“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 that anyone who stumbled on it would have no idea what they were seeing. About 10% of them died - mostly young children and the elderly - 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.
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The first time Martin Stepetin went to the Unangax̂ cemetery at Funter Bay, he didn’t know how to find it. (Courtesy of the Juneau-Douglas City Museum) If it passes the House, it goes next to the Senate.A recent photo of the Unangax̂ cemetery at Funter Bay. McCabe’s amendment failed, 21-19, and the bill advanced without objection. Instead of two state divisions having separate management responsibilities in Funter Bay, the parks division could manage it alone. DNR recommended transferring the entire 251-acre tract because it would streamline management. Sarah Hannan, who is also sponsoring the bill, said the Department of Natural Resources had found the land has no commercial value. “But I think it may be more ideological and is not corroborated by any on the ground or local concern or hesitation about this proposal.” “I understand the concerns being highlighted by previous members,” he said. He said he had not heard any opposition to the bill from local residents or mining interests.
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, Sitka, is one of the bill’s sponsors. The Funter Bay families want to make sure they can care for the graves - and that the site will serve as a memorial of the Internment.ĭemocratic Rep. It’s on private land, and the owner has blocked access. The movement to protect the cemetery was motivated in part by what happened at another internment site, on Killisnoo Island, near Angoon. Most of the people who died at Funter Bay were elders or very young children who were left to survive without clean water or basic medical care in the remains of an old cannery, more than a thousand miles from their homes. “We don’t know what technologies and future mineral discoveries might happen involving this area.” “We are going in the wrong direction for a mere 30 interned individuals in the cemetery,” Eastman said. A recent photo of the Unangax̂ cemetery at Funter Bay. Dave Eastman (Wasilla) said the bill could stand in the way of future resource extraction. Without the amendment, McCabe said, the state would be transferring additional acres, “including an island that’s offshore and not even part of this cemetery - that is unneeded transfer of Alaska’s wealth into a state park.” Kevin McCabe, Big Lake, said he supports the intent of the bill, but he proposed an amendment that would transfer 90 acres to the park instead of 251. This year, a group of Republican representatives complained during floor debate that the bill transfers too much land to the park. Last year, the bill looked to be on its way to passing when the COVID-19 pandemic cut the session short. military forced them from their homes and held them for much of the war at the remote spot on Admiralty Island. George who died at Funter Bay during World War II after the U.S. The cemetery holds more than 30 graves of people from St. The bill would add about 251 acres of state land, including the cemetery, to Funter Bay State Marine Park. The Alaska House of Representatives is expected to vote today on a bill to protect the Unangax̂ cemetery at Funter Bay. Update: The bill passed 31-8 and is headed to the Senate. Funter Bay on the Mansfield Peninsula of Admiralty Island on Aug.
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