Learn about Kaxdegoowu Héen Sháali from discovery to exhibition at the City Museum in Juneau, Alaska. 

In 1989, a 500-700 year old basketry-style fish trap was discovered  in Juneau, Alaska where Montana Creek flows into the Mendenhall River. 

The top half of the trap was poking out of the creek bank. It was drying out out and falling apart because it was exposed to the air and sun. The bottom half of the trap was buried beneath layers of gravel, sand, and mud. Anthropologists from the University of Alaska Southeast and the Alaska State Museum quickly removed the top half of the trap.  The bottom half  was covered and protected in the water until it was excavated in 1991.

In 1991 the bottom half of the trap was excavated. The waterlogged trap was in danger of severe damage from warping and cracking if it dried out, so it had to be kept wet during the excavation. It took almost two months to remove the trap from the creek. Someone had to be there 24 hours a day. 

This video shows the 1991 excavation of the Montana Creek fish trap. There is no sound in the video but you can read the titles to learn about the excavation process. 

After watching, list 3 reasons why excavating the trap was so challenging.

The Montana Creek fish trap was made by ancestors of the Tlingit people. The area where this trap was found traditionally belonged to the Auk Tlingit and their ancestors. Traps and the rights to specific fishing streams belonged to a family or clan.

Watercolor painting depicting an Auk Tlingit Village of the 1880's.  Based on photograph.

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Juneau-Douglas City Museum

Small Early Juneau Tlingit Village

The discovery of the Montana Creek fish trap is important because it is very rare to find a 500-700 year old basketry-style fish trap buried in the earth. Here are some reasons why it is so rare:

:  Because they provided food and were not easy, or quick, to make, families took good care of their fish traps. At the end of the fishing season, families would remove their traps from the creek and then repair and store them for the next season.

: Wooden artifacts do not tend to survive in the ground very long because wood rots easily. Due to its quick burial and the high iron content of the surrounding soils, the trap is in good condition. 

It was the first basketry-style fish trap to be excavated on the Northwest Coast

Immediately following excavation, the trap was soaked in polyethylene glycol for approximately one year and then slowly air dried. The polyethylene glycol took the place of the water in the wood so it would not warp or crack.  Other materials were used to stabilize and support the trap. After treatment the trap was put in storage at the Alaska State Museum until 2005.

In 2005 a replica of the Montana Creek fish trap was made to show museum visitors what it would have looked like. The long, straight sticks are made from hemlock, and the hoops are made from spruce trees. The lashing and cordage are made from split spruce roots.

Tlingit-Haida artist and teacher Janice Criswell and her husband, Alaska State Museum curator Steve Henrickson, made the trap with the help of weaver Mary Lou King.

This is a replica of the Montana Creek fish trap.  It is cylindrical in shape with a funnel at the entrance.  It was made from horizontal slats of hemlock and Sitka spruce with circular, bent wood ribs, lashed together with spruce root.  


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Replica of the Montana Creek Fish Trap

In 2005 the Montana Creek fish trap was taken out of storage in the Alaska State Museum and prepared to be on display at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum. The trap was very fragile. Special support structures and a glass case were built to protect the ancient trap. Finally it was moved to the Juneau-Douglas City Museum and has been on display ever since. The replica hangs above the original trap to show visitors how it looked long ago.

Standards for A Very Old Fish Trap

Common Core - English Language Arts