LandBack 1890: The Tlingit Hire a Lawyer
In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison (above) received a letter written by a lawyer representing “the Indians of South Eastern Alaska.” This is often recognized as the first legal step in the fight for Alaska Native land claims.
Against the Current
As the 1880s drew to a close, the Tlingit of Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw marked two decades as neighbors of Fort Wrangel. The Cassiar Gold Rush brought a boom that went bust. The U.S. Army had long abandoned the Fort Wrangel garrison, leaving behind only fading memories and rapidly aging buildings. Following the Army’s departure, many local Tlingit became devout members of the Presbyterian mission. They sent their children to the mission’s school and adopted an American ways of life. In 1884, Congress passed the Organic Act to establish a District Court in Sitka and Fort Wrangel. In one generation, Fort Wrangel went from a lawless frontier outpost under military rule to a fledgling foothold of Americanism in Alaska.
The Tlingit still far outnumbered the settlers, but a new industry threatened the Tlingit way of life: canneries. Privately-owned canneries established fish traps near the mouth of freshwater streams. These devices ensured a fresh supply of salmon at the cannery dock, but they deprived local Tlingit fishermen access to streams they had always used, going back generations. In the late 1880s, a cannery that eventually joined the Alaska Packers Association (APA) opened inside the mouth of the Stikine River, then relocated to the northern tip of Wrangell Island. The APA seized Tlingit fishing streams like Anan, Old Village, Kah-Sheets, and others. (To learn more, read our blog post, Fish Trapped: Salmon Streams of Wrangell’s APA Cannery)
For the Tlingit of Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw, who had embraced Christianity, schools, and Western ways of thinking, the loss of salmon streams without compensation felt like theft. Having absorbed the ideals of American justice, they exercised their First Amendment right to petition the President of the United States with their grievances. To make their appeal heard with the force of law, they took and important legal step: the Tlingit hired a lawyer.
An ad for legal services by Willoughby Clark from the January 22, 1898 Stikine River Journal.
Willoughby Clark, Attorney at Law
Willoughby Clark was among the very first lawyers in Alaska and possibly the first to open his own private practice. He was likely born somewhere in Canada in the 1860s and moved to Minnesota as a young man, where pursued real estate. In 1884, he applied to practice law in Minnesota’s District Court. It’s not clear what legal training Willoughby Clark possessed to become a lawyer, but it was a career that would define his life.
The Organic Act of 1884 established a District Court in Sitka and Fort Wrangel, and lawyers like Willoughby Clark soon followed. By October 1885, he was in Sitka, becoming the fifth attorney to join the Alaska Bar.
The Sah Quah Case
One of Willoughby Clark’s first cases in Alaska became his most famous. In 1886, Willoughby Clark represented Sah Quah, a slave owned by different Tlingit families throughout his life. If Clark’s case was successful, he could end the practice of slavery for Sah Quah and all others like him. Clark appeared before the District Court in Alaska and said:
“The startling allegation made by petitioner and admitted by the respondent will be a revelation to most of the civilized world, showing as it does that a clearly defined system of slavery has existed in Alaska ever since its purchase from Russia over 19 years ago.”
Willoughby Clark won the case and made a name for himself. By using an American court to challenge a traditional Tlingit practice, he affirmed the growing role of American law in Alaska.
Fort Wrangel
Following his victory in the Sah Quah case, Willoughby Clark left Sitka and moved to Fort Wrangel. He quickly entered a marriage that would open doors for him socially and economically. He married Georgiana Choquette, the daughter of Alexander “Buck” Choquette, famous for starting the Stikine Gold Rush of 1861. Her grandfather was the fifth Shakes, Kaawishté. Like many settlers, Willoughby Clark found having an Indigenous wife invaluable, as her connections to Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw ensured opportunities for her family.
Beset with the challenges posed by the fish traps, the leading men of Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw reached out to Willoughby Clark for help. They organized under George Shakes, the sixth Naan.yaa.ayí leader to serve as Shakes. They presented their facts, plead their case, and trusted their cause to Willoughby Clark.
Willoughby Clark’s Letter
Wrangell, Alaska January 19, 1890
His Excellency
The President
Washington, D.C.
Sir:-
I have the honor to respectfully represent to your excellency, that the Indians of South Eastern Alaska have during the past Summer and Autumn held many meetings, - to some of which I have been invited - the object of which was to discuss the inadequate and peculiar position in which they find themselves, as regards their political and social relations, with the white- man and his laws.
