The Surprising Way Cruises Can Actually Benefit Alaska Indigenous Communities

It’s not the first time a totem has awed me, but it’s the first time one hit me so much in the feels. – Although I grew up in Alaska and have seen much of it, it’s my first time visiting the village of Klawock, on Prince of Wales Island in the southeast, near Ketchikan. There’s a totem park here (one of the largest in Alaska, in fact, with 21 totems lining a hillside), but on the road into town there are two separate totems: one honoring the contributions of first responders, and the one that made me tear up a bit, which is dedicated to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).

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