Sitka Tribe of Alaska Signs Historic Site Management Agreement with Sealaska

August 15, 2025 — Sealaska and Sitka Tribe of Alaska (Sitka Tribe) have signed the Interim Ḵunáa Historic Site Management Agreement. This agreement empowers Sitka Tribe to manage the 10.54 acres above mean high tide at Redoubt Falls (Ḵunáa).

Ḵunáa, also known as Redoubt Bay Village, historically belonged to the Kiks.ádi and affiliated clans, with substantive historical importance as a summer village and highly valued source of sockeye salmon. Ḵunáa was used by the Kiks.ádi for salmon fishing, herring fishing, deer hunting, trapping and berrying long before the arrival of the Russians. The name Ḵunáa is derived from a legend about a clan member who turned to stone while looking down at the village from a nearby mountain.

Back in 1975, Sealaska applied for the 10.54 acres of uplands at Ḵunáa pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Section 14(h)(1) (“ANCSA 14(h)(1)”) — a provision of federal law which allows Alaska Native Corporations to claim ownership over historic and cemetery sites. Fifty years later, this February, Sealaska finally received the deed for Ḵunáa, which came as a welcome surprise to both Sealaska and Sitka Tribe.

In 2013, in anticipation of one day receiving the deed, Sealaska, Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) and Sitka Tribe entered into a Memorandum of Agreement, wherein Sealaska agreed that, should the land ever be conveyed to Sealaska, Sitka Tribe should be the property manager for Ḵunáa. The MOA stated that “the Parties agree that Sitka Tribe’s tribal citizens shall have continual access to the cemetery sites, historical places, and sacred sites located within the traditional territory of the Sitka Tribe; and … the Corporation and the Institute recognize the inherent cultural responsibilities of the Tribe to manage the land and resources within the traditional territory of the Sitka Tribe and Clans”.

The Interim Ḵunáa Historic Site Management Agreement (“Interim Ḵunáa Agreement”) is a trailblazing document. While there are other ANCSA 14(h)(1) sites in Alaska, none are as heavily used as Ḵunáa. The entire community of Sitka relies on Ḵunáa for its abundant supply of sockeye salmon. Moreover, no other Alaska Native Corporation has empowered a local Tribe to manage an ANCSA 14(h)(1) site.

Because Ḵunáa is such an important resource for Tribal Citizens and non-Native Sitkans, many have questions about how this Management Agreement will affect their use of Redoubt this summer and in the years to come. The Interim Ḵunáa Agreement is only for a six-month period. Sitka Tribe and Sealaska will refine the management agreement after this first season.

At the signing ceremony for the Interim Ḵunáa Agreement, Sealaska Interim President Joe Nelson said, “We’re going to be following your lead, learning to be good neighbors and good relatives, stewarding the resources as we always should. And you’re leading the way.”

For these first six months, Sitka Tribe is implementing the following rules at Ḵunáa, which will apply to anyone who sets foot above the mean high tide line at Redoubt Falls:

No commercial use of the Property.

No dogs.

No hazardous materials.

No littering or dumping — pack out all trash.

No camping.

No tying up boats to trees.

No touching or disturbing archaeological sites or artifacts.

No fires, fireworks, or open flames.

For more information about the rules of use at Ḵunáa, please visit https://sitkatribe.org/our-services/resource-protection-programs/fisheries/.