Hoonah’s rich fishing history remembered through totem pole

Wanda Culp was one of 104 people from Juneau who headed to “touch home” on a catamaran to Hoonah on Friday, provided by the Huna Heritage Foundation. She joined others in the killer whale song as a pod swam by.

The group was on its way to celebrate the unveiling of a new totem pole meant to honor the Tlingit community’s historic Million Dollar Fleet.

The City of Hoonah and Huna Heritage Foundation unveiled the Fisherman’s Honor Totem Pole near the boat harbor.

“It’s welcoming everybody that comes into our bay, our harbor,” Dennis Gray, Sr. said. “All the fishing boats, we have a lot of boat traffic in and out of here, and this shows them that they’re welcome here to our community.”

Lead carver Gordon Greenwald said the totem, or kootéeyaa, serves as a tribute to seiners, trollers, longliners, crabbers, rod and reelers, and all fishermen and women who kept Hoonah’s fishing traditions alive – and for those who continue to do so.

Greenwald, Herb Sheakley, Louie White Jr. and Cheyanne Jack worked on the kootéeyaa from the spring through fall of last year.

Lead carver Gordon Greenwald touches a carved Tlingit fisherman trolling in a canoe with what he called an old-fashioned lure. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

“It wasn’t just me,” Greenwald said. “I have my team. Their hand is in this. Our names are not on it. It’s not about us, it’s about us as a people.”

He trailed his hand along the totem pole to explain its story, starting at the bottom where a Tlingit fisherman trolls in a canoe. Beside the fisherman is a halibut hook set. Above is purse seining. People at the ceremony recalled a time before Alaska statehood when there were no power blocks.

“Don’t forget that we in Hoonah processed more Dungeness crab at one point than any other port on the West Coast of the United States,” Greenwald said, pointing up the totem pole to a king, Dungeness and snow crab pot.

Long-liners fishing for black cod and halibut are also featured on the pole, with a crew member pulling and toiling on the side. Above that is a salmon power troller. Then, a gill netter, a rod and reeler, and at the very top, the family “watchmen” are looking in all directions to make sure fishermen leaving the port will return home safely.

“This is what you’re looking at — the Hoonah fishing people, all of us in the past, all of us in the future, and all of us now,” Greenwald said.

Hoonah seine boats Alice H, Vagabond Queen, Yukon II and Donna Ann are tied up at the city dock in Hoonah. Today, Vagabond Queen and Donna Ann remain. (Photo courtesy of Huna Heritage Foundation archives)

Former crewmembers return to Hoonah for ceremony

Like the totem, four panels on the street below Hoonah’s Russian Orthodox Church tell the story of the fleet. Culp, the artist, served as the only cook on the seine boat Donna Ann for 17 years. She said she would start coffee and breakfast at 3:30 a.m., but watching the sunrise and sunset on the water was worth every long day.

“It was always exciting,” she said.

In the 1950s and ’60s, Hoonah was known as the home of the Million Dollar Fleet. The fishermen knew the harsh waters of the Inian Islands like no one else. Back in those days, Culp said, “everybody in Hoonah had a job – everybody was fed.” The seine boat captains were considered highliners. They caught the most fish and fed the town. She said elders and women would find fish on their doorstep.

“My favorite dish to make was keish — fresh king crab, king salmon,” Culp said. “Another cook from a different boat taught me it. The crew would take it and run. I didn’t even have to do dishes!”

Wanda Culp dances on the catamaran heading to Hoonah on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

The catamaran on Friday was filled with people like Culp who were displaced from their homelands. Culp first left Glacier Bay, the traditional territory of her clan, the Chookaneidí. She said she lived in Hoonah, but when tourism increased, there was no longer housing for locals.

She said she moved to Juneau four years ago because she was “homeless and landless.” She said the captain of Donna Ann offered her a ride to the city, and the ship shone lights through her cabin windows to signal its arrival. She jumped aboard the familiar boat, leaving her homestead in Excursion Inlet.

“Our status is created by the state,” she said.

Her feelings were shared by many at the ceremony, who recalled a time before the fishing closed in Glacier Bay and the Inian Islands.

Hoonah seine boats at the city dock in Hoonah are seen in this image, with no limited entry permit numbers on any of the seine boats or the smaller pleasure cruisers and skiffs, which were used for hand trolling for salmon. (Photo courtesy of Huna Heritage Foundation archives)

The past and present of the fleet

Hoonah and Juneau residents danced in the rain under the totem pole with no cruise ships in sight. Hoonah’s first cruise ship arrived in 2004. Before a dock was built in 2016, cruise ships moored near Icy Strait Point, which limited the number of passengers who disembarked. Huna Totem’s second pier came to Icy Strait Point, bringing thousands more tourists each year when it became operational in 2020.

