Worlds collide in the Tongass National Forest, the largest temperate rainforest one earth, when the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) turns tribes into corporations and sparks a lengthy logging frenzy.
Walking in Two Worlds journeys to the Tongass to reveal its splendor and shed light on the devastation and division resulting from the Settlement Act. The Tongass is rich with old-growth trees, salmon-filled rivers and wildlife. Alaska’s Tlingit and Haida Indian tribes have depended on this forest for their culture and survival.
The Settlement Act resulted from a massive collision of Washington bullying, big business and Native American naiveté. The result was a swath of tragic scars in a magnificent forest wilderness. Natives struggled to adapt to new roles as corporate shareholders.
For one Native brother and sister, this transition divided them. While the brother led the native corporation’s clear-cut logging, his sister became a fierce leader in the battle to stop the destruction. Then a life-threatening illness drew them back together as one sibling offered the other a life-saving gift.
A story of division and redemption plays out showing the possibility of healing both the forest and the native community.
