The assembly unanimously voted Aug. 25 to move forward with donating 2.7 acres of borough-owned land to WCA for construction of a memorial park, which the tribe wants to build in honor of the Native children who were “lost or traumatized” at the federally operated boarding school on the same site.

The memorial also would honor Aleuts “who suffered while forced to stay at the internment camp on the same grounds” when they were removed from their homes during World War II, WCA Tribal President Ethan Petticrew wrote to the assembly.

 The assembly decision approves the transfer of land near Institute Creek, directly north of the Alder Top Village Keishangita.’aan residential subdivision near Shoemaker Bay.

Th future memorial and the residential subdivision are on land occupied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Wrangell Institute boarding school 1932-1975.

The federal government later gave the property to the municipality.

The assembly action Aug. 25 reverses an earlier commitment to give two parcels within the subdivision to WCA for construction of the memorial. In lieu of those lots, the borough and tribe agreed on a larger piece of land just outside the subdivision.

The borough spent more than $4 million developing the land for residential lots, putting in roads and utilities, recovering less than half that amount from selling the first 20 lots.

“The Alder Top Subdivision was developed, in part, through the investment of public funds, including taxpayer and utility ratepayer revenues, for the purpose of creating additional residential property within the borough,” Borough Manager Mason Villarma reported to the assembly.

“Although the proposed memorial park is a meaningful community project, gifting residential lots with a combined appraised value of $105,400 does not represent the most appropriate use of borough property when the original purpose of the subdivision and the public funding invested in its development are considered.”

The newly selected land for the memorial is outside the residential subdivision.

Villarma said the approval clears the path for formal boundary work ahead of the land transfer.

”The next steps would be working with the tribe for a survey, get a good legal description,” he said. “It’ll be its own independent parcel, and then once we have a good legal description established and on a plat, we can move forward with conveyance. We anticipate on doing that all this fall.”

Petticrew, who spoke to the assembly at the Aug. 25 meeting, said the land carries deep cultural and historical significance for the region. Long before modern boundaries were established, Tlingit families lived, gathered and raised their children on the land.

The site later became the location of the Wrangell Institute, a federal boarding school where generations of Alaska Native children from across the territory and later the state were separated from their families, languages and cultures. While some students built lasting friendships, many reported loneliness, punishment and trauma.

During World War II, the property marked another difficult period in Alaska Native history. Following the forced evacuation of Unangax̂ residents from the Aleutian Islands to Southeast Alaska, evacuees from Nikolski, Kashiga, Biorka, Makushin, Unalaska and Akutan were housed in tents on the grounds for four months. Many children from those displaced families were subsequently enrolled in the boarding school.

Petticrew emphasized the profound meaning of the land transfer during the meeting.

“Tonight we are welcoming land home. Yeah, you heard that right. We are welcoming land home,” Petticrew said.

“Long before there was a city of Wrangell, long before the state of Alaska was in existence, long before the boundaries that we all recognize today, property lines, the Tlingit people lived upon this land, Keishangita.’aan, and they raised their families here,” he told the assembly.

“Our ancestors knew this place. They walked here. They gathered here. They raised their families here. They looked across the same waters and mountains that we’re looking across today. This was their home and still is.”

Petticrew noted that establishing the park will ensure that the full scope of the site’s history will be honored and preserved for future generations.

“So when we accept this property tonight, we want you to know that we accept more than acreage here,” Petticrew said. “We are accepting our responsibility. We have a responsibility to the Tlingit.”