WCA prepares for tourism season, hires coordinator

As the first cruise ship of the season arrived in town last Thursday, the Wrangell Cooperative Association's new tourism coordinator, Brooke Leslie, gave visitors an informative presentation inside the Chief Shakes House. After performing a song, she taught the group about matrilineal Tlingit family structure, construction of the house, traditional communal living and canoe travel.

The Tlingit traveled long distances by canoe, she explained, but "how would you know that the people arriving are friendly?" When paddlers would visit another village, they would announce themselves through song. "We would know, without ever seeing you, which clan was here because of the songs that they were singing," she said.

As the WCA prepares for its busiest summer tourism season in years, the tribe hired Leslie to share Wrangell's history and culture with visitors and ensure that tour companies work together smoothly with the tribe.

The new full-time position was announced in mid-March; Leslie's start date was May 8.

The community expects as many as 33,000 visitors this year - about 90% by cruise ship and tour boat - the most since 2005.

The WCA has had a tourism coordinator before, but only for a short time before the pandemic hit. "She just came briefly, to get tourism up and running," explained Tribal Administrator Esther Aaltséen Reese. The previous coordinator moved back to her home in Sitka and the tribe hasn't had one since.

Shakes House tours, dancing and storytelling presentations were paused during the pandemic seasons of 2020 and 2021. "The people who do the tours, we wanted to make sure that they were protected," said Reese. "It just wasn't worth the risk to have them interacting with people in the early stages of COVID."

Then, in 2022, WCA cautiously opened up some tours at Shakes. "Last year, it was sort of just, 'we're going to do what we can to safely enter back into the tourism realm," said Reese. "And now this year, with increased numbers of ships and WCA staffing, we definitely needed a tourism coordinator to make tourism what it needs to be for our community and our visitors."

Leslie, with her extensive background in the Wrangell tourism industry, was a good fit for the role. She's worked as a cultural interpreter for Alaska Waters since 2004 and served on the WCA council in 2013. After taking a break during the pandemic to spend time with her new baby, she's looking forward to contributing to the tribe and enhancing the experience people have in Wrangell, she said.

In her first season as coordinator, Leslie hopes to make the Shakes House more accessible to visitors. She'll also manage the tribe's contracts with tour companies, organize dancers, ensure that the Shakes House is cleaned regularly and develop a business plan to present to the tribal council.

"I really want to see the WCA get this to be an established and growing, sustainable program underneath them," she said.

Two kinds of shows -storytelling and dancing -will be available for visitors this year, though WCA is still in the process of organizing its dance shows. "The WCA is happy to be able to share our culture, our storytelling and unique aspects of the Shtax'héen Kwáan with the visitors that come to Wrangell," said Reese.

The organization also plans to expand its tourism presence in the coming years. Though that expansion is still in the early stages, WCA plans to bring a master carver to town to train Wrangell's tribal members in the art of totem carving. Carving will be "a wonderful thing for our visitors and community to view," she added.

The WCA has not yet determined whether the Chief Shakes House will be open for regular hours. To schedule an appointment, call the WCA office at 907-874-4304.