Metlakatla
There are 50 states in America, and I’ve been to 13 of them, a little over a quarter. At no point did I ever think Alaska would be one of them, this month, that changed. I had the honor to meet my partner’s family for the first time in their home of Metlakatla, Alaska, home of approx 1400 Alaska Tsimshian people in the Annette Island. Metlakatla is federally recognized as an “Indian Community”.
So not only was it my first time to Alaska and my first time staying on a Native Reserve, it was also the first time meeting my partner’s whole family and friends after a year of FaceTiming and Zoom graduations, something I was nervous and excited to do.
One thing Jessie knew prior to the trip is that I hate flying and prefer to drive everywhere I could. With Metlakatla, you need to fly to Seattle (from Portland), fly into Ketchikan airport, then a 10 minute ferry to the mainland of Ketchikan since the airport is on a separate land. Followed by a 40 minute ferry to Metlakatla where you get picked up at the ferry terminal and then drive 20-30minutes into town. It sounds like a lot, but what is great is the community of people that support you. Jessie’s brother was ready to pick us up from the airport and Jessie’s sister got us from the Metlakatla ferry terminal.
Being in Metlakatla for a week, meeting all of the family and friends and learning about how Jessie grew up was such a great experience. Seeing the beautiful land and hearing the stories. Eating all of Jessie’s favorite food from home (spoiler alert: a lot of cheese, fried food, and sugar is involved). Gambling in the only Casino in all of Alaska. Celebrating Metlakatla’s “Founders Day”, when part of the Tsimshian people were refugees from religious persecution in Canada in the 1880s, and settled in the Annette Island of Alaska. Due to COVID, festivities were limited, but it was awesome seeing the community come together in the main booth areas, but also walking to personal homes to order food out of their houses.
Prior to being with my partner, the only things I knew and assumed about Alaska is that it’s far up north next to Canada (depending on the map you read as a kid, a floating island state like Hawaii), Sarah Palin was once a governor in the very red state, they really love their hunting, it snows non-stop with nearly 24 hours of sun / or night depending on the season, and that it’s known for eskimos (which is considered a derogatory term for the Alaskan Native ‘Inuit & Yupik’ people) and they live in igloos (also stereotypically untrue).
Since my relationship with Jessie, I have expanded my understanding and worldview of not only Alaska, but also learning about Alaskan Native groups, and how they differ from bigger Native groups in the “lower 48s” like Cherokee (~300,000) or Navajo (~280,000) in comparison to the ~2000 Tsimshian people in Alaska and ~6000 in Canada. *2010 US Census.
Jessie is the first non-Asian and non-San Francisco born person I have ever dated. It’s been fun to exchange our cultures and learning from one another. By no means have I even scratched the surface in learning about the Tsimshian nation, but my interest has grown immensely. Thankful for you always Jessie, I love you, thank you for inviting me to Metlakatla.
Doogie
