![]() government through neglect,” Hannan said. “They came to understand the historical significance and importance of honoring those who were forcibly taken from their homes and died in custody of the U.S. Sara Hannan, the bill’s sponsor, said the elders’ work helped convince lawmakers. “And almost everyone that we met with - we didn’t have a lot of persuading to do.” From left to right: Martin Stepetin Sr., Serafima Edelen, Mary Louise Lekanof, and Zinaida Melovidov on Juneau Afternoon, Feb. “We met with a lot of representatives and legislators and went down to try to help promote the bill and make sure it was going to get passed and make sure we had the support we needed,” she said. The bill to add the Funter Bay cemetery to the marine park almost became a law last year.Įdelen, who traveled to Juneau during the last legislative session with a delegation of elders from the Pribilofs, found most lawmakers were receptive. ‘We didn’t have a lot of persuading to do’ This land will be protected, and we don’t have to worry about them.” “What we wanted was to know that they were going to be protected, they’re going to be safe. “Our traditions - once somebody is laid to rest, they’re laid to rest,” Edelen said. Edelen said the bill would also give people in the Pribilofs peace of mind that their loved ones won’t be disturbed. She’s acted as a liaison between Pribilof elders and people in Southeast Alaska working to preserve the history of the internment. That would mean the land couldn’t be sold or developed, and people would always be able to care for the cemetery so it wouldn’t gradually vanish in the forest.īut the bill also serves a more immediate need. Preserving that history is part of the impetus behind a bill that would add about 250 acres of state land, including the cemetery, to Funter Bay State Marine Park. “Who are these people? What happened, and why are they here?” ![]() “Why is there a cemetery in the middle of the forest out in Funter Bay?” Stepetin imagined them asking. When he found the cemetery, he realized anyone who stumbled on it would have no idea what they were seeing. About 10% died - mostly young children and elders - before they were allowed to return home in 1944. government forcibly removed them from the treeless Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea and took them to the Southeast rainforest, about 1,300 miles away - with only one bag apiece and no hunting or fishing gear.Īt Funter Bay they were left to fend for themselves, living in tents and the remains of an old mine and cannery, without clean water or medicine. The cemetery holds the graves of 30 to 40 Unangax̂ people who died at Funter Bay during World War II. And we’re asking folks, ‘Hey, do you know where this is - where the Aleuts were kept?’ And many people didn’t even know. “We looked all over inside of Funter Bay,” Stepetin said. The first time Martin Stepetin went to the Unangax̂ cemetery at Funter Bay, he didn’t know how to find it. The law officially protects 250 acres of land on Admiralty Island.Martin Stepetin and wife Ann embrace at the Killisnoo cemetery in 2014. "We know it's protected, so thank you very much." "Now, we know that these people here can rest, and they won't be bothered, there will be no logging roads going through there, there will be no fish camp set up next to the cemetery there," he said. ![]() Stepetin has family members who were interned. "A few days after I had first been elected, before I was sworn into office, said 'I got an idea for a bill,'" Hannan said. She thanked many people, but especially thanked Juneau resident, Martin Stepetin. George islands, placed in Funter Bay, and "told to simply survive." Juneau Representative Sara Hannan, the sponsor of HB10, said it had been 79 years since the Unangan people were removed from St. "That this place now can be turned into a place of respect and of remembrance." "We want folks to know, we want their descendants to know, that it's not been forgotten," he said. He stressed that the law helps make sure the Unangan people are not forgotten. ![]() "And, unfortunately, a number of folks passed away during that internment, and are therefore buried far away from their homes." "We want to make sure that folks know that there were approximately 400 Unangan folks that were interned," said Governor Dunleavy at the signing. The signing took place in Juneau's city museum, where a special exhibit is up that details the stories of the Unangan people that were removed from western Alaska and placed in internment camps in Southeast during World War II. Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Governor Mike Dunleavy signed a bill into law that formally protects the Funter Bay cemetery on Admiralty Island on Tuesday.
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