Fifield, Terence E. Archaeologist, Tongass National Forest
On Your Knees Cave Overview & the Shuká Kaa Honor Ceremony On September 26 and 27, 2008 the tribal governments of Klawock and Craig on Southeast Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island joined with Sealaska Heritage Institute and the Tongass National Forest to honor the knowledge and the partnerships formed during 12 years of archaeological and paleontological research at On Your Knees Cave. During the summer of 2007, ten years after the beginning of archaeological excavations of a 10,000 year-old campsite on the northern tip of Prince of WalesIsland in Southeast Alaska, the oldest human remains known from Alaska or Canada were transferred to the custody of local tribal governments under the authority of NAGPRA. This event marked the completion of a project and the continuation of a remarkable partnership between tribes, researchers, and managers that has grown out of the discovery. Extensive analysis of the human remains and their context has led to fresh insights into early Holocene life on the northeast Pacific Coast.
