Yandeist’akyé (Where Everything from Afar Drifts on Shore)

Located at the mouth of the Chilkat River at the present day Haines Airport, Yandeist’akyé village takes its name from the point on which it stands, which “turns the course of the river from above and obstructs the tide from below and so catches the drift from both directions” [6]. This was a seasonal Tlingit village. It was formerly used during eulachon-fishing time in the spring, and salmon-smoking and potlatch time in the fall. It was here that visitors were met to be entertained, and possibly escorted to other villages. It was a sort of official common meeting place where the chiefs of the villages could confer among themselves, or with visiting dignitaries. People from the other villages conferred here with S. Hall Young and John Muir, making plans for the first Christian mission in the valley. [5]