Petersburg celebrated its second annual Amy Hallingstad Day on June 28, honoring the life and legacy of the late Alaska Native rights activist.
She was known for helping to desegregate schools in Alaska, as well as advocating for better healthcare for Alaska Native people and equal pay for female cannery workers.
Amy Hallingstad was a prominent advocate for tribal sovereignty. She helped incorporate Petersburg Indian Association as a federally recognized tribe in 1949. Last year, over 50 years since Amy’s passing, the Petersburg Borough proclaimed June 28 as Amy Hallingstad Day. The local tribe has hosted an event celebrating Amy Hallingstad Day both years since.
Ch’áak’ Tláa Nicole Hallingstad, Amy Hallingstad’s granddaughter, kicked off the event. She asked any present relatives to join her at the front, and offered the mic to anyone who would like to speak.
One by one, relatives and friends remembered Amy for her passion, impact, and her sense of humor.
Lifelong Petersburg resident Mike Schwartz shared a story of Amy Hallingstad stepping up to get the town a Presbyterian minister.
“She sent out a notice to those that were in charge of providing pastors, and she says, ‘If you cannot find a minister for Petersburg, it’s all right. Sinning’s more fun anyway,’” Schwartz said, prompting laughter from the crowd. “A pastor arrived within a couple of weeks.”
After remarks, attendees ate hot dogs, played games and checked out vendors. Family members admired posters of Amy Hallingstad hanging between tent poles with a detailed timeline of her life.
Dukt’ootl’ Casper “Skip” Hallingstad is Amy’s grandson. He said, to him, the celebration meant to “ keep up the good fight.”
“Even though others may not agree with your point of view, you can go about it with intelligence and with wit, and maybe convince people of your side of the story,” he said. “If not, have them hear what you have to say regarding Native rights. Especially in such a heavily Norwegian-influenced town.”
He said he’d like to see the celebrations for Amy Hallingstad Day grow in the future, perhaps with a parade.
Nicole said it meant a lot to see the Petersburg community gather to celebrate her grandmother. She carries on her grandmother’s torch as an advocate for Alaska Native rights.
“I feel that it’s really important to amplify, if Amy were here today, how important the landless effort would be to her,” she said.
The Alaska Natives Without Land movement strives to get land back for five Southeast Alaska communities that were excluded from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 — the largest land claims settlement in U.S. history.
Petersburg, or Séet Ká Kwáan, was left out of that federal landback initiative 50 years ago.
“Amy was an advocate for our Native people having lands that recognize these are the Indigenous homelands of the Tlingit,” Nicole said. “It’s important to have the legal rights to them.”
Nicole said she and other activists have been trying to get a bill passed in Congress for years.
“This happens to be a year where we’ve gotten farther than ever,” Nicole said.
The bill passed in the U.S. House on June 2. It’s now being sent to the Senate for consideration.
For Nicole, celebrating with her hometown on June 28 was not only a recognition of Amy, but also of the hard work it takes to advance Alaska Native rights.
“Every community has people like Amy,” she said, “who work so hard to do good work, do the right thing, and try to advance the life ways of the people they represent.”