METLAKATLA, ALASKA

Metlakatla, on Annette Island, is a beautiful community sitting amidst a lush, green temperate rainforest in southern southeast Alaska. Metlakatla’s Native people have a rich, complex and diverse culture and history dating back many thousands of years.

In the Tsimshian language, “Metlakatla” or Maxłaxaała translates to “peaceful saltwater passage where the wind dies down.”

Our sheltered harbors, abundant salmon streams, and evergreen forests have sustained us for many generations and allowed our people to produce monumental art such as huge cedar long houses, totem poles, canoes, as well as intricately woven cedar bark baskets, and an enormous variety of traditional foods and medicines.