Kake (, like 'cake') is a first-class

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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. The population was 557 at the 2010 census. The name comes from the

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; ...

word ''Ḵéix̱ʼ'' (Northern Tlingit) or ''Ḵéex̱ʼ'' (Southern Tlingit), which is derived from ''ḵée'' 'dawn, daylight' and ''x̱ʼé'' 'mouth', i.e. 'mouth of dawn' or 'opening of daylight'.

Geography

Kake is located at (56.970841, -133.933751). Kake is on the northwest coast of Kupreanof Island in the

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago () is a archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep ...

in southeastern Alaska. 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, of it is land and of it (42.37%) is water.

Demographics

Kake first reported on the 1880 U.S. Census as the Tlingit village of Keex Kwaan (not to be confused with the present Klukwan). It formally reported as Kake beginning in 1910. It incorporated in 1951. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 710 people, 246 households, and 171 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 288 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 24.08%

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 ...

, 0.28%

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 ...

, 66.76% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.56% from other races, and 8.03% from two or more races. 1.55% 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. There were 246 households, out of which 41.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.49. In the city the population was spread out, with 33.8% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $39,643, and the median income for a family was $42,857. Males had a median income of $44,167 versus $20,625 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 $17,411. About 13.2% of families and 14.6% 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 23.7% of those under the age of 18 and 4.0% of those 65 and older.

History

Prior to Alaska Purchase

The region of Kake has been inhabited by the

indigenous people for thousands of years. The Tlingit of the Kake region gained a reputation among early European and American explorers of being strong and powerful. Some conflicts with early explorers have been documented by historians. Some scholars believe the first explorer to enter Tlingit lands was the Briton

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

, who traveled to the area near present-day Kake in 1579, although other scholars dispute this theory. In the early 19th century Kake was visited by American maritime fur traders seeking

sea otter The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of ...

skins, such as the ship ''

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

'' in 1805 and ''Otter'' in 1811. Kake was also visited by the Russian Golovin Expedition in 1818. Mikhail Tikhanov, an artist with the expedition, painted a watercolor of the Tlingit chief Kotlean.

After Alaska Purchase

In the February 1869 Kake War the destroyed three deserted villages and two forts near present-day Kake. Prior to the conflict, two white trappers were killed by the Kake in retribution for the death of two Kake departing Sitka. Sitka was the site of a standoff between the Army and some

s who refused to surrender Chief Colchika, who was involved in an altercation in Fort Sitka. While no Kake died in the destruction of the villages, except perhaps for a single old woman, some died over the winter due to the loss of winter stores, canoes, and shelter led to the death. The villages were not rebuilt, and their inhabitants dispersed to other villages or remained in the vicinity, eventually rebuilding the present day Kake.Harring, Sidney L. "The Incorporation of Alaskan Natives Under American Law: United States and Tlingit Sovereignty, 1867-1900." Ariz. L. Rev. 31 (1989): 279.
/ref> On September 25, 2024, the U.S. Navy formally apologized to the people of Kake for the destruction of the village.Juneau Empire "A Long Time Coming"
/ref> Kake is the site of a 128-foot totem pole, one of the world's largest, carved in 1967 for the

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 ...

centennial.

Government

A first-class city, Kake has a mayor-council form of government which is composed of a mayor and six council members. The city also has a city manager.

Education

The Kake City School District operates the city's school.

Notable people

* Edna Jackson (born 1950), artist

References

Bibliography

* Dombrowski, Kirk (2001) ''Against Culture: Development, Politics, and Religion in Indian Alaska.'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

External links

Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs: Kake
{{authority control Cities in Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area, Alaska Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean