This Saturday (3.28.26) marks No Kings Day, a day projected to be the largest protest in U.S. history, with communities all across the country organizing events in opposition to authoritarianism, including Sitka. Tory O’Connell and Bruce Gazaway from Sitkans for Peace and Democracy join KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss what to expect from Sitka’s No King’s event and the importance of non-violent protests and radical joy in advocating for democracy.

Shortly after the noon bell at St. Michael’s Cathedral struck, nearly 70 people gathered in the greenbelt across from the historic Russian Bishop’s House in Sitka. They carried cardboard signs calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal and condemning President Donald Trump for inviting Putin onto Alaskan soil. Some waved Ukrainian flags, and one protester balanced, on a wheelbarrow, a seven-foot-tall paper-mache sculpture of Putin wielding Trump and Elon Musk as marionette puppets.

Given Alaska’s history of Russian colonization, especially in Sitka, protestors like Krisanne Rice feel it is important to show up.

“Alaska has a very strong historical connection to Russia, and I think it’s important to be here to stand with Ukraine,” said Rice.

President Trump says the purpose of Putin’s visit is to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.  Demonstrators like Bruce Gazaway, do not believe that today’s (8-15-25) meeting is a genuine attempt at bringing about an end to the war that began in 2022.

“If it was a serious negotiation, Zelensky would be at the table. No, this is a fraud. This is political theater,” said Gazaway.

Among the group of demonstrators stood one counterprotestor, holding up a cardboard sign cursing NATO and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The counterprotestor left before KCAW could ask for a comment, shortly after being confronted by Dmitrii Radchenko, who immigrated to Sitka with his family from Moscow two years ago as a direct result of the war in Ukraine.

Radchenko was joined at the protest by his children Kirill, and Daniil, as well as his daughter-in-law Valeria. While they are upset that Putin has now set foot on their newfound home, Valeria and Dmitrii remain hopeful and committed to their convictions.

“We just want peace for Ukraine, and we stand with Ukraine…we want Putin to be in prison for life,” said Valeria

“And we hate Putin and [we are] against the war,” chimed in Radchenko. 

Curious drivers slowed down beside the protest to film the demonstration, with some honking their horns in support and cheering them on. 

Pedestrians, from locals on their lunch break to visitors in guided walking tours, gave the protestors thumbs up, applause, and raised fists in solidarity.

Around 1pm, the protestors dispersed, clocking back into their respective workplaces and carrying their signs and flags home. 

Around 30 Sitkans gathered on Wednesday (8-7-25) to protest Israel’s blockade in Gaza and its continued effects. The group met at the roundabout joining Sitka’s two main state highways around 5:30 p.m. to share their message with the bulk of the community’s post-work traffic.

They stood along the sidewalk holding signs that read “Food not bombs” and “Fund schools, not genocide.” Many carried cooking pots and played them like instruments, calling attention to starvation in the region. 

“We have children and we have families, we have civilians being starved all over Gaza,” said Cindy Litman, one of the organizers of the demonstration. “Last Sunday, the number of people who died of starvation reached 175 that were documented.”

The group Sitkans for Peace and Democracy has been holding vigils every Saturday since December of 2023, initially calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. But this is the second emergency vigil the group has held in the past week. 

“When the situation in Gaza shifted so that the Israeli government began to use starvation of civilians as a weapon of war, it just felt like yet another line has been crossed,” Litman said. “I’m Jewish, and so I feel a special responsibility to let people know that this is not being done in my name, or the name of most Jews, and now we’re seeing mainstream Jewish organizations who have typically supported Israel finally saying that this violates every basic moral principle of Judaism, and so I feel like it’s a potential turning point right now.” 

Occasionally, at their Saturday vigils, they’re met with a handful of counter protestors. On Wednesday, one person showed up in opposition, displaying American and pro-Trump flags. But Litman said overall, she’s felt encouraged by the support from the community.

The Sitkans for Peace and Democracy group meets every Saturday at noon at the roundabout.

