5 Decades After Mineral Discovery, Alaskan Locals Divided Over Plan to Mine It

5 Decades After Mineral Discovery, Alaskan Locals Divided Over Plan to Mine It

HAINES, Alaska—The frigid waters of the Chilkat River in southeast Alaska have teemed with fall-running salmon on their journey home to spawn as far back as Jones Hotch Jr. can remember. Now in his 70s, Hotch is the tribal president of the sovereign Chilkat Indian Village in Klukwan, a small community located along the 52-mile river 18 miles south of the U.S.–Canada border. Like his ancestors, he and his family rely on the river for subsistence …