Navy apologizes to Alaskan Natives for 19th century attacks

The U.S. Navy apologized in a ceremony Saturday for the bombardment of the Alaska Native village of Kake in the late 1860s, The Guardian reported.

“This has been 155 years in the making,” said Joel Jackson, the president of the Organized Village of Kake, of the apology. “It’s becoming real because we never talked about it and now we are.”

The Navy’s apology Saturday was the first of two that will be given to the Lingít (also called Tlingit) communities who its forces bombarded in Kake in 1869 and Angoon 13 years later.

Rear Adm. Mark Sucato delivered the apology and is expected to deliver the second, as well, which is expected to take place on Oct. 26, the 142nd anniversary of the navy’s bombardment on Angoon.

The Washington Post said that Navy officials acknowledged “wrongful” actions at Kake and Angoon, adding that the acts “inflicted multigenerational trauma.” Navy spokesperson Julianne Leinenveber said the “pain and suffering inflicted upon the Tlingit people warrants these long overdue apologies,” the publication wrote.

At the ceremony, tribal leaders and elders gave remarks, the tribe and navy chaplain gave a blessing, and local Native Ḵéex’ Ḵwáan dancers and the navy band performed, The Guardian said.

In July, The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon would be reviewing 20 Medals of Honor awarded for actions during the Wounded Knee massacre, in which the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry opened fire on hundreds of Native Americans.