Hoonah Indian Association

A nation today

The Bartlett Cove day boat holds position below the tall ice face of Margerie Glacier, the boat small against the glacier for scale.
National Park Service · Public Domain

Background

Clan leaders and Lingít craftsmen designed Xunaa Shuká Hít with the Hoonah Indian Association and NPS, and the Huna Ancestors' House at Bartlett Cove was dedicated in 2016. The association works with other tribal governments and corporations on the needs of the Huna Tlingit, and its stated mission is to build economic, governmental, and social opportunities while preserving the history and traditions of its ancestors. Tribal leaders set it up in 1939 as a federally recognized tribal government, and it keeps a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

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Visit and learn

Xunaa Shuká Hít (Huna Ancestors' House)

Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska·cultural center

The first permanent clan house in Glacier Bay since the Little Ice Age glacial advance. Open all year, with no permit or reservation needed. Guided programs are sometimes offered in summer. Park entrance fees may apply.

https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/huna-tribal-house.htm

Hoonah Indian Association's own site

Tribal lands have their own laws. Check the nation's site before you visit.

Parks on its homelands

The Bartlett Cove day boat holds position below the tall ice face of Margerie Glacier, the boat small against the glacier for scale.Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

The park and the Hoonah Indian Association, the tribal government of the Huna Łingít, work together on programs for Huna youth and on collecting and preserving oral histories, and the park sponsors cultural trips each year that bring tribal members back to the bay. Most Huna Łingít live today across Icy Strait in the village of Hoonah. Source

Programs

  • HIA Environmental

    The association's environmental office works to be "Stewards of Land, Sea, and Sky," with the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership, a coastal resilience program, and youth engagement, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.

    https://www.hoonahindianassociation.org/hia-environmental·land

  • Tribal entries into Glacier Bay Homeland

    The association and Glacier Bay National Park set up a way for tribal members to visit Glacier Bay on private boats by notifying the association, without a park vessel entry permit.

    https://www.hoonahindianassociation.org/community-events·land

Affiliations

Sources

Checked September 2026.

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