Editing Metlakatla, Alaska (section)

== History ==
[[File:Tsimshian children, Metlakatla, Alaska, June 4, 1904 (COBB 139).jpeg|thumb|Tsimshian children in Metlakatla, 1904]]
''Metlakatla'' comes from ''Maxłaxaała'', a [[Coast Tsimshian|Tsimshian]] word meaning "saltwater passage where the wind dies down."  Metlakatla was named after [[Metlakatla, British Columbia|another village of the same name]] ("Old Metlakatla") in [[British Columbia]], which is on Metlakatla Pass, near [[Prince Rupert, British Columbia|Prince Rupert]].  In a more ancient time, it was a [[Tlingit people|Tlingit]] hunting ground known as ''Taquan,'' or '''''Tàakw.àani'''.'' The Tsimshian were granted permission to occupy the land by Chief Johnson of the Tlingit tribe.

[[File:Metlakahtla Christian Mission Church, Metlakahtla, Alaska. Side view. - NARA - 297328.jpg|thumb|Metlakahtla Christian Mission Church, early 20th century. Founded by the Scottish missionary Father [[William Duncan (missionary)|William Duncan]]]]

In 1886, [[William Duncan (missionary)|William Duncan]], an English tannery employee and lay member of the [[Church Missionary Society]],<ref name="CMSatlasbc">{{cite web|title= The Church Missionary Atlas (British Columbia)|pages=  227–232|date= 1896| url= http://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/CMS_OX_Atlas_01|access-date=October 19, 2015 | publisher = [[Adam Matthew Digital]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref> had a doctrinal dispute with the Church authorities in Metlakatla, B.C. He and a devoted group of [[Tsimshian]] followers decided to leave Metlakatla. Duncan went to Washington, D.C., in the United States and asked the U.S. government to give his group land in [[Alaska]]. The U.S. under [[Grover Cleveland|President Cleveland]] gave them [[Annette Island]] after a Tsimshian search committee in seagoing canoes discovered its calm bay, accessible beaches, nearby waterfall, and abundant fish.<ref>"[http://www.metlakatla.com/communityOrigins2.php Community Origins]." ''Metlakatla Indian Community''. 2005. Web. Retrieved August 24, 2011.</ref>

[[File:Alaskaitshistory00bruc 0185.jpg|thumb|Metlakatla, 1890s]]
In 1887, the group arrived on the island and built a settlement in the Port Chester area. They laid out the town in a European-style grid pattern. It contained a church, a school, a cannery, and a sawmill. They named the town New Metlakatla, after the town they had left behind, but later dropped the "New." In 1888, William Duncan returned to Washington and lobbied the [[U.S. Congress]] for an [[Indian reserve]] on Annette Island. Although the reservation system had not been used in Alaska, Congress granted his request in 1891. Duncan remained at Metlakatla until his death in 1918.
[[File:Group in native dress taken on occasion of Edward Marsden's wedding day at Metlakahtla. - NARA - 297646.tif|thumb|left| A group of Tsimshian at a Metlakatla wedding, c. 1900]]

During World War II, the United States made a treaty with the Metlakatla Indian Community to permit construction and operation of a military airbase on Annette Island. In exchange, the US promised to build a road connecting the ocean-side city to Alaska's Inside Passage (in order to allow year-round ferry service to Ketchikan).  The airfield on Annette Island was garrisoned by Canadians during the war. This airfield became "the first Canadian force ever based in U.S. territory to directly assist in American defense."

After the war, the property was adapted as a [[United States Coast Guard]] [[search and rescue]] base.<ref>Lundberg, Murray. "[http://explorenorth.com/library/yafeatures/bl-Annette.htm Annette Island, Alaska in World War II]." ''Explore North''. 2009. Web. Retrieved August 24, 2011.</ref> This airfield served the area commercially until the 1970s, when the new Ketchikan Airport was built at Gravina Island in the Inside Passage.

Annette Islands Reserve, including surrounding islands, today is the only [[Indian Reserve]] in Alaska. In the 1970s, the Metlakatla did not accept the [[Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act]] and thus kept the Reserve Status, and maintained sovereign immunity.<ref name="hudson">[http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/06/26/audrey-hudson-nmais-meet-native-america-series-164923 Dennis Zotigh, "Audrey Hudson: NMAI's Meet Native America Series"], ''Indian Country Today,'' June 26, 2016; accessed June 27, 2016</ref>  "Annette Islands Reserve consists of 132,000 acres of land and water base. Metlakatla Indian Community has exclusive commercial and subsistence fishing rights to the islands’ waterways extending from 3,000 feet at mean low tide."<ref name="hudson"/>
Please note that the Annette island's Reserve is not a reservation. It is a reserve

Travelers into Metlakatla usually reach it via the [[Alaska Marine Highway]] ferry. They can also travel to Ketchikan on [[Revillagigedo Island]] and cross the [[Revillagigedo Channel]] to Annette Island by boat or seaplane.

More than 50 years after the end of WWII, in 1997 the US Federal Government began construction of the cross-island road promised to Metlakatla under its wartime M.O.A. treaty. From 1997 to 2007, a joint task force under the overall command of [[Alaska Command]], and led by the [[Missouri Army National Guard]], worked at constructing a 15-mile road from one side of Annette Island to the other.  Members of the Active and Reserve components of the [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], [[United States Air Force]], and the [[United States Marines|Marines]] deployed to the island on 2- to 3-week rotations to build the road.<ref>[https://www.jber.jb.mil/ Fact Sheet, "Operation Alaska Road,"], 

Elmendorf Air Force Base; retrieved February 6, 2008</ref>