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PETERSBURG is a great town! It is located on MITKOF island,
which is near KUIU island, and the town of KAKE . PINE and
SPRUCE trees grow all over, and there is a BLUEBERRY bush right outside my house.
We share the area with WOLVERINE s, SEAGULL s, and SEAL s. As well as
lots of fish and shellfish. Petersburg residents TROLL , seine, and gillnet for salmon, LONGLINE
for halibut, and use pots to catch SHRIMP and CRAB . My favorite kind of crab is
DUNGENESS . Earl OHMER started the shrimp cannery here. Modern Fishermen wouldn't get along
too well withoug a TARP to keep the snow off their boat in the winter. The Tlinget were the first people to
live in this area. They used TRAPs to catch salmon, DUGOUT canoes for transportation, and
LONGHOUSE s for meetings and celebrations. The Norwegians were the next people to settle in Petersburg. Many
Norwegians belong to the LUTHERAN church. We still celebrate our Norwegian heritage here in Petersburg,
especially during the Little Norway Festival in May. I like to dress up in my BUNAD and eat lots of
LEFSE . Many towns in this area were founded by people looking for GOLD , but not
Petersburg. We were founded by the search for FISK (The Norwegian word for fish). Today, not all our
food comes out of the ocean. People can eat at restaurants or shop at The Trading Union or HAMMER & WIKAN .
Petersburg has become a modern, American town. But, it is still unique because of its fishing, Tlinget, and Norwegian heritage. |