Angoon bombardment

Following the Alaska Purchase, the United States Army came to Alaska to serve as the civil administering entity of the Department of Alaska. Administration of the department was transferred to the United States Navy in 1879. The U.S. authorities used common law, while the Tlingit people used indigenous law. Americans generally characterized the Tlingit legal framework as based on "revenge"; in actuality it was more complex and involved "peace ceremonies" which included compensation in either goods or human lives.[1]

In 1869, two major conflicts took place between the army and Tlingit groups following retribution killings by the Tlingit against whites:

1. In the February 1869 Kake War, three deserted villages and two forts were destroyed near present-day Kake, Alaska by the USS Saginaw. Prior to the conflict, two white trappers were killed by the Kake in retribution for the death of two Kake departing Sitka village in a canoe. Sitka was the site of a standoff between the Army and Tlingit due to the army demanding the surrender of chief Colchika who was involved in an altercation in Fort Sitka.[2]
2. In the December 1869 Wrangell Bombardment the Stikine village of Old Wrangell was bombarded by the United States Army. The army issued an ultimatum to the villagers, demanding they deliver a Stikine named Scutd-doo to justice following the retribution murder of Leon Smith by Scutd-doo. Scutd-doo's son, Lowan, had earlier been killed by soldiers following an altercation in which he bit off the finger of the wife of the quartermaster of Fort Wrangell. Following a two-day bombardment of the village and return musket fire by Stikine skirmishers, Scutd-doo was handed over to the army, court-martialed, and in the first application of the death penalty in Alaska under US rule, was hung before the garrison and Stikine villagers.[3]

In 1878, the North West Trading Company established a trading post and fish processing plan at Killisnoo, Alaska, near Angoon, Alaska.[4]

On 22 October 1882, a harpoon gun exploded on the deck of a whaling ship operated by the Northwest Trading Company. Several crew members were injured, and a Tlingit shaman by the name of Til'tlein[lower-alpha 1] was killed. The day after his death J.M. Vanderbilt, superintendent of the company station at Killisnoo, reported to the navy station in Sitka. He stated Angoon natives had taken the Killisnoo facilities, including holding two white employees, and demanded a payment of 200 blankets in compensation for the death of Til'tlein.[5][6][7]

In 1949 and 1950, anthropologist Frederica de Laguna collected the story of Billy Jones, an Angoon resident who was 13 at the time of the attack. According to his account, villagers did not have warning of the coming of the American Ship, and every structure was destroyed. Angoon elders have stated that Jones's account should be the basis of the Angoon story.[6] Tlingit oral tradition, disputes that there were white hostages involved.[8] In the '70s, the Tlingit and Haida Central Council hired anthropologist Philip Drucker to research the case. Drucker noted that in the official documents, despite the captive white men being the primary mission that brought the ships to Angoon, neither Merriman or Morris "even mentions what should have been the climax of the expedition's achievements, the rescue of the white captives, if there actually was such a rescue."[6]

As the USS Adams was thought to be too large to navigate in the shallow waters of the bay,[7] Merriman tendered the company tug Favorite and the USRC Thomas Corwin under the command of Michael A. Healy, upon which he placed a company of marines, a Gatling gun, and a howitzer.[9][5]

Merriman's force arrived at Angoon on 25 October, and the Tlingit released the white hostages and captured property.[7] Merriman, demanded four hundred blankets from the Tlingit as a "punishment and guarantee of future good behavior"[7] to be delivered by noon the next day.[5] The villagers were only able to collect 81 blankets for the tribute payment. Jones's account and official documents agree that Merriman brought his ship to anchor outside the lagoon, and proceeded to shell the town. Under the cover of the bombardment, marines landed and proceeded to destroy the houses of the village, forty canoes, and food stores. Naval records state a few houses survived,[7] Tlingit oral tradition holds that none did.[8] While most of the inhabitants survived after fleeing the village, six children died of smoke inhalation.[10][11][5][12]

An unknown number of Tlingit died during the winter due to the loss of winter supplies and shelter.[10]

In 1884, the First Organic Act placed Alaska under civilian control.[6] In the debate leading up to the act, Representative James Budd of California referenced Commander Merriman's role, stating "The Indians did not comply with this pre-emptory order of this royal dictator. I understand that they did not have the blankets. The commander of this United States vessel was a law unto himself, and in the morning he, a United States officer, judge, jury and sheriff, fulfilled his threat and shelled the Indian village."[8]

In 1973, the Indian Claims Commission awarded the Angoon clans $90,000 in compensation for clan property destroyed in 1882 value. Federal law limited the value of the compensation to the value of the physical damage done to the village without regard for inflation or interest.[6] $90,000 in 1882 is equivalent to $444,667 in 1973 when the award was paid out. The village of Angoon accepted the settlement from the government as a tacit acknowledgment that the Navy was wrong to shell Angoon.[6] There has been no official apology, and the Angoon Tlingit continue to press for an apology by the navy.[11] Governor of Alaska Jay Hammond declared the 100th anniversary as "Tlingit Remembrance Day".[12]