Tlingit. Appearance 11/24/09. Background

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1 Tlingit 1 Background Language group distantly related to Na Dene. Appearance: lean, rather tall in stature, and lighter skin. Body ornamentation: Women: pierced ears, pierced nasal septum with bone pin, labret. 2 Appearance Men: nasal septum pierced and small ring worn. Earrings like those of women also worn, along with feathers or pieces of wool. Both men and women wore face paint. Clothing: primarily sea otter hides and fur. 3 1

2 Architecture Two beam plank house standard for Tlingit. Crest poles erected in front of houses; houses also painted with lineage symbols. Lineage symbols also common inside houses on screens separating living areas

3 Tlingit Raven Screen 7 Tlingit Villages Village sites: Winter: main villages located along the sea on bays and inlets or near mouths or rivers. Summer: temporary fishing camps with rough architecture. Kwaan: Tlingit provinces, primary geographic units. Chilkat most powerful kwaan. 8 Travel Canoe customary means of travel. Canoes constructed during winter. Red cedar tree trunk hollowed, stretched to create shape. Outside painted with crest images. Winter: travel by snowshoes across country. 9 3

4 Subsistence Ac9vi9es Multiple resources used: Land mammals: bears, fox, wolves, wolverines, lynx, deer, caribou. Also rabbit, squirrel, ermine, porcupine, muskrat, beaver. Sea mammals: whales, seals, sea lions, sea otters. Fish: salmon, candlefish, halibut, haddock, trout, herring. Shellfish: crabs, mussels. 10 Subsistence Cycle March: activity begins with repairing canoes and fishing gear. Halibut fishing in calm weather. When river ice broken up, women fish for trout with gill nets. Women also collect clams and mussels. Trapping also began in march: fox, mink, wolf, otter, and sea otter. 11 Subsistence cycle Candlefish netted in spring as they enter rivers to spawn. April: herring run begins and they are collected on poles with spines. Summer: main time for subsistence activities. Summer also time for trading voyages by canoe to Haida, Tsimshian villages. 12 4

5 Summer Subsistence Ac9vi9es Large sea mammal hunting with harpoons e.g. whales, seals, sea lions, dolphins. Women collected berries and salmon eggs. Stored in candlefish oil. Land mammal flesh either dried for storage or stored in oil. 13 Summer Fishing Camp People moved to fishing camps upriver in the summer. All species of salmon taken: coho, chum, chinook, sockeye. Salmon dried or smoked. Winter: time for feasts, ceremonies. A little shellfish collection, but little food gathering activity during the winter. 14 Kinship and Social Organiza9on Each kwaan recognized 2 moieties and matrilineal clans within those moieties: Raven moiety Frog Goose Owl Raven Salmon Sea Lion Wolf (Eagle) moiety Auk Bear Eagle Shark Whale Wolf 15 5

6 Clans Status within each clan and between clans measured by wealth or ability to sponsor good potlatches. Keeper of the House: male leader, passed from uncle nephew. Thus boys closest relationship with maternal uncle, not own father. 16 Clans and Images Clans and moieties held rights to use images. Use rights could be loaned to others and occasionally usurped by more powerful clan. Moiety images exclusive: Only Raven moiety members could use the raven; same for wolf/eagle images. 17 Clans and Land Rights to use land for hunting, fishing, berry gathering, and shellfish gathering regulated by clan leadership. Nuclear family not crucial unit. Extended lineage household main unit in life but unusual for matrilineage in that the most common group was brothers + mother s sister s sons. 18 6

7 Household Organiza9on Eldest male was Keeper of the House He and principal wife outranked other household members. Older brothers and sisters outranked younger ones. Illegitimate children and slaves ranked lower. 19 Life Ac9vi9es Children born in shelter outside main house, apart from men. Midwife member of opposite moiety usually husband s sister. Children encouraged to behave as adults: restrained emotion, dignified, aloof. Routine: bathing in cold water daily. 20 Life Ac9vi9es First menstruation: isolation for a time high ranking girls up to one year. During seclusion, girl received first labret and also had nasal septum and ear piercing. Marriage came soon after end of seclusion. 21 7

8 Marriage Wedding held at bride s home. Not formal potlatch event, but feast held. High bride price desirable for bride s family and status of children of marriage. Couple might live with either family. 22 Marriage Multiple spouses possible for both men and women, depending on circumstances. Widows and widowers may marry siblings of deceased spouse. Flexible arrangements. 23 Women s Art Women worked with flexible materials: weaving with wool, working cedar bark for boxes. Most famous work: woven robes and blankets. Made with mountain goat wool, died black and yellow. Also made bentwood boxes for storage. 24 8

9 Tlingit Chilkat Robe 25 Tlingit Chilkat Blanket 26 Bentwood Box 27 9

10 Men s Art Men produced materials involving carving: Crest poles Carved wood and ivory images Copper plates with incised images Tools with carved images on them Pipe with carved images 28 Tlingit Atlatl 29 Tlingit Frog Clan Speaker s Staff 30 10

