SitNews: Huna Totem Corporation celebrates 40 years; Tlingit culture and community flourish at Icy Strait Point

SitNews - Stories in the News - Ketchikan, Alaska

Huna Totem Corporation celebrates 40 years;
Tlingit culture and community flourish at Icy Strait Point

August 01, 2013
Thursday

(SitNews) Hoonah, Alaska - Icy Strait Point celebrated its heritage and the 40th anniversary of Huna Totem Corporation on Saturday, July 27.

“Icy Strait Point wouldn’t exist without Huna Totem Corporation and Hoonah, my home, certainly wouldn’t be what it is today without either one,” said Johan Dybdahl, the former Huna Totem Corporation board chairman and current Icy Strait Point director of special projects and community relations. Dybdahl grew up in Hoonah on the site where Icy Strait Point now stands and has been involved in its development and operation from the beginning.

“The tourism business has given our community an opportunity to thrive and share our culture with people from all over the world. We’re not just celebrating 40 years, we’re celebrating 40 years of success,” he said.

The anniversary theme, “In our grandfather’s canoe, we are traveling into the future,” recognizes the sacrifice and leadership of past leaders on whose shoulders the company’s current and future success rests.

The early 40th anniversary celebration included the dedication of a plaque at the site of the company’s first board meeting in Hoonah in the presence of initial, past and current board members; the unveiling of a commissioned Tlingit button blanket designed by Alaska Native artist Clarissa Rizal; and carefree rides down Icy Strait Point’s ZipRider, the largest zip line in the world. The official anniversary of the company's incorporation is Nov. 9.

Owned by approximately 1,350 Alaska Natives with aboriginal ties to Hoonah and the Glacier Bay area, Huna Totem Corporation has provided for its people through business ventures, leadership and education. Opening in 2004, Icy Strait Point has been the company’s most recent and consistent success.

As evidence to Huna Totem Corporation’s investment in its people, Icy Strait Point is the largest employer in Hoonah, maintaining 90 percent local hire since construction began in 2001. Shareholders hold about 125 of 137 jobs at Icy Strait Point.

“Jobs are really just the tip of the iceberg,” said Icy Strait Point Facilities Manager Paul Johanson, who grew up in Hoonah and started working at Icy Strait Point as a port engineer’s helper in 1994. He now supervises a staff of 28, responsible for the popular ZipRider attraction and facility operations. “We have staff who have traveled to Switzerland for training. We have local artists selling their work to an international audience each summer. And we’re donating the proceeds of a gift shop operated by local high school kids back to their school’s activities program. These are examples of the doors that Icy Strait Point opens for our community.”

Travelers have reveled in seeing the money they spend on excursions, food and souvenirs going back to support the same people who hosted them at Icy Strait Point.

Condé Nast Traveler recently named the cruise ship destination a finalist in the magazine’s sixth annual World Savers Awards, which honor travel companies that demonstrate exceptional achievement in environmental and social responsibility. Travel + Leisure awarded Icy Strait Point its Global Vision Award in October 2012, heralding the work of standard-bearers for responsible tourism. Icy Strait Point also won a Travel to a Better World Award from the Travel Industry Association and National Geographic Traveler magazine in 2008.

Located 50 miles west of Juneau and 22 miles south of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Icy Strait Point is the only privately owned cruise ship destination in Southeast Alaska.

The former Hoonah Packing Co. Cannery building complex was restored to house the destination’s museum, gift shops, restaurants and theater. Guests can take part in 23 guided shore excursions on site.