Kake: the sleepless Tlingit town that fed America’s salmon addiction

The Keex’kwaan’s Lost Cannery at Kake

The Kake Cannery sits on what was once the summer fishing grounds of the Keex’kwaan Tlingit people.

In 1906, outside companies built a salmon station on their land, and the Tlingit helped turn it into a full cannery by 1912. At first, whole Native families worked there – men caught fish while women and kids packed them.

Business boomed, with 89,000 cases shipped by 1917. Soon after, though, the owners began hiring Chinese, then Japanese, and finally Filipino workers instead.

By the 1930s, barely any Tlingit worked at the cannery. The historic site now tells this story of how Alaska’s salmon industry changed Native lives.

The Town That Never Sleeps Fished These Waters

Kake Tlingit people lived all around Frederick Sound with villages on Kuiu and Kupreanof Islands for thousands of years. Their name “Keex’kwaan” meant “The Town That Never Sleeps,” showing how busy and alert they stayed.

Salmon was the center of Tlingit life. Families built wooden fish traps across streams that guided salmon into woven baskets for easy catching.

Clan leaders took care of fishing spots to make sure salmon came back every year. Men caught fish while women prepared them, keeping their people fed for countless generations.

Outside Companies Built On Sacred Fishing Grounds

In 1906, the Kake Trading & Packing Company built a King Salmon station just a mile from Kake village. They picked a spot the Tlingit had used for summer fishing for generations.

Six years later, Sanborn Cutting Company bought the site and turned it into a full salmon cannery. Many Kake villagers helped build it, working alongside the newcomers.

Business grew fast, and by 1914 the cannery packed over 22,000 cases of salmon from the rich local waters.

Families Worked Together In Early Cannery Days

At first, whole Tlingit families worked at the cannery. Men caught fish using their old methods like standing traps and beach nets.

Women and children sorted and packed fish on the canning lines. This setup worked for everyone, with more locals joining as the cannery grew.

By 1917, they packed 89,369 cases of salmon.

The cannery brought money into the community while letting the Tlingit keep working with the salmon that had always been key to their way of life.

Modern Tools Changed The Fishing Game

Seasonal Chinese workers started coming to cut up the catch, marking the first big change in cannery work.

The company brought in gas boats, floating traps, and even a machine called an “iron chink” that cleaned fish faster than people could.

Sanborn Cutting Company ran things until 1925, when they sold to Sunny Point Packing Company. Under new owners, the cannery packed 93,480 cases in 1926.

Alaska Pacific Salmon Corporation took over that same year, running it until 1940.

Business Grew While Old Ways Faded

The cannery changed hands for the last time in 1929 when Alaska Pacific Salmon Corporation took full control, making 82,040 cases that year.

Under them, it grew into one of southeast Alaska’s biggest fish packing plants. They hit a record 112,445 cases in 1940.

The cannery drove the local economy from 1912 through the 1940s. Jobs followed strict racial lines, with white men getting the best positions.

Others got lower-paying work, slowly pushing Tlingit people away from leading in their own fishing industry.

Workers From Asia Took Over Local Tlingit Jobs

Filipino “Alaskeros” first showed up around 1911, with more coming in the 1920s as new laws kept Chinese and Japanese workers out.

Filipinos took jobs that Japanese workers once had, who had earlier replaced Chinese workers. The cannery gave these immigrant workers the hardest, worst-paying jobs while some Tlingit still caught fish.

Labor bosses hired and housed these workers. By the mid-1930s, most cannery workers were Filipino.

The company built separate housing for each group: Native, white, Filipino, Chinese, and Japanese workers all lived apart.

Local Fishermen Lost Their Place In The Business

By the 1930s, only two to four Tlingit fishermen and a few women still worked at the cannery. The shift to contract labor pushed out local workers for immigrants who worked for less money.

The cannery stood apart from Kake village, split by Gunnuk Creek. Before they built a bridge, workers from Kake had to row boats just to get to work.

This physical gap matched the growing gap between the Tlingit people and the industry that now controlled their old fishing grounds.

Salmon Numbers Dropped As The Industry Struggled

P.E. Harris & Company bought the cannery in 1940 but faced big problems.

Salmon numbers had fallen sharply after decades of heavy fishing. The company closed the cannery in 1946 because there simply weren’t enough fish to make money.

Things got harder after Alaska became a state in 1959 and banned fish traps, which had been the best way to catch lots of salmon.

Without these traps, big canning operations no longer made sense in places like Kake.

Tlingit People Bought Back Their Fishing Heritage

The Organized Village of Kake formed under the 1942 Indian Reorganization Act, which gave tribes more self-rule. In 1949, they bought the cannery and renamed it Keku Cannery the next year.

The tribe owned it to boost local jobs and the economy. They faced tough challenges from the start, including fewer salmon and the ban on fish traps.

Despite trying to keep things going, money problems proved too much. The cannery stayed open under tribal ownership until 1977, when it finally closed for good.

America Recognized The Cannery’s Important Story

When the Keku Cannery became a National Historic Landmark in 1997, experts called it the best-preserved salmon cannery in Southeast Alaska.

The site kept its original worker housing, wooden boardwalks between buildings, and vintage machinery.

The landmark status highlighted how the cannery showed the evolution of the fishing industry, from traditional Tlingit practices to industrial operations using foreign contract workers.

The designation acknowledged that the cannery stood on a traditional Tlingit fishing camp, connecting past and present.

Many elders who had fished and worked there still felt strong ties to the place.

Old Cannery Buildings Find New Purpose

Recent years have seen plans to breathe new life into the historic site.

The Historic Cannery Restoration and Dock Project aims to turn the main building into a gateway to Kake. The renovated space will welcome artists, vendors, and community groups like the Keex’ Kwaan Dancers.

The Organized Village of Kake has big plans for the facility, including a cultural center, historical museum, restaurant, Tribal Transportation Office, and marketplace for native goods.

They’ve secured over $2 million to stabilize the main cannery building. The community continues to celebrate the fishing practices of their ancestors.

Visiting Kake Cannery, Alaska

You can visit Kake Cannery on Keku Road, just one mile south of Kake village. It’s close to the airport and ferry terminal.

The complex still has original boardwalks connecting the mess hall, bunkhouses, and cannery buildings with period machinery inside.

The Organized Village of Kake is restoring it into a cultural center and museum. A 2012 dock welcomes small cruise ships and private yachts.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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