Petersburg - Séet Ka
While the small town of Petersburg is presently known for its Norweigan heritage and founding father Peter Buschmann, the northernmost point of Mitkof Island was long settled by the Tlingit people prior to the arrival of Scandinavian immigrants in the 1900s.
An active Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood was part of the requirements needed to be considered for ANCSA inclusion. Amy Hallingstad served as Grand President of ANS Camp 16 during the late 1940s.
Before Petersburg (Séet Ká), became a bustling commercial fishing and seafood processing port, it was established as a Tlingit fish camp by those who had migrated from Kake to reside around the island, establishing trolling camps where the Wrangell Narrows meets the Frederick Sound.
The Native villages that resided in Séet Ká were located at the mouth of Petersburg Creek and across the sound in Thomas Bay. Sasby Island near Petersburg was the traditional burial ground for Séet Ká Alaska Natives, where gravesites date back to 1911.
“One thing that all Alaska Natives agree on is that there’s a certain type of medicine that comes with being in contact with your homeland. It’s good for your spirit, it’s good for your body, and it’s good for your mind. Having our homelands restored would make me and my community feel whole.”
Joining the fight for recognition and aboriginal land claims in the early 1920s, the local Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood in Petersburg became a leading force in compelling the federal government to consider Indigenous land claims, sending delegates to the 1929 Grand Camp Convention in Haines and further joining forces for the first Alaska Native land claims lawsuit in 1929.
Amy Hallingstad ― an Alaska Native civil rights activist and renowned leader in the Alaska Native Sisterhood ― was Tlingit of the Tsaagweidí (Eagle/Killerwhale Clan), and dedicated her life to desegregating her community of Petersburg and championing for the land and human rights of all Alaska Natives. Serving various leadership roles within the Petersburg ANS Camp 16, she served as Grand President from 1947–1949 and 1953–1956. Remaining in Petersburg her whole life, Hallingstad is referred to as an Alaska civil rights pioneer alongside Elizabeth Peratrovich.
To this day, Petersburg remains a place where many Alaska Natives call home. And while the fight remains for landless communities to create urban corporations, Native institutions like the Petersburg Indian Association, a federally recognized tribe, have worked to fill the gap — promoting culture and community through traditional values, education and tribal wellness.