The U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade on Friday (6-24-22), eliminating the constitutional right to abortion that it upheld for almost 50 years.

A small group of demonstrators gathered at the downtown roundabout at noon, following the Supreme Court’s decision, holding signs that read, “Bans off our bodies” and “Protect our right to choose.” On Saturday, a larger group of around 100 gathered mid-day in front of Sitka’s courthouse to protest the ruling.

The news comes over a month after a draft opinion was leaked that suggested the ruling would be overturned. On May 3, Sitkans gathered in front of the local courthouse in response to the leak to rally for reproductive rights.

The border crisis maybe thousands of miles away, but that hasn’t stopped Sitkans from expressing their disapproval for current immigration policy. A group of about two dozen Sitkans gathered to protest family separation and the detention of migrant children during the lunch hour today, as part of a national day of action. 

“We’re standing at the Roundabout of Halibut Point Road and Sawmill Creek Road,” said Kevan O’Hanlon, one of several Sitkans who gathered at the traffic circle near downtown to express their outread at the treatment of migrant children in detention centers. “So it’s where we get most of our traffic and we’re just standing, waving, holding signs, seeing a lot of people we all know.”

Many of them held signs; some read ‘Close the Camps’ others ‘Reunite Families’. For many of the protestors, the thousands of miles between Sitka and the border is no excuse not to be vocal.

“Just because we’re on an island with 14 miles of road in the North Pacific doesn’t mean we can’t advocate for children in other parts of this country,” said Michael Mausbach. “It reflects on us as well.”

The demonstration followed a series of heated exchanges online after the event was posted to a community Facebook group ‘Sitka Chatters’, but the noontime gathering remained calm. Demonstrators held their signs and waved at tour buses winding around the roundabout. 

“I’d like to see every citizen come out and see this isn’t who America is or who  should be,” said Levi Albertson. He hopes the demonstration catches the eye of locals. 

“Honestly more than anything I hope my neighbors see it,” he said, referencing some of the comments he’d seen online earlier. “I don’t think they’d be okay with it if it were their kids getting locked up. I think one of the big things that we lack is empathy for the other.”

For Maggie Gallin, the issue is personal. Her family migrated to the United States in previous generations. “I feel an obligation,” she said, “to give some kind of a voice to the kids who are being held.” Mostly, she hoped that other Sitkans saw the protest. 

And the immediate audience was mostly Sitkans driving to or from lunch, and a few tourists. But many of the protesters hoped to catch they eye of representatives in Washington D.C. and Juneau. Mandy Evans distributed copies of letters Sitkans could send to their representatives expressing their concern and desire for change. 

“If you’re driving around this roundabout and you think ‘I can’t close the camps,’ you can actually ask the people that can to do so,” she said. “You have the right and privilege to do so.”

That drive to do something runs in strong in one Sitka family: Margot O’Connell carried a sign today. Her mom, Tory O’Connell is on her way back from a trip to the Clint, Texas, to try and see the migrant detention center for herself.

“She has the ability to take action and she does it,” O’Connell said. She thinks the work her mom does is important in a moment when there are so many who are more directly affected by this and don’t have the privilege to advocate. 

“It’s important to be visible,” she said. Visibility, she hopes, can help to counteract the narrative that this isn’t a problem that affects Sitkans. “It affects everyone,” O’Connell said.

And visible the protesters were. So much so that one cruise ship passenger rushed off her tour bus to join them. Janice Burness calls New Jersey home and is in town for one day only. 

“I said to my husband I have to go back for solidarity,” Burness said. “In the long term we have to be on the right side of history and in the long term this is going to be the wrong side of history and I don’t want to be on the wrong side of history I want to be on the right side of history.”
Burness gets back on the cruise ship tonight. And just as the protest wrapped up in time for everyone to get back to work, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General released a report calling for DHS to address what it called “dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention” at several of the facilities.

Around 50 trollers and friends rallied outside of Harrigan Centennial Hall Monday evening (5-21-18), prior to ADF&G’s Chinook Symposium. Demonstrators wanted to send a message to the department’s Deputy Commissioner Charlie Swanton — who is also Alaska’s lead negotiator on the Pacific Salmon Treaty — that further concessions by the Alaskan fleet to Canada were unacceptable. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

Top officials from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game held a town-hall style meeting in Sitka this week (5-21-18) to discuss the rationale behind ongoing deep restrictions in the commercial king salmon harvest.

However, few of the 160 or more commercial trollers or processors in the room appeared satisfied with the politics. They had reservations over the state’s strategy for renegotiating the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada — which expires this year  — and strong criticism for the man leading Alaska’s treaty team.

Downloadable audio.

Watch and listen to the entire Chinook Symposium.

This meeting might go down as the one where Deputy Commissioner of Fish & Game Charlie Swanton brought the recipe…

“Plantation molasses, only Oregon ketchup, Aloha soy sauce, and four tablespoons — or a heavy dose of — organic Montreal steak rub,” was Swanton’s suggestion for the post-meeting salmon bake.

…and Sitka trollers brought the grill. This was the scene outside of Harrigan Centennial Hall just a few minutes before the symposium opened.

Rally outside Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Caven Pfeiffer — Governor Walker, stand up and fight!
Chant — Stand up and fight!
Pfeiffer: We are sick and tired of our fish being traded among a bunch of suits, behind closed doors. We need these fish. Why is it that the people who need them the most are the people who don’t have a say? Give our king salmon to Canada? No way!
Chant — No way!
Pfeiffer — Give our king salmon to Canada?
Chant — No way!

About 50 commercial salmon trollers and friends voiced their objections during the rally. Their main concerns were over possible cuts to the Alaska chinook fishery to conserve king salmon runs in Puget Sound that are listed under the Endangered Species Act. The final extent of the cuts won’t be known until the new terms of Pacific Salmon Treaty are released (expected to be a reduction between 5-10 percent for each of the next 10 years, depending on abundance).

Deb Lyons, a former member of Alaska’s Board of Fisheries and a former member of Alaska’s Pacific Salmon Commission team, was calling foul.

Lyons — Yeah! Canada’s giving fish to help Puget Sound, so now we have to give fish to Canada, even though we don’t catch the Puget Sound fish. We don’t have an impact on the ESA-listed stocks, but we’re being blackmailed by the National Marine Fisheries Service. They’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. And we’re Peter.

Inside, at the meeting that followed, the tone was somewhat more subdued, but most of those who spoke could barely contain their frustration over the perfect storm of low abundance and closed-door politics that has pushed many in the fleet to the brink of economic survival.

Fisherman Jim Moore didn’t question the integrity of Alaska’s treaty team, led by Deputy Commissioner Swanton, but he wondered — as did many — whether Swanton really had their backs at the treaty table.

“And I think we all realize that the best deal possible under the circumstances is not any good for this industry. It’s killing us,” said Moore.

Moore noted that Alaskan fishermen have taken a cut every time the Pacific Salmon Treaty has been renegotiated since the 1970s. He asked, “Why can’t we win?”

Charlie Swanton has been under constant fire by the Southeast troll fleet since his decision last summer to close all chinook fishing — both sport and commercial — when trollers still had 30,000 kings remaining in their allocation. At around $12 a pound, it amounted to about $1.8 million in lost revenue to the fleet (according to Seafood Producer’s Cooperative general manager Craig Shoemaker).

“I think it’s a big mistake, Commissioner Swanton, to arbitrarily take 10 percent — and you haven’t shared the plan,” said Jordan. “I think this is an example of where our treaty team is making decisions that cost us, but aren’t borne out by facts. So what has happened, Charlie, because of — quite frankly your decisions — is the trust has been broken.” — Sitka troller Eric Jordan

Trollers immediately questioned the timing of the closure — August — and its rationale to conserve record-low returns to three major river systems in Southeast. They argued that it was costly and pointless, since most Southeast kings have already made back to the rivers by August anyway.