They have selected Shakes hereditary and titular chief of the "Stickeens" or Wrangell Indians as their spokesman and General Chief pro tem and he authoritatively represents the many and scattered tribes that have taken part in the discussions. I have been employed by them as their Attorney and Counsel, to conduct their correspondence, and any negotiation that may be entered into between them and the government. I have been thus selected, -partly on account of my long acquaintance with them, and my consequent knowledge of their nature and requirements, and from the fact that their very peculiar language is my wife's mother-tongue, and she being the only good interpreter (a well educated half breed) I have been able to conduct my consultations with them in an intelligent and comprehensive manner.
The object of this communication is to respectfully represent to your Excellency, that the Indians of South Eastern Alaska feel that they are, and wish to be legally designated a separate and distinct race for political and judicial purposes, and I am instructed to say, that they do not desire to be made wards of, or in any way a burden to, or a tax on, the Government, but they consider that they have some vested hereditary rights to which they now seek to have recognized, and they have been assured that the Genius and Spirit of this Government is to respect all rights, - in the most extended sense of the term.
Briefly they ask
1st. That they be separated from Politics, considered infants under the law, and exempt from the operation of fish, game, timber and general land laws.
2nd. That they may be legally authorized to make their own laws for governance of their own local, and domestic affairs, and the punishment of minor offences.
3rd. That the system of concubinage, at present existing between white men and Indian women, be restricted under heavy penalties.
4th. That their titles to their villages and garden patches be confirmed to them in severalty in fee.
5th. That their right to their fishing streams be recognized or that they severally receive a quid pro quo for their relinquishment.
This latter item may perhaps need some explanation.
Your Excellency is no doubt aware, that the network of channels, or arms of the sea that distinguishes the South Eastern Coast of Alaska empty in innumerable fresh water streams, most of which are frequented by large quantities of Salmon, of different varieties. By mutual understanding, each family has the exclusive control of one, or other, - of these streams. The salmon caught in these streams have for centuries constituted their staple Winters food. Their manner of taking the fish, though crude, was effective but not sufficient to diminish the supply which under their system, has never been known to fail, and scarcely to fluctuate.
They now complain, that these alleged rights, are being usurped by white men, that the streams are being 'fenced' so as to prevent the fish from ascending to their spawning grounds, and that in consequence, they are rapidly becoming exterminated. They think that if they are prevented from fishing those streams, and so cut off from their food supply, they should be compensated.
In this communication it would be quite impossible to represent this Indian question to your Excellency, in all its phases. Many matters of detail would have to be discussed, if this Government entertain the idea of a treaty, or contemplate any legislation that would in its operation, affect the Indians as a class. While I have given this matter considerable thought, and a modus operandi, for the inexpensive satisfactory, and speedy adjustment of it, has suggested itself to my mind, I will not presume to offer any suggestions unless required or asked to do so. I can only say, I will cheerfully render this Administration any assistance in my power.
The Indians of S. E. Alaska are self supporting, thrifty and intelligent, and Chief Shakes is perhaps the most reliable one, from whom to obtain information. He is present as I write, and desires me to add that he will go to Washington if ordered to do so, and that in any case he prefers dealing directly with Washington as for obvious reasons the officials cannot have an extended knowledge of their wants.
I have the honor to be
Sir
Your most obedient servant
Willoughby Clark
Ripples
The historical consensus is that the government completely ignored this letter.
But it represented a milestone in the battle for Alaska Native land claims. By hiring a lawyer, the Tlingit began to engage with a political process that would continue for decades and eventually cover the entirety of Alaska. From the beginning, Indigenous people used American ideals of justice and fairness to question how their land could be taken without compensation. Despite the federal government’s snub, George Shakes and his fellow Tlingit fishermen would continue the fight.
Willoughby Clark continued to practice legal work around Alaska. When he died in 1906, his remains were laid to rest up the Stikine River near Little Telegraph Creek. Despite his influential legacy, there are no known photos of him.
Egan Remembers
On November 14, 1960, Governor William Egan addressed a joint gathering of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood. To mark 70 years since Willoughby Clark’s letter to the president, he read aloud large portions and remarked:
Alaska Governor William Egan
“Consider those statements in the sense of forecasts made 70 years ago and consider their accuracy in terms of subsequent history and of gear fights from that day to this. It was an amazing statement in its clarity and in its perception, and today we live with the consequences of its disregard.
The findings go on to state that the letter was referred by the President to the Secretary of the Interior, to whom Clark wrote another letter the same year, but the record does not show reply to either letter. I shall not state the obvious conclusions—they are too near us in time, and too tragic in their impact, to require comment.”
