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Hoonah ( or Gaaw Yat’aḵ Aan ) is a largely Tlingit community on Chichagof Island, located in Alaska's panhandle in the southeast region of the state. It is west of Juneau, across the Alaskan Inside Passage. Hoonah is the only first-class city on Chichagof Island, the 109th-largest island in the world and the 5th-largest island in the U.S. At the 2020 census the population was 931, up from 760 in 2010. In the summer the population can swell to over 1,300 depending on fishing, boating, hiking and hunting conditions.

"Hoonah" became the official spelling in 1901, with establishment of the Hoonah branch of the United States Post Office. "Hoonah" is the approximate pronunciation of the Tlingit name , which means “lee of the north wind”, i.e., protected from the north wind.

History

The clans comprising the Huna Tlingit originally settled what is now Glacier Bay National Park as well as Icy Strait, Cross Sound, and the outer coast north to Sea Otter Creek. Two catastrophic events forced the Tlingit from their homeland rapid glacial advance in Glacier Bay and a landslide-induced tsunami in Lituya Bay along the outer coast. Tlingit oral tradition recounts these events as well as the clans' ultimate resettlement in Xunaa.

A partial timeline of modern Hoonah history is below:

1750s - Xunaa was settled by clans fleeing glacial advance in Glacier Bay.

1880 - The North West Trading Company built the first store in Hoonah.

1881 - The Presbyterian Home Mission and school was built.

1887 - 450 to 500 people were wintering in the village.

1901 - Hoonah post office was opened.

1912 - The Hoonah Packing Co. built a large cannery north of town. The cannery was shut down after decades of use and is now a tourist attraction at Icy Strait Point.

1934, 1936 - Hoonah Indian Association was constituted as a federally recognized tribe, authorized to act on behalf of the Huna Tlingit.

1944 - A fire destroyed much of Hoonah, including many priceless Tlingit cultural objects. The United States federal government assisted in rebuilding Hoonah.

1953 - Last year that Icy Strait Salmon Company operated as a full-fledged canning operation. From this point until 1999 the property functioned as a maintenance and support facility for the seine boat fishing fleet.

1964 - First graduating class from Hoonah High School, in May.

2001 - Groundbreaking ceremony for Icy Strait Point, at abandoned Hoonah Packing Company site.

2004 - Celebrity MV Mercury makes inaugural call at Icy Strait Point.

2007 - ZipRider! The world's largest zipline opens at Icy Strait Point.

2010 - Alaska State Troopers assisted Hoonah police in a 2-day manhunt for a man who was reported to be armed in a wooded area in the city. He was later apprehended without incident.

2010 - A fire and subsequent series of explosions destroyed the Icy Strait Lumber Mill. No criminal activity was suspected in the fire.

2010 - Two police officers from the city were shot and killed in an ambush on Front Street. The suspect subsequently barricaded himself inside his own home on August 29, 2010. State, local and federal law enforcement officers and SWAT personnel from agencies throughout Alaska responded in the wake of the shooting. The suspect, John Marvin, was taken into custody the next day.