The U.S. Navy this weekend will issue the first of its formal apologies to native communities in Alaska for the assaults on two villages in the 1800s, when its ships bombarded homes, burning dwellings and food stores shortly after the United States bought the Alaskan territory from Russia in 1867.

The Navy is to issue the first of two apologies to the Lingít (also known as Tlingit), communities for the assaults on Kake in 1869 and Angoon 13 years later, with the message to be delivered by Rear Adm. Mark Sucato, a senior officer who oversees the Navy’s Alaskan shore presence, reported The Washington Post.

The U.S. military does not often apologize to Native populations for the actions taken against their people. That may be changing, with the apology to the Alaskans and Pentagon now reviewing dozens of commendations awarded for actions of soldiers in the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890, where soldiers slaughtered nearly 300 Lakota men, women, and children. 

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