Society-TLINGIT

The Tlingit (or Kolosh) are an American Indian people living on the
southeastern coast and islands of Alaska. Their language belongs to
the Na-Dene phylum, on a level coordinate with Athapascan-Eyak (Voegelin
and Voegelin 1977: 243). Their territory extends from the mouth of
the Portland Canal in the south to Chilkat on Controller Bay in the
north. They are of the Northwest Coast culture type and are most closely
related to the Haida and Tsimshian. There are several inland groups
of Tlingit-speakers in northern British Columbia. These people are
regarded as gunana (foreigners) by the coastal Tlingit, and culturally
resemble the interior Athabaskan tribes more closely than they do
the coastal Tlingit.

The Alaskan coast is quite mountainous, and the climate is humid and
temperate. There is abundant sea and forest animal life in the area.
The Tlingit, like other Northwest Coast peoples, were able to support
a relatively complex social and cultural life on the basis of a nonagricultural,
fishing, hunting, and gathering economy.

After the 1836 smallpox epidemic, the total Tlingit population was
estimated to be around 6,000. Krause gives the total 1880 census as
6,763. The smallest subgroup was that of the Tongas, with a population
of 173, whereas the Stikine numbered about 1,000 (Krause 1956: 66-74).
De Laguna states that in the last 50 or 60 years the population has
tended to concentrate in the villages. The reasons for this concentration
are the change from a subsistence economy to one based on wage labor,
and the availability of trading posts in larger communities (De Laguna
1953: 55; De Laguna 1960: 205-206).

Many explorers in search of the Northwest Passage visited the area
of the Tlingit and foreign interest in the area intensified with the
booming fur trade. Russian traders and trappers established themselves
in about 1775 and remained throughout the next century. In 1867, Alaska
was ceded by Russia to the United States. Since the Russians had adapted
themselves to the Indians, there were never any serious conflicts.
The Americans, however, were primarily interested in developing the
area economically, and the Indians were generally treated with disdain.
Today's communities are heterogeneous in regard to the degree of acculturation,
and there is often some confusion regarding such matters as inheritance
and territorial rights.

Since the Tlingit lived on the coast, their subsistence was derived
mainly from the sea. Seals and fish such as halibut, salmon, and herring
were caught with hooks, basketry traps, and spears. Hunting supplemented
fishing, but hunting was done primarily for furs. Bears were rarely
killed, since they were thought to be closely related to human beings.
The Tlingit were sedentary most of the year, but during the summer
they led a semi-nomadic life. It was also during the summer that most
of the subsistence activity was carried on, and the people left the
villages for camps in their hunting and fishing territories. The winter
was devoted to household activities, such as weaving. Winter was also
the ceremonial season.

The Tlingit were divided into from 11 to 16 geographical groupings
called quan. Henshaw & Swanton (1910: 765) list the Auk, Chilkat,
Henya, Huna, Hutsnuwu, Kake, Kuiu, Sanyakoan, Sitka, Strikine, Sumdum,
Tagish, Taku, Tongas, and Yakutat. According to Emmons, these groupings
were purely "accidental;" there was little internal cohesion and no
formal tribal authority (Emmons 1916: 10). Each quan was made up of
one or more villages. Krause's census figures for 1880 list a population
range for Yakutat villages of from 150 to 500 (Krause 1956: 66). These
villages were usually built around inlets or bays, and houses were
built in rows, fairly close together.

Aboriginally, the Tlingit were apparently divided into three phratries,
Yehl (Raven), Goch (Wolf), and Nehadi (Eagle). The Nehadi were very
few in number and have been disregarded by most researchers. Consequently,
the literature refers frequently to the "moieties" of Raven and Wolf.
"In each of these phratries there were, until recently, over twenty
clans, most of which had local divisions in two or more villages.
Each local clan division is made up of a number of house groups in
each of which dwells a number of primary families. Descent and inheritance
is reckoned through women" ((Oberg 1937: 43). Oberg goes on to say
that these villages had very little unity.

The clans and family groups were ranked according to the wealth and
morality of their members and the glory of their ancestors. The oldest
man in a family group was the head of that family, and the highest
ranking family head was the head of the clan. Since there was no village
headman, the clan heads served as arbiters of disputes. Although the
clans were common throughout all of the Tlingit area, it was the local
clan groups that were of greatest importance in settling disputes,
ceremonialism, and ownership of fishing and hunting territories. The
phratries and clans were totemic, and the crests were represented
on houses, ceremonial clothing and paraphernalia, and totem poles.

The Tlingit, along with other Northwest Coast people, are known for
their elaborate ceremonialism, primarily the potlatch. Although Swanton
(1904) says that respect for the dead was the only motive for giving
a potlatch, other authors state there were other occasions which might
call for a performance. According to strict custom, the potlatch lasted
for four days and consisted of a feast, dances, songs, theatrical
performances, and the presentation of ceremonial gifts. In former
days, this display of wealth consisted of the killing of slaves and
giving of coppers (shield-shaped pieces of copper which were symbols
of wealth). Later, money and woolen blankets were substituted. A potlatch
was always given by one phratry for another one, and reciprocity was
necessary.

Culture summary by Marlene M. Martin



De Laguna, Frederica.
 Some problems in the relationship between Tlingit archaeology and ethnology.
 In Marian W. Smith, comp.
 Asia and North America: Transpacific Contacts.
 Salt Lake City, Society for American Archaeology, 1953: 53-57.
 De Laguna, Frederica.
 The story of a Tlingit community: a problem in the relationship between archaeological, ethnological, and historical methods.
 Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, 1960.
 10, 254 p. illus.
 Emmons, George Thornton.
 The Whale House of the Chilkat.
 New York, American Museum of Natural History, 1916.
 33 p. Henshaw, Henry W. Tlingit.
 By Henry W. Henshaw and John R. Swanton.
 U. S. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, pt.
 2 (1910): 764-765.
 Krause, Aurel.
 The Tlingit Indians: results of a trip to the Northwest Coast of America and the Bering Straits.
 Translated by Erna Gunther.
 Seattle, University of Washington Press for the American Ethnological Society, 1956.
 15, 310 p. illus.
 Oberg, Kalervo.
 The social economy of the Tlingit Indians.
 3, 170 l. illus.
 Dissertation (Anthropology) -- Chicago, University of Chicago, 1937.
 Swanton, John Reed.
 Social condition, beliefs, and linguistic relationship of the Tlingit Indians.
 U. S. Bureau of American Ethnology, Annual Report, 26 (1904-1905): 391-486.
 Voegelin, C. F. and F. M. Voegelin.
 Classification and index of the world's languages.
 New York, Elsevier, 1977.


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