a Small City
It is a close-knit, family-oriented place where people know each other and work cooperatively to meet each other's needs. Some people call it a "Little City with a Big Heart".

Close To Nature
Many Native residents and non-Natives as well, live a subsistance lifestyle; harvesting food from the rivers, sea and forest. For some this can mean going just beyond their front yard. And nature can seem quite close when the tide or weather determines how the day's schedule will run!

Unique
In this place "where the north wind doesn't blow" an ancient heritage has survived. Today, Tlingit oral history is passed on from the Elders, Tlingit language is taught in the schools, cultural objects are made, traditional Potlatch gatherings are held, and cultural songs and dances that share stories of Tlingit history and relationships are performed by young and old alike.

Hoonah has approximately 875 year-round residents. About 65% are Tlingit; other Native and non-Native nationalities, including a sizable number of Scandinavians, make up the rest of the population.

As it has been for more than 100 years, fishing is the mainstay of Hoonah's economy. Well over 100 residents hold commercial fishing permits. Fishing and timber related businesses, federal and state jobs, and the newcomer, tourism, are building up Hoonah's economy today.

Hoonah was incorporated as a city under territorial law in 1946. It has a Mayor/City Council form of government housed at City Hall. (907) 945-3663

For the youngest children, Hoonah provides schooling through the Head Start program. Hoonah Elementary, Junior and Senior High School encompasses grades K - 12. In addition, there is a well-staffed day care center and an Adult Education department through which a wide variety of learning experiences are offered to the community.

Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood Halls are found in every city in southeast Alaska and play a very important roll in the Alaska Native culture and small town social life. In Hoonah,this is where people gather for weddings and funerals, award dinners, town meetings, community Christmas programs, basketball games, fund raisers, Bingo, bazaars and flea markets. Recently, with summer visitors in town, the ANB Hall has become a browsing spot where people can shop for locally created gifts.