Klawock | Prince of Wales Island

Laura Domela — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 22:44:06 +0000

Klawock is about 7 miles by road, north of Craig on Prince of Wales Island. Klawock’s early inhabitants were from Tuxekan (a Tlingit winter village to the north), who used Klawock as their summer fishing camp. In 1868, European Americans opened a trading post and a salmon saltery, and in 1878 Klawock was the site of the very first cannery in Alaska. Klawock also has the oldest hatchery in Alaska (sockeye, coho, and steelhead).

We found space on the dock and wandered into town.

The Klawock Totem Park was on our “to see” list — and just a short walk from the harbor.

The Klawock Totem Park has the largest collection of authentic totem poles in Alaska. There are 21 original and replica totems from the old village of Tuxekan, and they are definitely some of our favorites!

We continued walking to get a feel for the town…there’s a large market about a 15 minute walk from the totem park (larger than the market in Craig by quite a bit!). Across the street from the market there’s a long house, a newly constructed carving shed (both closed) and an area in the yard where many old totems have been retired. (We even spotted a couple originals that we’d seen replicas of in the totem park!)

Back at the harbor we took advantage of the internet (well, sort of…it was VERY slow) and got a bit of work done. Dinner on Airship, and an early night. Tomorrow we’ll be heading up into El Capitan Pass. We plan to stop at Sarkar Cove, Devilfish Bay, and the El Capitan Caves, before heading around to Point Baker.

Klawock – Riveted

Klawock | Prince of Wales Island