For just this year, the Department is cutting back the all-gear harvest limit another 10 percent, to protect the same stocks, plus two more in Northern British Columbia.

Troller Eric Jordan, also a former member of the Alaska Board of Fisheries, thought the action was haphazard, and damaging to the relationship between the fleet and state managers.

“I think it’s a big mistake, Commissioner Swanton, to arbitrarily take 10 percent — and you haven’t shared the plan,” said Jordan. “I think this is an example of where our treaty team is making decisions that cost us, but aren’t borne out by facts. So what has happened, Charlie, because of — quite frankly your decisions — is the trust has been broken.”

Jordan argued that fishing locations and timing could be shifted to spare kings headed toward these rivers, and to target those from healthy systems.

Swanton, however, disagreed. He said that the department was trying to create a harvest strategy consistent with Alaska’s Sustainable Salmon Fisheries policy. He also suggested that the landscape of treaty negotiations was more dynamic than people realized, with parties at the table representing Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Canada, and a number of Tribal governments. His position at the beginning of treaty negotiations was: Alaska is not giving up any fish. But it didn’t play out that way.

“You have to look at it in terms of: Whose fish are we harvesting? And how much do we harvest of them? And what are the concerns and challenges with some of those stocks? And they’re pretty substantial,” Swanton said. “And I’m not saying that the reductions that we took are going to solve this, but that’s the landscape now.”

“You’re looking at king salmon stocks up and down the coast right now that are in the toilet. We’re trying to negotiate at the same time. How do you ask for an increase when everything’s going south?” — Tom Fisher, a fisherman for four decades, and alternate member of the Northern Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission

Swanton said it was impossible to walk away from the obligations imposed by the Endangered Species Act. “Once that genie’s out of the bottle,” he said, “You can’t put it back in.” He suggested that enacting strict conservation measures under the treaty was preferable to management by the federal government under the ESA. Keeping Alaska involved in treaty management meant “at least we have an exit.”

Swanton was composed during the symposium, but his remarks didn’t appear to placate Sitka’s trollers. Nevertheless, the room was not universally opposed to him. Tom Fisher, a troller for over 40 years, is an alternate on the Northern Panel — one of the subcommittees of the Pacific Salmon Commission. Fisher argued that Swanton was doing good work under extraordinary circumstances. He said he would give up his seat to anyone who thought they could do better.

“You’re looking at king salmon stocks up and down the coast right now that are in the toilet. We’re trying to negotiate at the same time. How do you ask for an increase when everything’s going south?” Fisher asked.

Swanton also had the support of his boss, Fish & Game Commissioner Sam Cotten, who sat alongside him throughout the meeting. Cotten was concerned about the risk of a federal takeover of the fisheries if Alaska alienated itself from the treaty process.

“I don’t think we’re losers if we find ourselves in a position of deciding to accept an agreement that isn’t everything we wanted,” he said.

Back at rally…

Cotten was also conspicuously on the curb outside Harrigan Centennial Hall during the rally prior to the meeting. While he didn’t chant, once back inside he told the crowd that he appreciated their “show of strength.”

The organizers of Sitka’s march on Saturday (01-21-17) were expecting 200 people to show up. The crowd was well over 700, in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Over the weekend, the Women’s March brought half a million participants to Washington, DC to protest President Donald Trump. The event inspired marches around the world and across Alaska, one in Sitka. And even before the march was over, participants were wondering what would happen after the dust settled. KCAW’s Emily Kwong spoke with those trying to turn the energy of the moment into direct action for the future.

Downloadable audio.

This past Saturday, over 700 Sitkans participated in a locally-organized march in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington. That’s nearly 10% of the wintertime population. The last time Sitka had a protest this big was during the Iraq War in 2003.

Sitka March organizers Kathy Ingallinera and Marian Allen address the crowd before hitting the streets (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Under blue skies, marchers assembled at Crescent Harbor, where co-organizer Kathy Ingallinera made an opening statement. “I’m not surprised, but amazed at the number of people here, so appreciate everyone coming out,” Ingallinera said.

