I tossed the former name of this province—Fairweather. Granted, it’s not an IWGN (important white guy name) but it does show how little explorers knew about the stormy namesake massif, and smothers its Tlingit heritage. Lituya is a passable pronunciation of Ltu.áa, bay inside the nostril. Today and even in deep history, Lituya’s the wildest part of Southeast, with least human presence. Except at widely scattered anchorages like L’ewtá, head of glacial sand (Graves Harbor) and Ltu.áa, boat access to the surf-pounded beaches is rarely attempted. There are no roads except those near the landing strip at Kudatankahídi, Raven’s repository house (Dry Bay). Extremely wet hypermaritime climate puts the lie to fantasies of fairweather. Towering mountain ranges intercept Pacific moisture spawning vast icefields and glaciers that cover 540 square miles (35%) of the 1,549 mi2 province.

Shgaadaayi Héen, moving creek (Waterfall Creek) drains the lake below Grand Plateau Glacier.

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2000 spring newsletter: River relations

Corridors for fish, wildlife and people Connections between the coastal rainforest and the boreal interior. For millennia, transboundary rivers have…

2000 | Richard Carstensen, Steve Merli | 9 pages