In 1898, John Kadashan of Fort Wrangel was among the Tlingit leaders to confront Governor John G. Brady about their stolen fishing streams.

John Kadashan

As the 19th century drew to a close, no home in Fort Wrangel represented the changing times more than Kadashan’s house. His two-story Victorian-style residence would have been impressive anywhere, but what set him apart were his two ornately carved totem poles out front. These poles suggested his wealth, status, and power as the leader of the Kaasx’agweidí clan, which had occupied that spot since before the arrival of the United States in 1868. As photographed by Eadweard Muybridge, Kadashan’s home was part of the village of Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw. But decades passed, and by 1898 the Wilson & Sylvester Sawmill surrounded Kadashan’s house with construction and towering stacks of lumber. Tourists flocked to Kadashan’s home to see this mixture of old and new.

Like his house, Kadashan was a mixture of Tlingit and Western ways. Kadashan was one of the first members of the Presbyterian mission, taking the Christian name John Kadashan. He was a skilled orator, storyteller, and peacemaker. As the Reverend S. Hall Young described him:

Kadashan befriended John Muir in 1879 and traveled on his canoe voyage north. According to Muir, when white people cut down one of Kadashan’s family totem poles, an outraged Kadashan demanded to know:

Near the end of the 1880s, private canneries began to seize salmon streams and exclude Tlingit fishermen from ancestral fishing grounds. In 1890, lawyer Willoughby Clark wrote a letter to President Benjamin Harrison on behalf of the Tlingit, but they received no response. As the decade came to an end, the problem only grew worse as more fish traps decimated salmon streams and boxed the Tlingit out. The growing flood of newcomers with the Klondike Gold Rush accelerated the feeling that the Tlingit were losing control.

Once again, Kadashan’s skills as an orator would play an important role. In 1898, Kadashan had an opportunity to address Alaska’s governor, John G. Brady. As Kadashan would remind Brady, the two men were not strangers. In fact, they had a history.

John G. Brady

President William McKinley appointed John G. Brady as the Governor of Alaska in 1897. Brady had been a well-known Presbyterian minister in Alaska, and it all began in Fort Wrangel in March 1878. He arrived to find a passionate group of Christian Tlingit converts eager for a minister to serve their congregation. The group was supported by missionary Amanda R. McFarland, but as a layperson she could not officiate religious services. One of Brady’s first acts in Fort Wrangel was to hold the first Christian wedding ceremonies for two Tlingit couples, a landmark event.

But Brady’s time in Fort Wrangel would be short-lived and disappointing for the Tlingit. As Amanda McFarland recalled in a letter to Reverend Sheldon Jackson on March 26, 1878:

Reverend Brady stayed in Sitka, where he continued to work for the Presbyterian mission as Reverend Sheldon Jackson expanded the church’s influence within Alaska.

The Juneau MEeting

Near the end of 1898, Tlingit leaders from around southeast Alaska gathered with Governor John G. Brady in Juneau. As Ted C. Hinkley wrote:

Kadashan’s Speech

Kadashan was given the first opportunity to address the group. His complete speech:

Yash-Noosh’s Speech

Chief Johnson (Yash-noosh) from Juneau immediately followed Kadashan and began:

Koog-See’s Speech

Koog-see of Hoonah spoke third and referred to Kadashan during several places in his speech;

Governor Brady’s Response

Speeches by Kah-ea-tchiss of Hoonah, Shoo-we-Kah from Juneau, and Ah-na-tlash from Taku followed, echoing similar themes and sentiments. The Tlingit provided a united front with a shared story.

The gathering concluded with Governor Brady’s response, who said, in part:

Kadashan argued from the historical timeline, citing the events from the past to support his case. He confronted settlers—including Brady—who treated Alaska as unclaimed and up for grabs. Kadashan engaged with Brady on both a political and spiritual level, evoking their shared faith and invoking the name of God.

Challenged by the Tlingit, Brady offered a defensive response. He ignored Tlingit land claims and asserted the exclusive right of the federal government to parcel out lands. Brady may have been speaking rhetorically when he suggested relocating all the Tlingit onto Admiralty Island, but he revealed his mood at this point in the gathering.

Both Kadashan and Brady saw tremendous change in their lives. Both made great sacrifices to bring Christianity and Western ways of working into Alaska. But at this point, they were at odds over the fate of the Tlingit way of life.