I am writing out of a deeply held sense of gratitude for the Wrangell Sentinel as a crucial public institution and vital lifeline to the past as a historical record. I am also writing out of a feeling of bitter personal insult felt because of a direct attack on what I, and so many others, hold sacred.

The Nov. 19 Sentinel contained an article titled, “Delay adds to Alder Top development costs; auction still on schedule.” That article contained this sentence: “A study found that the midden is historically significant but not culturally significant, so the subdivision work was allowed to continue.”

The unnamed “study” therein paraphrased is not cited or attributed to anyone qualified to make that assessment.

Yet the archaeological opinion is that the midden has been “elevated and recommended” as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, per sensitive documents from archaeologists dated the same month as the Sentinel’s pejorative utterance.

Denying the cultural significance of the last traces of a village site, especially when pushed out as objective fact, goes beyond mere insult. It is an ideological assault on the shared heritage of our Wrangell community.

The repugnant statement that the history of our place is “not culturally significant” has been stated before by others, though functionally retracted and corrected in the time since.

Going forward, the sentiment that Wrangell archaeology is “not significant” should be repudiated at a minimum and, at best, should be rightfully put down like a rabid dog. The duty to eliminate threats to Wrangell’s heritage is shared by all Wrangellites of conscience, especially guardians and watchpeople like the press and voice of government.

Further, the statement in the headline and throughout the piece, that abiding by state and federal law is a costly delay, is equally insidious.

To the credit of those quoted in the piece, there is only an absence of complaint about the basic costs of doing business. No one in the piece is whining about the relatively meager sum of time and capital required to abide by laws, adhere to adopted plans and honor our shared sense of patriotism to our place. No one except for the Sentinel.

Maybe some would see a portal into our shared heritage as an obstacle or inconvenience. Maybe the history of the homeland of all Wrangell people, our ancient connections to our place, is worth a little time and attention.

With respect and gratitude.

Editor’s note: The letter writer is correct, the Sentinel should have attributed the statement to comments that were made by a borough official two months earlier, not “a study.”