In July of 2021, I spent a sleepless night tracking the second-largest earthquake in Alaska history, the 8.2 Chignik, as its energy moved across the ocean toward coastal communities.

Recent commentary about Telephone Hill has focused on an 1881 Navy reservation and the reported placement of a Gatling gun overlooking Juneau and the Aak’w village for a couple years. That fact belongs to the historical record. It is not disputed.

There’s a difference between a slogan and a standard. When a city calls itself a “Human Rights City,” it may sound like branding, but it’s something much deeper.