Sheet’ká -Sitka Sound

This piece explores the precious ecological and cultural interweaving of Sheet’ká, the ancestral Tlingit territory encompassing what is known today as Sitka, Alaska. Insights into Indigenous Geography and the importance of Tlingit names; Ecological Wealth; The Impact of Modernity on the ancient foundations of the Sound; Climate and Change and the need for community-led environmental monitoring. Culminating in the introduction of the State of the Sound conference, a collective effort to understand the flux of the coastal marine system and to foster a future where the waters of Sheet’ká continue to nourish all who dwell there. We share a excerpt from the article below with a link to read the piece in full.

Sheet’ká -Sitka Sound

Author: Tom Thornton

Sheet’ká, the “Oceanside of Shee” (a.k.a Baranof Island, for the colonial Russian fur trader Alexandr Baranov), is the Lingit name for what is today known as Sitka, a town of some 8,000 residents in Southeast Alaska, about half of whom are Indigenous Tlingit. The territory surrounding Sitka, known as Sheet’ka Kwáan, “Dwelling area of the inhabitants of Sheet’ká,” encompasses a larger swath of Baranof Island (Shee) and much of southern and western Chichagof Island (Seilḵ), two major islands that define the archipelago. Sitka Sound is the geographic and cultural center of this array—the hub and heart of Sheet’ka Kwáan territory.

Read this piece in full here, published on the Educere Alliance website.