Brown, Judson | Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives

Judson Brown (1912-1998) was born in Haines, Alaska, the son of James Wheeler Brown (K’ikaa, of the Kaagwaantaan) and Mary Spurgeon Brown (Kaasanak, of the Dakl’aweidi). He was a Tlingit Indian, an Eagle: Dakl’aweidi’; Kaagwaantaan yadi, Keet Gooshi Hit. His Tlingit names were Shaakakooni (Mountain Flicker) and Hinleiych (Yelling Sea Water), referring to the ‘woosh’ sound of the fast flip as the killer whale dives again after surfacing. Brown was also part Native Hawaiian and part Champagne Aishihik Native. After graduating from the Haines High School, Brown began a path that allowed him to work in many capacities, including as a law clerk, deputy marshal, two-term mayor of Haines, career fisherman, supervisor at the Pacific Maritime Association, Board of Director of the Sealaska Corporation, Board of Trustee of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, and board member of the Institute of Alaska Native Arts. He also participated in organizations and was a member of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indians Tribes of Alaska. He was a self-taught ethnographer and traveled extensively to Hawaii, Polynesia, and New Zealand for cultural exchange programs. He was active in Native Hawaiian and Champagne Aishihik affairs. Brown passed away in 1998.

Source: Nora and Richard Dauenhauer, Haa Kusteeyi, Our Culture (Juneau, Sealaska Heritage Foundation, 1994).