Reverend Julie Platson called for a moment of silence, followed by a blessing from Jan Richardson.

So may we know the hope, that is not just for some day, but for this day.
Here, now, in this moment, that is open to us.
Hope not made of wishes, but of substance.
Hope made of sinew and muscle and bone.
Hope that has breath and a beating heart.
Hope that will not keep quiet and be polite.

Phil Burdick let out a rallying cry: “Let’s roll people!” The Sitka marchers filed into the snowy streets. They held their signs high, many advocating for women’s and reproductive rights, environmental protection, and grassroots action.

Slideshow: Women’s March on Washington – Sitka Style

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While the march began quietly, the crowd seemed to build courage as they walked. They started to chant. This attracted passerby, one who said, sipping a coffee while watching from the sidewalk, “Thank God for President Trump.”

The spectator, who introduced himself as John, said, “I think [Trump] is going to try and cross over the aisles and be a little less partisan. I think he’s going to try and do that, because we have to unify as a country.”

Sitka is divided too. Sitka’s Republicans favored Trump as the party nominee, while Sitka Democrats fanned out for Bernie Sanders. During the election, the vote for president was nearly even – with 1,258 for Hillary Clinton and 1,144 for Donald Trump. And prior to the March, a Facebook feud carried on for days over whether the march did more to divide the town than unite.

John also said the media hasn’t been fair in their portrayal of Trump. “It’s just propaganda, a lot of propaganda.” He takes exception, however, with Trump’s comments about assaulting women in a 2005 Access Hollywood tape. “I will say as a Christian I think that was appalling, horribly, and disrespectful in every way. But the guy apologized. He felt like that was a horrible thing to say. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’ People have a change of heart,” John said. His message? Give Trump a chance.

Amy Kane’s sign attracted canine attention. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

The crowd, though, wasn’t having it. Several donned pink, cat-eared hats, “pussy hats,” a sly reference to Trump’s remarks. Several of the marchers were young women and girls. Iona Burdick, Phil’s daughter, had scribbled her sign in marker. It said, “Women’s Rights is Right.”

Sarah Ferrency, Iona’s mom, chose for her sign a quote from Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel. “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

Sarah Ferrency distributes an action list for supporters of Planned Parenthood after the march. “A march feels really good, but this can’t be it. If this is it, the movement dies,”she said. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

The march is over. The signs are down. We’re gathered at St. Peter’s See House, where, amid trays of cookies, a dozen nonprofits are staffing tables. They’re trying to divert the energy of the marchers into continued action.

Ferrency is at the Planned Parenthood table. The clinic closed down two years ago, but she wants locals to know that its services are a few taps away. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands now has an app. “You can actually video conference with a clinician over the phone and get birth control and at home STI kits in the mail,” Ferrency said.

Ferrency was happy the turnout for Sitka’s march, but noted that the crowd was mostly white. Few persons of color were in attendance. “There’s a lot of white people here. There is not a lot of our minority community here. That saddens me. I think that’s an area where we need to work and develop the relationships with people not of our own class and our own culture and our own race. That’s where you really start to make a difference,” she said.

About a third of Sitka’s tables were dedicated to the environment and subsistence rights. The Sitka Global Warming Group was there, Chichagof Conservation Council, Alaska Native Sisterhood, as wells as the Sitka Conservation Society.

Andrew Thoms, Director of the Sitka Conservation Society, is focusing his organization’s efforts on maintaining private lands. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Director Andrew Thoms said their primary concern under the Trump administration is losing access to public lands. For him, the direct action fair was all about gathering signatures. “Commercial fisherman are going back to Washington to advocate for federal lands and our salmon and fisheries resources. We’re going to send them back with a list of people who support keeping Tongass National Forest lands intact,” Thoms said.

As I bobbed from table to table, everyone talked about momentum: how to turn one-time protesters into full-time political activists.