Frank Wright, Jr. has been fishing for 65 years and is the captain of Vagabond Queen, one of the last original highliners in the fleet. The Donna Ann is the other, captained by Bill Veler. Stan Savland, who expressed his gratitude for sharing the water at the ceremony, captains the Hoonah seine boat Chikamin.

Wright Jr. said fishing was taken from him in Glacier Bay.

“That means I am one little bit less of who my real identity is,” he said. “Dragging the hook around is such an honorable thing.”

He and many others also remembered a time when there were more fishermen.

“I’m sad because my time for fishing is coming to an end. We need more fishermen,” Wright Jr. said.

Others at the event recalled a time when the fish were bigger and more plentiful.

Frank Lee caught an 86-pound king salmon 25 years ago. He remembers it like it was yesterday – after all, it was “quite the catch.” From the catamaran, he pointed out the exact spot between the Hoonah Ferry Terminal and the Tunnel to his granddaughter. It was high tide when he caught it at a reef about a half mile offshore.

“I took him straight out, and the fight’s on, let the best man win,” Lee said. “I was clubbing him. He took off, and I brought it in again. I had to bring it in a third time. He took the whole bait down his throat, and one hooked his gill. It bled to death. That’s why he died – wasn’t me clubbing him. I’d probably still be fighting that thing.”

He recalled that many people had pulled to the side of the road to watch him. He didn’t realize he had an audience until he heard their cheers. His catch made national news as the third-largest rod-and-reel catch. The Alaska state king salmon trophy fish record, and world sport tackle record caught by rod-and-reel is 97 pounds, 4 ounces, in 1985 by Lester Anderson on the Kenai River.

Frank Lee with his 86-pound king salmon caught on July 20, 2000. (Photo courtesy of Frank Lee)

Lee also remembers when there were more boats in Hoonah’s Million Dollar Fleet. Locals recall up to 200 vessels, according to a publication by Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Various family-owned businesses operated the fishing fleet, and the profits were reinvested into the community. Lee said many ships now belong to Washington residents after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game began requiring permits.

“Everybody’s still fishermen, just couldn’t afford to go buy a boat and buy a permit and all that,” he said. “By the time you’re done doing all that, you’re a million dollars in a hole.”

In 1973, the Alaska Legislature passed the Limited Entry Act to regulate entry into commercial fisheries under state jurisdiction. The Act established the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission to administer the program. Its goal was to promote the conservation of fisheries resources and sustain the benefits of development for Alaska.

Lee said it forever changed the Hoonah seine ﬂeet.

“Now the ones that own the permits take the money,” he said.

Before permits and Individual Quota Shares, Lee said, “All you needed were five skippers and a fishing license.” Even now, the fish are disappearing, he said.

“It killed Hoonah,” Lee said. “Now it’s a tourist trap. It killed all the villages.”

Frank Lee with his granddaughter aboard the catamaran approaching Hoonah on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

Fishermen present at the ceremony said the rain was fitting — it was what they braved all day and night to provide for their community. They said they felt right at home.

But the ocean pouring down from above was also a source of sorrow. A Raven cry song began the ceremony, followed by an Eagle cry song. The mourning songs represented all of the ancestors lost at sea. Later, David Sheakley presented the mountain dog tunic from the T’akdeintaan clan. He said an at.óow is not brought out often, and when it is, it is as if the ancestors are part of a ceremony.

Apprentice carver Cheyanne Jack holds the mountain dog tunic at the ceremony on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

“They’re here just across the water,” Sheakley said. “The mountain dog is crying for grandparents, great-grandparents. But the howling turns to joy as we continue on fishing.”

Paul Marks blinked away raindrops to look up toward the totem pole. He said it would bring the fish back.

“These stories aren’t just stories,” he said. “They’re our history.”

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.

Carver Herb Sheakley sings at the Fisherman’s Honor Totem Pole Ceremony in Hoonah on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

Carvers Herb Sheakley and Gordon Greenwald dance at the Fisherman’s Honor Totem Pole Ceremony on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

The four carvers of the Fisherman’s Honor Totem Pole from left to right: Gordon Greenwald, Cheyanne Jack, Herb Sheakley, and Louie White Jr. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)