Angoon (sometimes formerly spelled Angun, ) is a city on

Admiralty Island Admiralty Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska. It is long and wide with an area of , making it the seventh-largest island in the United States and the 132nd largest island in the world. It is one of the A ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 572; by the 2010 census the population had declined to 459. For statistical purposes, it is in the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area. The name in

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

, , means roughly "

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

town."

History

has long been the home of the Kootznoowoo

group, or ''Xootsnoowú Ḵwáan'' in Tlingit. Kootznoowoo means "fortress of brown bears", literally ''xoots-noow-ú'' "brown.bear-fortress-possessive". Angoon has a less-rainy climate than most of southeastern Alaska and was valued by the Tlingit for that reason. During the Russian period in Alaska, from the 18th century to the mid-19th century, maritime fur trading was a major economic activity in the area. In 1878, after the 1867

Alaska Purchase The Alaska Purchase was the purchase of Russian colonization of North America, Alaska from the Russian Empire by the United States for a sum of $7.2 million in 1867 (equivalent to $ million in ). On May 15 of that year, the United St ...

, the North West Trading Company established a trading post and whaling station on nearby Killisnoo Island and employed Angoon villagers to hunt whales.

Whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

, a school, and a

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

church attracted many Tlingits to neighboring Killisnoo. In October 1882, the village was destroyed in the Angoon Bombardment by US Naval forces under the command Commander Edgar C. Merriman and the '' USRC Thomas Corwin'' under the command of Michael A. Healy. The Tlingit villagers had taken white hostages and property and demanded two hundred

blankets A blanket is a swath of soft cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through conduction. Etymology The term ...

in compensation from the North West Trading Company following the accidental death of a Tlingit

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

who died in a whaling bomb accident while working on the whaler. The hostages were released upon the arrival of the naval expedition to Angoon, however Merriman demanded four hundred blankets in tribute and upon the Tlingit delivery of just eighty one blankets, Merriman's forces destroyed the village.Crow Dog's Case: American Indian Sovereignty, Tribal Law, and United States Law in the Nineteenth Century
Sidney L. Harring, pages 228-230The Oxford Handbook of American Indian History
Frederick E. Hoxie, pages 307-8 After a short time, the North West Trading Company switched to

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

processing. During this time, many Tlingits moved to Killisnoo for employment at the fish plant. In 1928, Killisnoo was destroyed by fire and many Tlingits returned to Angoon. In 1973, Angoon won a U.S. $90,000 settlement from the United States government for the 1882 bombardment.

Geography

Angoon is located on the west side of

at (57.496891, -134.573579). It is the largest permanent settlement on Admiralty Island and is sited on an isthmus at the mouth of Kootznahoo Inlet on the west side of the island. It is southwest of

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

. The only other community on the island is Cube Cove, to the north. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 37.04%, are water.

Climate

The climate is either an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: Cfb), when utilising the isotherm or a warm-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

: Dfb), when utilising the isotherm. Its climate moderately tempered by the

Alaska Current The Alaska Current is a southwestern shallow warm-water current alongside the west coast of the North American continent beginning at about 48-50°N. The Alaska Current produces large clockwise eddies at two sites: west of the Haida Gwaii (" Ha ...

is only slightly more extreme than the north of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Demographics

Angoon first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the native village of "Augoon" with 420 residents, all members of the

tribe. The area returned as "Hoochinoo" (AKA Kootznahoo) in 1890. Angoon did not appear again on the census until 1920. It has appeared on every successive census to date as of 2010, and incorporated as a city in 1963. As of the census of 2000, there were 572 people, 184 households, and 138 families residing in the city. The population density was 25.4 people per square mile (9.8/km). There were 221 housing units at an average density of 9.8 per square mile (3.8/km). The racial makeup of the city was 81.99% Native American, 11.36%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 5.42% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race, 0.52%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.17% Asian, 1.40% from other races, and 4.55% from two or more races. Of the 184 households, 42.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% were married couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 3.64. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 34.8% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,861, and the median income for a family was $31,429. Males had a median income of $21,250 versus $30,625 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $11,357. About 27.0% of families and 27.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 39.1% of those under age 18 and 20.0% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Angoon is a second-class city, and uses a Mayor-Council form of government.

Economy

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

and

fish processing The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in ...

are the mainstays of the economy at Angoon now. Angoon is looking into non-diesel electric power generation to reduce local electric bills.

Education

Chatham School District operates two schools:Our Schools
" Chatham School District. Retrieved on February 13, 2017. *Angoon Elementary School *Angoon High School

References

External links

Angoon
at the Community Database Online from the Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs * Maps from the

Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) is a department within the government of Alaska which handles most of the state's labor and workforce In macroeconomics, the workforce or labour force is the sum of people ...

20002010

* Naval Historical Center. ttp://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Angoon_Attack1882.pdf Shelling of the Alaskan native American village of Angoon, October, 1882Original reports from M.A. Healy, E.C. Merriman, W.G. Morris, and supporting documents, in PDF form. {{authority control Cities in Alaska Cities in Hoonah–Angoon Census Area, Alaska Cities in Unorganized Borough, Alaska Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean Pre-statehood history of Alaska