Metlakatla means "saltwater channel passage," and was founded by a group of Canadian Tsimpsians who migrated from Prince Rupert, British Columbia in 1887 seeking religious freedom. They were led by a Scottish lay priest in the Anglican Church (Church of England), Reverend William Duncan, who had begun his missionary work with the Tsimpsians at Fort Simpson, B.C., in 1857. Rev. Duncan traveled to Washington D.C. around 1886 to personally request land from President Grover Cleveland for the Tsimshians. The Island was selected by a local search committee, and by 1890, there were 823 residents. Congress declared Annette Island a federal Indian reservation in 1891. Residents built a church, a school, a sawmill and a cannery, and constructed homes in an orderly grid pattern. Duncan continued to inspire and lead his followers until his death in 1918. In 1927, the community built a hydroelectric plant. During World War II, the U.S. Army constructed a large air base a few miles from town, which was later used for commercial amphibian flights to Ketchikan. The U.S. Coast Guard also maintained a base on the Island until 1976. The Annette Island Reserve remains the only federal reservation for indigenous peoples in Alaska.
Metlakatla is a traditional Tsimshian community on the federal Annette Island Reserve. It is the only Indian reservation in Alaska. The village, with a population of about 1,200, is on Port Chester on the western coast of Annette Island, 15 miles south of Ketchikan. Access is by water and air. The community was not part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The 86,000-acre island reservation and surrounding 3,000 feet of coastal waters are locally controlled and not subject to state jurisdiction. Residents also operate their own tribal court system. The economy is based primarily on the fishing and wood products industries.
