Aa'kw Kwáan

Auke Bay lies on the northern edge of the Alexander Archipelago near Juneau, where mountains descend to a sheltered inlet and the open waters of Stephens Passage. Aa’kw Kwáan, “Small Lake People,” formed an Auke subgroup of the Tlingit. Their seasonal round followed waterfowl and herring, salmon, seals, berries and forest materials between the bay, nearby islands and mainland valleys.

Clan ownership governed fishing sites, cedar stands and named places. Tlingit society was organized through Raven and Wolf/Eagle moieties, clans and houses. Extended families lived in cedar longhouses, while potlatches recorded inheritance, mourning and alliances. Indian Point and other named places held village remains, burial grounds and sacred associations, making the landscape a record of clan history as well as a food resource.

Russian and later British and American ships entered the region from the late eighteenth century for sea otter furs. Auke people increasingly traded furs and provisions, while introduced disease and conflict altered communities. Through the early nineteenth century the Auke remained a coastal people of seasonal camps, canoes and clan territories, trading furs with ships while keeping their fishing grounds and villages.

The later city of Juneau lies here.