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Funter bay state marine12/22/2023 ![]() Others in the House balked at the Republicans’ suggestion, with Rep. Chris Kurka, R-Wasilla, called the transfer a “land grab.” David Eastman, R-Wasilla, said Wednesday future technologies might reveal previously unknown mineral deposits on the site and Rep. Hannan also noted that DNR had stated there was no commercial value to the land, which is why the plot was already being de facto managed by the parks division.īut Rep. To allocate a smaller portion of the land would require an additional survey at cost to the state. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, noted when introducing the bill the transfer would not cost the state any money as the parcel in question had already been surveyed. “The 180 extra acres is an unneeded transfer of Alaska’s wealth, I think it’s in the best interest of the state as well as the people whose relatives are buried there,” McCabe said of his amendment. On Wednesday McCabe introduced a bill reducing the amount of land being transferred from 251 acres to 90, saying so much land was not necessary to honor the history of the site. Kevin McCabe, R-Anchorage, and the state was forfeiting potential future revenue for selling the land. The land being moved into conservation is valuable to the state, said Rep. The cemetery has since fallen into disrepair but Stepetin said by designating the site as a park, the area will be protected from future development.īut that protection is what several Republican lawmakers said is concerning on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday when the bill was first heard. About 10% of the residents died, including children, Stepetin said, as the authorities that relocated people there didn’t have a plan for how they would survive there. Villagers were taken to a former cannery site and left with insufficient supplies in housing without insulation or heating, according to a National Park Service history of the site. “My people, my grandparents, were brought down here from the Aleutians, basically as slaves of the federal government,” Stepetin said. Stepetin’s grandparents were among the group, he said in an interview with the Empire, and it’s a part of Alaska’s history he thinks should be highlighted. George on the Pribilof Islands in the Aleutians were forcibly relocated to the area by the federal government. It now moves to the Alaska Senate.During World War II, dozens of Aleut people from the villages of St. The House passed the bill 29-4 last week. ![]() "The descendants of the families who are buried there had some real anxiety about whether they would always have access to be able to visit the graves of their family," said Hannan. But the Juneau Democrat said she wanted to ensure it would remain open to the public by adding it and surrounding lands to the nearby Funter Bay park. Sara Hannan said the cemetery is already on state-owned land managed by the Department of Natural Resources. "The value of protecting the social and historical significance of this land will cement the history for good, and we will never have to repeat this history again," he said.īill sponsor Rep. Stepetin was testifying in support of House Bill 122, which would expand Funter Bay State Marine Park by about 250 acres to include the historic cemetery. "Even my grandma used to say, late into her late 90s, things like, 'I hope it never happens again,'" he said. Martin Stepetin told the committee that all four of his grandparents spent the war at Funter Bay in miserable conditions. More than 1,000 miles away from their ancestral home in the Pribilofs, the Unangax̂ had to make do with few provisions and little heat in a shuttered salmon cannery. "I think it's very important in terms of the state of Alaska protecting the Unangax̂ historic cemetery site," Monteith told the House Resources Committee. George Island were relocated to southeast Alaska in a makeshift camp on Admiralty Island.Īround 30 marked graves remain near the shores of Funter Bay, which descendants continue to visit. University of Alaska Southeast anthropology associate professor Daniel Monteith told lawmakers last month that 290 residents of St. authorities forcibly evacuated more than 800 Unangax̂ from nine villages in the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands ahead of the Japanese advance. Alaska lawmakers are considering expanding a state park to include the historic graves of Unangan people who died during the evacuation of World War II.Īfter the Japanese bombed Unalaska in 1942, U.S.
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