage Foundation. The honor wall is lined with the names of hundreds of Hoonah veterans and the branch of the military in which they served. Huna Heritage Foundation leadership says they plan to continue to add names to the wall that might not have been recorded.
“I think the honor is way long past overdue,” said Naa Kwaa Edward Williams Sr., an Army veteran. He stood at the ceremony, reading the names on the wall. One is his dad, a combat veteran who served in the Korean War.
“You don’t realize, as a child of a veteran, the anguish and the pain that they caused you, and you live with, and then you understand the insanity of what they’ve had to live through, and the pain that they had to go through,” he said. “I did not understand that until I joined the Army.”
He said growing up in Hoonah, he watched the community struggle with the trauma of wars and the impact it left on veterans who returned home. He said he’s happy to see the community take steps toward acknowledging that pain and healing from it together.
“I think for me the honor comes and grows the more we honor these kinds of things,” he said. “A lot of ugly has happened, whether in war or whether I came home to it, but this is how we heal. This is exactly how we heal, or at least I heal.”
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