Located on an isthmus inside the boat harbor, this is a scaled-down replica of a traditional longhouse once occupied on the site by Tlingit Indian royalty. The replica was built by the federal Civilian Conservation Corps in 1940; it was restored in 2013. When the original structure was built, 100 slaves were sacrificed for each of its four house posts as a tribute to the first Chief Shakes. As many as 80 people, including slaves and extended family members, lived there, with Chief Shakes, occupying a private area behind the carved wall screen. The last Native leader to bear that mantle, Chief Shakes VII, was heralded in the structure in 1940. Chief Shakes Island is owned and operated by Wrangell Cooperative Association, a local tribe. Many of the totem poles on Shakes Island are replicas cared to commemorate historic ones.
