Angoon elder lost to the coronavirus remembered as a bearer of Tlingit culture and language
Posted by Erin McKinstry, KCAW | Jan 14, 2021
George “Kaajuxdakeena” Nelson Jr. died at the age of 80 on Dec. 7, 2020. “Anytime we lose an elder in our community, it’s a great loss,” his friend Mary Jean Duncan said. “Because they’re like our treasure boxes. They have the history; they have the language.” (Photo provided by Mary Hewson)
COVID-19 has claimed the life of an Angoon elder. Eighty-year old George Nelson Jr. died in December, after being hospitalized in Anchorage. As the Admiralty Island community grapples with its first coronavirus death, residents are also grieving the loss of a clan leader and bearer of Tlingit language and culture.