11 Tlingit House Panel 31 Tlingit Bear Pipe 32 Crest Poles Erecting crest poles an important act for a lineage, to emphasize its status. Crest images placed on all kind of objects used in household and in ceremonies for public view, but public nature of poles was a lasting symbol of the clan s status

12 Crest Pole, Bear Image Poli9cal Life Speakers of the Tlingit language did not recognized themselves as a unified people. Each kwaan was separate, as was each village within the kwaan. There was conflict between moieties, and even between clans within moieties. Moiety and clan conflict settled with exchange of gifts

13 Conflict Tlingit raided other villages, clans, and tribes. Motive usually revenge for a death or to capture slaves when more labor needed. Slaves well cared for, but worked hard. Copper bladed daggers used in warfare. Handles had crest images on them. 37 Tlingit Daggers 38 Religion Tlingit believed in a world with ubiquitous spirits. All things enlivened by a spirit presence. Shamans considered powerful for ability to control spirits. Shaman s role usually passed from uncle to nephew. Shaman s mask represented spirits associated with that shaman

14 Bear Mask 40 Bear Mask 41 Octopus Mask 42 14

15 Frog rattle 43 Raven & Frog rattle 44 Shaman s Rattle 45 15

16 Shaman s Rattle 46 Shaman s Bone Charm 47 Potlatches Held for purpose of bringing honor and status to sponsoring clan. Clan assets pooled to sponsor the potlatch. Occasions many memorial potlatch most common. 3 purposes: Compensate members of opposite moiety for help with funeral End period of mourning Transfer titles and ceremonial goods 48 16

17 Bear Clan Hat 49 Bear Clan Hat 50 Frog Clan Hat 51 17

18 Frog Clan Hat 52 Raven Clan Hat 53 Raven Clan Hat with movable wings 54 18

19 Feast Ladle 55 Salmon Ladle 56 Salmon People 57 19

20 Gonaqadet 58 Bear and cub 59 Potlatches Potlatches seriously misunderstood by Europeans even early anthropologists. Competitive aspects emphasized. Ignored underlying function: equalize access to food and resources in society. Marked rank differences but no starvation

21 Russian Period Spanish sailed around in NW in 1582 but did not make contact. 1741: Russians sailed to NW and got into fur trade immediately. Tlingit were cunning hagglers. Women dominated bargaining. Selective about acceptable goods. 61 Russian Influence Russians and Tlingit had economic relations, but Russians never dominated Tlingit. Russian Orthodox missions not successful at first, but had staying power. Smallpox: Orthodox priest tried to vaccinate people in 1834 unsuccessfully epidemic in 1835 wiped out 50% of Tlingit, so vaccination accepted after that. 62 U.S. Period 1867: Alaska transferred from Russia to U.S. No provision for Tlingit lands made. Tlingit not even permitted to attend ceremony watched from canoes. Great conflict in early U.S. period. Army had difficulty getting control

22 U.S. Dominance Gold discovered in 1880 near Juneau. Brought in miners and settlers in large numbers for first time. 1880s: women had stopped wearing labrets, skin garments had been replaced by cloth, and woolen blankets had replaced woven ones. Subsistence much the same, with addition of gardening, especially potatoes. 64 Tlingit in the 20 th Century Alcohol introduced with disruptive effects. Hooch manufactured by Tlingit. Tlingit villages consolidated. Nuclear family housing replaced lineage extended family housing. Women worked as domestics or in salmon factories; men worked as trappers in commercial fishing or gold mines. 65 Religious Change Presbyterians established a mission in Sitka in 1878, a school in Women more drawn to Christianity than men an advantage in a matrilineal society. Alaska Native Brotherhood established by Presbyterians in Native land claims and native rights Embrace assimilation and eliminate traditional culture

23 Religious Change Potlatches disapproved by ANB. Had been banned by Canada in 1880s, and also banned in Alaska in Potlatches continued, anyway. Meanwhile, Russian Orthodoxy was still embraced by many as less intrusive and more accepting of traditional culture. 67 Land Claims Tlingit land claims remained in dispute. 1906: Tlingit permitted to claim 160 acres, but few did because inadequate for their needs and way of life. Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) granted 40 million acres of land + $962.6 million for lands given up. Regional corporations formed to administer, with varied effectiveness. 68 Current Issues 3 groups now among Tlingit: Elders who speak language and observe traditions. Progressive elders and middle aged Tlingit speakers. Young English speakers with little interest in traditional culture. Few Tlingit under 40 fluent in language

24 Subsistence Issues Subsistence issues still controversial for Alaska natives. Continue traditional subsistence to some extent. Now threatened by government regulation, restriction of salmon fishing. 70 Clans and Tradi9on Clan affiliations weakened, but moiety identification remains strong. Modern potlatches retain some elements of tradition and are sometimes ecumenical. Memorial potlatches, especially, incorporated Orthodox and Presbyterian elements. Tlingit artist produce objects for sale, such as crest poles and masks, conveying traditional ideas