ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – U.S. Navy Admiral Mark Sucato is expected in Angoon on Saturday to deliver a formal apology to the small town for the 1882 U.S. Navy bombardment that destroyed the Tlingit village.

Oct. 26 will mark the second time an apology has been issued to Alaska Natives on behalf of the military for what happened nearly 150 years ago. The first apology took place in Kake in September for the bombardment of this village in 1869.

According to Angoon organizers, the Navy attack cost the lives of seven children. They say the damage destroyed pre-winter food reserves as well as the canoes used by the community for hunting and fishing, destroying their means of gathering food.

Amid the whirlwind of details of planning and organizing the event, Emma Demmert, director of Angoon and one of several organizers, said the emotional intensity of generational trauma was difficult to express.

“I didn’t even learn that until I was an adult. We didn’t hear about it at school because it was traumatic to talk about it,” Demmert said. “The generation before me was still traumatized and angry about it.”

Demmert said that as an adult, she began to understand how her community was affected by events that occurred more than a century ago and the importance of historical education for younger generations.

“I feel like the current administration recognizes how traumatic all of this is for our natives, our indigenous people,” Demmert said.

On Friday, President Joe Biden issued a separate formal apology regarding the abuse suffered by indigenous children in boarding schools – the first apology ever issued by a sitting US president.

Native and Alaska Native researcher Benjamin Jacuk told Alaska’s News Source, while he was pleased with the validation of historically unacknowledged crimes, he wanted to see action accompany the apology.

Demmert agreed, reiterating the sentiment that an apology should be only the first step toward recognizing injustice.

The estimated number of military officials and Angoon community members arriving by ferry and catamaran led Demmert to believe there would be a large turnout for the event.

Starting at 10 a.m., the apology will be presented at a ku.éex’, what Demmert calls a traditional Tlingit reward party.

Invitations for Saturday estimate the event to go in the evening. Demmert thinks there’s a good chance it will be even longer than the planned nine hours, but Navy officials and other visitors will stay at the Angoon school until their ferry leaves Monday.

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