Katie and Angie Harrison

Description: 

Print Photograph, 2 1/2 in. x 3 1/2 in.

Cultural Narrative: 

Reverse of Print: Handwritten inscription in ink, "Katie [Wickersham] & Angie [Angeline] Harrison." Attached to Print: Handwritten inscription in ink, " At Moose Creek. Our dog, Kobuk, as usual following us around."

Traditional Knowledge: 

For generations, Moose Creek has been known to the Chickaloon Tribe as Tsidek’ etna, or Grandmother’s Place Creek—a safe and sacred place where grandmothers and families gathered to harvest fish, including all five species of Alaskan salmon.

That balance was disrupted in 1923, when the coal industry diverted Moose Creek to build a railroad spur for transporting coal from nearby mines. Over the following decades, further industrial development altered the creek’s natural path—its winding curves were straightened, and artificial waterfalls were created. These changes made it impossible for salmon to return to their traditional spawning grounds.

The impact on the salmon population was devastating. Tribal citizens, who had long depended on salmon for food and cultural practices, were forced to travel long distances to find what once was abundant in their homeland. This loss extended far beyond sustenance—it led to the erosion of language, traditions, and the passing down of cultural knowledge.

The arrival of the coal industry also brought outsiders, along with alcohol, foreign diseases, and violence against Tribal citizens. Combined with the destruction of vital food sources, these disruptions deeply harmed the Chickaloon community. Families were separated, and ancestral knowledge and practices were no longer shared with younger generations.

In the early 2000s, the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council (CVTC) began efforts to restore Moose Creek. After years of careful planning and securing funding, restoration began: a new floodplain was constructed, and in-stream structures were installed to rebuild and diversify salmon habitat. On June 14, 2006, Moose Creek was successfully returned to its original channel.

Since then, the Tribe has rekindled cultural traditions connected to Moose Creek. The community now gathers for annual creek clean-ups, Elder lunches, fish celebrations, school graduations, weddings, and potlatches—restoring not only the creek, but the lifeways it has long sustained.

Family Genalogy:

Katie Wickersham is the daughter of Annie Nikolai and her first husband, Jess Wickersham. Angeline (Angie) Harrison, Katie's sister, is the daughter of Annie Nikolai and her second husband, Leland (Lee) Harrison.