Metlakatla Trip Report

We've had some gorgeous weather in Alaska these last few days.  Each summer, it typically gets above 70 degrees so rarely that you can count how often on one hand.  We've had about 3 days of 70+ degree weather just this week already! 

Stephen spent the week in Metlakatla, an Alaska Native village of the Tshimshian people on Annette Island in Southeast Alaska.  Annette Island is the only indian reservation in the State of Alaska, established as such in 1891.  All other Alaska Native peoples gained retribution from the US Federal Government via the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) which formed 13 Native Corporations in 1972.  The corporation format for Native claims settlement is unique to Alaska and fascinating to me. 

But I digress.

Stephen was in Metlakatla for work.  He and one of his colleagues were doing some building inspections or something.  To get there, they first flew from Anchorage to Ketchikan via the "milk run".  This is the flight that makes several stops including Sitka, Juneau, and sometimes Petersburg and/or Wrangell before you make it to Ketchikan.  They stayed the night at a hotel in Ketchikan.  Then, the next morning, they flew in a small chartered plane from Ketchikan to Metlakatla.

They stayed in a B&B in the village for a couple nights.  This far surpasses sleeping on the floor of the school or some other building.  Then, on Friday, they flew back to Ketchikan, waited a few hours and then boarded the return "milk run" flight back to Anchorage.  He got home around 10:30 last night.

Every time he travels for work, he brings home some sort of souvenir for Alicia.  This time it was two ziploc bags full of shells, pretty rocks, and sea glass he'd gathered on the beaches of Annette Island.  I think we'll use glass jars and some sort of shelving to create a little display for her treasures.  She also has a collection of sea glass I gathered for her in Kodiak last year.  And she gathers stones herself on the beaches at Talkeetna, Homer, and wherever else we find ourselves.

I'll see what I can do to get some photos from his trip.