Icy Straight: Tlingit Natives and the village of Hoonah

 The Clan house of one of the Tlingit families.  The danced the story of how the raven stole the sun and released it to the earth to bring light into the day.  The man who was the Raven in the dance showed us his dancing shawl.  When he sang he sounded just like a Raven.

These are the dancers and the singers and the elder who told the legends.

We were invited to come forward and be part of the dance.  I love the mother and her little son in front row doing the dance with them. 

We went into the little native town of Hoonah and a woman took us 1/2 block away from the small school and showed us an eagle who was building this nest right amidst the town.  It was an interesting thing to see so many eagles building their nests close to people...almost always you saw eagles perched in a tree close to the downtown of the village/town.  All the inner passage towns/village have no roads going in or out of town.  The only way in is either by plane or boat.  Alaska is really the last "pioneer" state.  We heard many of the people living in Alaska that they lived "off the grid"...meaning they did not have any electricity wired in, or water piped in or land line phones. 

I just couldn't help but take a picture of this small Catholic Church in Hoonah.  I am wondering where the priest flies in from and how often he is able to come and be with the people of this little isolated village.