Few details exist about pre-contact and early contact times of Heceta Island. What does exist are fragments of information spread across many sources. The primary source of information is passed down through the transference of knowledge from one generation to the next through oral history telling. The next best is documentation made by ethnographers in early times of contact.
Archeologists’ have dated remains on Heceta Island to be over 8000 years old (Gillispie, 2018). The remains do not identify which tribe they are from. It is known the last people living here before forced removal by the United States government were Tlingit. The Tlingit occupied this region for time immemorial.
The Tlingit are not and were not a primitive culture. Rich resources allowed the time to develop very advanced structure, family, art, dance, philosophy, language, economy, homes, tools, and other elements of advanced cultures. The misrepresentation of media and pop culture is the only reason anyone would think otherwise. Many other resources go into depth on this culture. You are urged to explore it more.
A list of resources will be added to this page in the future.
References
Gillispie, T. (2018). An Overview of Alaskan’s Prehistoric Cultures. Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved from http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/oha/publications/oha173overviewofalaskaprehistory.pdf