Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

The Chilkoot Indian Association has been named a recipient of a $74,889 grant from the National Park Service to stabilize the Noow Hit Tribal House in Fort Seward.

The house was built in the 1950s and features formline carvings by famous Southeast Alaska carvers including Nathan Jackson, Leo Jacobs, Jeff David, Sr., John Hagen, Sr., and Bill Holm, according to CIA.

CIA was one of 10 grant recipients of the Tribal Heritage Grant Program from around the country, including two others in Alaska.

"These grants help the National Park Service work with American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native organizations to preserve their cultural heritage and reconnect people with their traditions of the past that help inform their future," said NPS Director Chuck Sams in a press release announcing the grant.

The grant is funded from revenue from federal oil lease sales.

The CIA acquired the Fort Seward parade grounds in December 2022 from Alaska Indian Arts, and said the rebuild of the Noow Hit house was its main priority. In a press release from the time, CIA said the post-and-beam construction of the house was guided by Tlingit elders who had lived in traditional tribal houses in the late 19th century. It said the elders were founding members of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and the Alaska Native Sisterhood, as well as being important members of the Alaska Civil Rights Movement.

In a newsletter from July, CIA said it plans to do a full assessment and make as-built drawings of the house "so that we record how it was made for future generations." CIA said it plans to work with MRV Architects in Juneau, who worked on the restorations of both Chief Shakes' House in Wrangell and Chief Son-I-Hat's Whale House in Kasaan.