Melissa Harrison carried two framed pictures, one of her mother and one of her grandmother. She marched in their honor, her sign saying, “I stand on the shoulders of giants.” (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Cathy Lieser said the march really lifted her spirits. “It was like a big giant hug. The energy was that everyone showed up to be in community. It was sweet,” she said. Lieser was genuinely surprised that the debate over public lands had re-emerged, saying, “It feels like we’re going backwards.”

“Democracy is a muscle and you have to use it. And you hear that a lot,” Lieser added. “But when you think about it, that is what democracy is about. It’s a living contract that everybody has with each other that are living in the United States of America. So, are we going to show up to play our part?”

That’s the difference between a march and a movement. A march is a political burst in time, something attention-getting. Pictures of Sitka’s march circulated on the New York Times’s and on Huffington Post’s websites. But now that the moment has passed and the Trump administration is carrying out their agenda, the question for those who oppose it is how to transform their words on their signs into something real on the ground.

Kitty Sopow’s biggest wish is for everyone in Sitka to be kinder to each other. “Maybe treat everyone like it’s their birthday, you know? That’s a good place to start.”

Maureen O’Hanlon and Claire Sanchez make signs for a Women’s March in Sitka on Saturday (01-21-17). Organizers say the march is to “in solidarity with other marchers, people standing for equality, tolerance, freedom of religion, respect for Mother Earth and our rights for our quality of life.” (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

On Friday (01-20-17), Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. And among the throngs gathering in Washington D.C. to attend is an expected crowd of hundreds of thousand, from around the world, in protest.

The Women’s March on Washington is coordinating buses to Washington D.C. for a grand showing of female power and human rights advocacy. It’s inspiring marches around Alaska. One will be held in Sitka on Saturday (01-21-17). Over 200 have expressed interest on Facebook. And while organizers say the march will give voices to issues locals care about, other don’t see it that way. 

Downloadable audio.

The night of the election, Marian Allen said she wanted to do something and something good. “I heard about this Women’s March on Washington and I thought, ‘Oh what a great idea.'”

“You’re going to make me cry!,” says Kathy Ingallinera, as Tina Bachmeier displays her sign march on Saturday (01-21-17). It says, “Dear the women who started this fight, it’s an honor to take each step with you.” (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

In the past few weeks, Allen and other organizers coordinated a Women’s March on Sitka that will begin at the Crescent Harbor Shelter and end at St. Peter’s See House. Allen plans to fill the space with tables, hosted by local non-profits, that invites marchers to take direct action on local issues.  “I feel that change is going to come from the ground up. Washington is so deadlocked. That I think it’s really going to be a groundswell of people. Just as the whole issue around gay marriage…it’s a non-issue with the younger generation so old people can get all hot and bothered by it, but 25 years from now it won’t be an issue.” 

Organizers gathered on Sunday (01-15-17), a few days before the Sitka March,  at the Island Institute. Markers and paint and poster board are strewn about the floor. Most of the dozen signmakers are young women, some a part of a local activist group that meets every weekend. They’re coloring in block letters for subsistence, gender equality and multiculturalism. One sign says, ”Dear the women who started this fight, it’s an honor to take each step with you.”

Allen said the Millennial generation inspires her. “I was a women’s studies major as an undergrad – the first woman ever to graduate from UC Berkeley with it. And just connecting with this young people just made me realize that it’s coming into being. There’s this huge upsurge of people that are just accepting that it’s what you want to be, not your definition by your gender or your sexual orientation or the color of your skin or your religion. The younger generation gets it,” she said. 

Co-organizer Kathy Ingallinera says the march is open to all – “men can come, children can come, well-behaved dogs can come” – and the last time she marched with Sitkans was in 2003, condemning the War in Iraq. She made a sign for her dog that said, “Peace! Now wouldn’t that be a treat.” For Ingallinera, this time it’s about marching for something, not against, and she wants her sign to reflect that. “I might go with healthcare. Or women’s rights. Or LGBT. There’s so many issues we have to address,” she said. 

