Seduction Point in Haines will no longer go by that name. The southern tip of the Haines isthmus will now be known as Ayiklutu.
The Chilkoot Indian Association applied to change the name last year. Local elders and historians say the name “Seduction Point” misrepresented the 18th century rape of a Tlingit woman by British sailors there. Ayiklutu is the original Tlingit name, meaning roughly “point within a point.”
The Alaska Historical Commission approved the proposal last year. The U.S. Board of Geographical Names met virtually on Wednesday to officially accept the change. Their office said the change will be updated in the official geographic names database in the coming days and federal maps and charts will be updated in the next revision cycle.
