A view of Whidbey Island in Washington. Photo from Iwanafish / Wikipedia

A delegation from the Kake Tribe in Alaska visited the site of an 1857 attack that resulted in the death of the first permanent White resident of Whidbey Island in Washington.

Tribal elders grew up hearing about the incident. Their ancestors went to Whidbey Island in August 1857 to take revenge for the deaths of 27 of their people a year earlier.

After failing to find their intended target, the Kake party shot and killed Colonel Isaac Neff Ebey. He was beheaded and his scalp was taken to Alaska, according to Wikipedia.

“We walked in two worlds back then where they had no law and order,” tribal elder Ruth Demmert told The Whidbey News-Times. “They figured an eye for an eye. Revenge.”

The Kake delegation visited the site on August 11, 157 years after Ebey's death.

Get the Story:
Kake tribal members visit Ebey 157 years after death that shook region (The Whidbey News-Times 8/21)