“Sitka is a marching town,” said Marian Hall. “And there are a lot of people how like to express their first amendment rights that way.” Sitkans marched for the Civil Rights Act in 1964. (Photo by Martin Strand)

But Ingallinera thinks she wants to dedicate her sign to Representative John Lewis of Georgia, who said in an interview that Donald Trump was not a legitimate president because of Russian aid. In response, Trump tweeted that Lewis was ‘All talk, no action.” Ingallinera was devastated by that. “I just couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t believe he would knock down a civil rights pioneer,” she said.

This feuding on the national level has trickled down to Sitka.

When Ingallinera posted news of the march on Sitka Chatters, a Facebook group, an argument exploded over what the march really means. Most of the commenters are women. Faced with an uncertain future, Ingallinera wants critics to know Saturday’s gathering is less about Trump, and more about defending equality – for all people – and protection of the planet. And translating that into action on the ground.  “All these issues have been brought to the forefront in the last couple of months. Ones that, no matter who was in the presidency, we need to deal with. We need to work locally on these issues,” said Ingallinera. 

Kjersti Koskinen doesn’t see it that way. “To people not involved it in, it feels like it is about sour grapes with the election more than anything,” she said. 

Supporters and critics of the march have been debating its purpose on Chatters, a local Facebook group, all week.

Koskinen has been weighing in heavily on Facebook. She wrote, “I thought we were a place women could ALL be in solidarity rather than breaking off to be a special club only for women who hold the same political views.” For her, organizers can say they’re marching for groups and issues they care about, in an inclusive way, they’re really marching against Trump and half of Sitka’s voting population, who went for him.

“They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not a protest. It’s merely a march.’ And I’m like, ‘But it’s linked to a protest! It’s in solidarity with a protest.’ Snoop Dogg has put out threats to people. Madonna has shaved her pubic hair for the event. You’re doing this in solidarity with all these people who are clearly protesting,” Koskinen said. 

Koskinen plans to watch the inauguration. While she declined to say who she voted for, is hopeful that Trump will surprise people. She likes that not everyone in his inner circle shares his views. “He met with Steve Harvey last week. People who didn’t vote for him. And they leave feeling like he is sincere. So, I’m encouraged by that. I’m encouraged that he surrounds himself by people who have different opinions than he does,” she said. 

And these next four years, when it comes to resolving problems in Sitka, Koskinen thinks protest is not the way. “I think it would be constructive to get people in a room to talk about issues. Like gun control. The pros and cons of everything. I think if you put people together and people can really talk about the pros and cons of things, they can find out where the common ground is and realize the other side isn’t as dumb as you think they are. And I don’t think that marching loudly and carrying signs doesn’t help.”

Koskinen ended by saying, “We all want the same thing, right? Peace and prosperity.” The question at the center then is which tools of our democracy are best for accomplishing that. The March begins at 3 p.m. on Saturday. 

Nina Vizcarrondo cares about the herring fishery and subsistence rights, and will be marching in the name of those causes on Saturday (01-21-7). (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Downloadable audio.

Marshall Albertson is waving as people drive by. His smile is wide across his bearded face.

“We’re just out here rallying for our First Amendment and Second Amendment rights,” explains Albertson. His belief in the right to bear arms is clear by the gun slung across his shoulder.

“Not an AR-15, but an R-15,” Albertson clarifies, “made by Remington. It’s a semi-automatic firearm.”

Marshall Albertson and Brittan Sheets, holding a Confederate flag that reads, ‘Heritage not hate” march for the right to bear arms. (Emily Russell/KCAW Photo)

And he’s got second gun, a 45 pistol, concealed beneath his coat.

“Which I carry everywhere,” Albertson says, “day or night, even if I’m going to the grocery store.”

Albertson and his wife helped organize the rally. He says he wanted to show the people of Sitka that public protests don’t need to end in violence, like what happened in Portland, Oregon, where one man was shot and over 70 were arrested.

