Although I grew up in Alaska and have seen much of it, it’s my first time visiting the village of Klawock, on Prince of Wales Island in the southeast, near Ketchikan. There’s a totem park here (one of the largest in Alaska, in fact, with 21 totems lining a hillside), but on the road into town there are two separate totems: one honoring the contributions of first responders, and the one that made me tear up a bit, which is dedicated to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).

There are two birds—an eagle and a raven—on the totem, both with tears coming from their eyes. The two birds represent the Eagle and Raven moieties of the Łingít (anglicized as Tlingit) People. Between them, the figure of a woman, faceless, represents the loss of each individual woman’s loss to her clan and community, but also recognizes the sheer number of MMIW: each unique, whose loss is uniquely mourned. At the bottom of the totem is a copper breastplate, a hope for strength and protection.

MMIW isn’t the only loss faced by Native communities in rural Alaska. The communities themselves are facing population loss as residents trickle away to seek opportunities elsewhere. Klawock and the neighboring town of Craig were never big communities: Klawock’s population is just over 700; neighboring Craig adds another 1,000, but they, like other smaller communities in Alaska, face the risk of depopulation as economic opportunity declines.

Read the full article at: https://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/alaska/experiences/news/the-surprising-way-cruises-can-actually-benefit-alaska-indigenous-communities