Welcome to Kasaan,
Alaska
132° 23' W Longitude - 55° 32'
N Latitude
Kasaan is situated on the east side of Prince of Wales Island on
Kasaan Bay, 30 miles northwest of Ketchikan. Access is by Forest
Service and State Road, float plane, and boat.
Originally Tlingit territory, Kasaan gets its name from the Tlingit
word meaning "pretty town." Haidas migrated north from
the Queen Charlotte Islands in the early 1700s to the Island
and established the village now known as "Old Kasaan," 7
miles south on Skowl Arm. In 1892 the Copper Queen mine, camp,
sawmill, post office and store were built on Kasaan Bay, and
the Haida people relocated to this new village. In 1902 the first
salmon cannery was constructed in Kasaan. The cannery burned
in 1907, 1910 and again in 1911, but was rebuilt each season.
The cannery operated sporadically until 1953. During this time,
Kasaan had a school, three stores, a Presbyterian Church and
other businesses. Chief Sonihat built the Whale House, a traditional
long house which became the focus of the new Kasaan Totem Park,
established during the 1930s. Many of the totems left from the
old village site were moved to the park in 1938. Kavilco, Inc.,
the local village corporation, purchased the old cannery buildings
and property in 1974, and in 1980 removed the cannery buildings.
Remnants of the historical Karta River village and petroglyphs
lie north of the city, and the Old Tom Creek village and fort
lie south of the city.
Today, Kasaan was traditionally a Haida village, but the population
has become mixed, with Haidas, Aleuts, Eskimos and non-Natives.
Subsistence activities are a major contributor to villagers' diets.
Most villagers participate in subsistence or recreational activities
for food sources, harvesting deer, salmon, halibut, shrimp and
crab. With the addition of tourism, the mainstays of that economy
is fishing, mining and logging.
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