He supported Donald Trump in this year’s election, which is clear from the bumper stickers on the back of his truck. They read, ‘Hillary for Prison,’ ‘Trump 2016,’ ‘Donald Trump for President,’ and Albertson adds, “I’ve also got my ISIS hunting permit– unlimited bag limit.”

Albertson is here to set the record straight. He says in small town Alaska, you to get along with your neighbors, which he says is difficult when generalizations are tossed around.

“They say we’re a bunch of racists, we’re a bunch of homophobes, xenophobes, sexists, and that’s not true,” says Albertson.

Brittan Sheets is standing next to Albertson, and nods in agreement. He says liberals are labeling them all wrong.

“I’ve had gay friends, lesbian friends, transsexual friends of every different race, every different color, every different ethnicity,” says Sheets.

Along with a rifle around his shoulder, Sheets has a confederate flag in his hand that reads “Heritage not hate” in big, bold letters. He holds it up high as cars drive by.

“The Confederate flag itself holds no more racial relevance than the American flag itself,” Sheets says. “That would be like people trying to disown our American flag because we revolted from England.”

The Second Amendment rally is about 10 people, half of them high school students. Two blocks away, a larger crowd has gathered.

Sitkans gathered at Crescent Harbor for a candlelight vigil after last week’s elections. (Emily Russell/KCAW Photo)

“Why are you marching down the street with weaponry?” Questions Skyler Wright. “That can’t be anything but threatening to me.”

Wright is a young woman of color. She, her mother, and about 30 other Sitkans stand in a circle under the Crescent Harbor shelter, holding candles to express sadness over the election and fear for the future.

For Tahirih Lang, the fear is very real.

 “As a mother to Arab-Muslim children, who were born in this country, whose father is Syrian,” Lang explains, “it’s scary for me now.”

Tahirih Lang and Skyler Wright at Sitka’s candlelight vigil. (Emily Russell/KCAW Photo)

Lang doesn’t identify as a liberal. She’s anti-establishment and wants to see change, but says Trump’s change was too radical and his rhetoric too hateful. Seeing men marching the streets with a confederate flag elicits a lot of emotions.

“Without question, history is repeating itself,” Lang says.

As women of color Tahirih Lang and Skyler Wright are in the minority at the vigil. Ironically, it is an older white male who marks this moment with a Civil Rights anthem. The circle of people begin singing “We Shall Overcome.”  

Sarah Brewer put together a handmade sign when she heard about the Second Amendment march. (Emily Russell/KCAW Photo)

And just like the Civil Rights movement, the work isn’t over. Despite their peaceful intentions, both events were disrupted briefly by angry, verbal confrontations with passersby. Perhaps unlike Portland, Sitka has its shades of gray. It’s a gun-owning town that supported Hillary in the election. One woman, marching alone, seems to represent this middle ground.

“I am holding a sign, hopefully of solidarity with the marchers,” explains Sarah Brewer. “I do support the Second Amendment, but that I am also calling for them to support tolerance as well.”

Tolerance that Sitka — and communities across the country — will be looking to as the nation transitions from a turbulent election to an already-troubled presidency.

Update, November 18, 2016: The event sponsor says more residents attended the Candlelight Vigil than the 30 reported by both local news outlets. In all, the sponsor says, 60-70 attended by the conclusion of the event.

SITKA, ALASKA

The demonstration at Sitka National Historical Park was organized by the Tlingit community. Gary Lang, board president of the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center, said neither he nor his artists aware that a protest had been planned.

Lang had hopeful news for the crowd:

“There has been an arrangement that has been made that is going to make the rounds with the Park Service so that we don’t have to shut the doors today. And the negotiations will be ongoing. I don’t know how long it will take. The Center’s not closing down. We can continue operations, but it will be under a different status.”

Lang said the status would be “voluntary” until a formal agreement had been reached.
The National Park Service notified the center on June 14 that its lease would not be renewed, and gave 10 days’ notice to vacate. The NPS at that time also confirmed that it had begun an investigation into financial mismanagement at the center.
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