Tlingit families have inhabited the southeast Alaska archipelago for many hundreds of years. The original village of the Huna Tlingits was located in what is now known as Glacier Bay. More than two hundred years ago, during the last small Ice Age, advancing glaciers forced them to relocate. Since the area twenty miles to the south was used each summer as a subsistance harvesting camp, it was a natural place for them to settle.

At first, the new settlement was referred to as Gaawt'ak'aan, or "village by the cliff", but later the name was changed to Hoonah, meaning "land where the north wind doesn't blow".

The Tlingits, skilled in hunting, fishing and plant gathering, harvested the resources of the sea and forests according to the bounty of the seasons. Operating within the laws of nature, they related to their surrounding eco-system with respect and wisdom. For example, they utilized every part of what they took from nature, that their resources would not be wasted. Their name itself spoke of what was important to them: the word Tlingit, meaning "The People", distinguished them from the four-legged inhabitants they lived amongst.

In Hoonah, many communal long-houses and clan houses were built where the Tlingits lived and interacted in a well-organized social structure. It was a matrilinial society, meaning the children inherited rights through their mothers.

For traveling to places beyond the village, the Tlingits used the ocean as a transportation corridor. They traveled in sea-worthy, hand-carved canoes, some large enough to carry forty people. In fact, these highly-skilled Tlingit navigators thought nothing of paddling for days in any direction.

Tlingit women were fine weavers of spruce root and grass baskets; hide tanning, plant and berry gathering and food preservation also occupied their time, as well as the men's. Both spent time decorating everyday objects with sophisticated, highly stylized animal designs. This distinctive, dramatic art form became a medium for the preservation of Tlingit history and culture.

Up until the 1850's, fur trading was a major economic activity. When the commercial salmon industry began in this area in the late 1800's, the Hoonah Tlingits thrived because of their innate knowledge of salmon runs, tides, weather, boat management and navigation. From 1912 to 1953, a large fish canning and packing company, located one and a half miles north of Hoonah, employed Tlingit women while their husbands purse-seined for the cannery in the waters nearby. It was during these years, when Hoonah is said to have had the largest fishing fleet in southeast Alaska, that the traditional subsistance economy of the Tlingits gradually changed to a cash economy based on commercial fishing. In the 1980's and 90's, logging in the Hoonah area shared the eonomic base with fishing; in this decade, Tourism is taking its place.

In 1944, a disastrous fire destroyed much of the town. No one perished, but homes filled with ancient, priceless objects of traditional Tlingit culture and art were lost to the flames. The federal government assisted in the rebuilding of the town by diverting to Hoonah World War II housing that was already enroute to Hawaii. These houses, located on Front, Second and Hill streets, are still called "Hoonah war housing".

The Tlingits interacted with white men - European explorers and fur traders, Russian settlers, Christian missionaries, Scandinavian fishermen, starting in the mid 1700's. Today whites and natives work side-by-side to make Hoonah a home; intermarriage strengthens the effort. The vast majority of residents, however, are Tlingit. In fact, Hoonah not only carries the title "Largest Tlingit Village in Alaska", but also " Largest Tlingit Village in the World"!

Hoonah Natives consider the traditional, customary harvest of natural resources a significant part of their lives. Smokehouses are still used to process and cure fish, shellfish,and wild meats. Oral history is still passed on from generation to generation, new cultural objects are made, Tlingit language is taught in the schools, and ancient songs and dances that share stories of history and relationship are still performed.