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40-737: The name Laxsgiik derives from xsgiik, the word for eagle in the Tsimshian, Gitksan, and Nisga'a languages. The chief crest of the Laxsgiik is the Eagle. Beaver and Halibut are also common Laxsgiik crests. Tsimshian, Gitksan, and Nisga'a matrilineal houses belonging to the Laxsgiik tend to belong to one of two groups, the Gwinhuut and the Gitxon. The Gwinhuut (meaning literally "refugees") are according to tradition descended from migrations from

80-467: A Tlingit can inherit one but they can also pass it down to someone they trust, who becomes responsible for caring for it but does not rightfully own it. Like other Northwest Coast native peoples, the Tlingit did practice hereditary slavery . Tlingit thought and belief, although never formally codified, was historically a fairly well organized philosophical and religious system whose basic axioms shaped

120-675: A prince of the opposite moiety which led to a war between the two sides, spurring the Gitxon people's migration to the Nisga'a homeland on the Nass River , to the Tsimshian villages of Kitkatla and Kitsumkalum , and to the Cape Fox (in Nisga'a Laxsee'le ) tribe of Tlingits in what is now Alaska. Other versions of Gitxon migrations tell of movements from the Charlottes to the Nass, from

160-759: Is a Kitselas house closely associated with the Kitsumkalum community. In 1924, the Gitxon of the Kitselas tribe was Samuel Wise. Barbeau interviewed him at Port Essington, B.C. , in 1924. His version of the migration tells of a journey of Gitxon people from the Charlottes, to Kitamaat, and then up to Kitselas. Some Nisga'a House Groups Among the Laxsgiik Tribe include: Tlingit people The Tlingit or Lingít ( English: / ˈ t l ɪ ŋ k ɪ t , ˈ k l ɪ ŋ k ɪ t / TLING -kit, KLING -kit ) are Indigenous peoples of

200-403: Is considered contemptible among the Tlingit and a sign of poverty. Indeed, shamans and their families were required to abstain from all food gathered from the beach, and men might avoid eating beach food before battles or strenuous activities in the belief that it would weaken them spiritually and perhaps physically as well. Thus for both spiritual reasons as well as to add some variety to the diet,

240-613: Is now known to be possible for any Amerindian group—included an assertion that the Gitxon people migrated from Siberia , via the Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Island in Alaska, "only a few centuries ago" (as he phrased it in the Preface to his Totem Poles ). (Barbeau also, controversially and by today's standards erroneously, attributed their adoption of the Eagle crest to the influence of Russian traders' heraldic emblems during

280-598: The Alaskan Panhandle , to the lakes in interior Yukon, as being Lingít Aaní , the Land of the Tlingit. The extant Tlingit territory can be roughly divided into four major sections, paralleling ecological, linguistic, and cultural divisions: These categories reflect differents in cultures, food harvesting, and dialects. Tlingit groups trade among themselves with neighboring communities. These academic classifications are supported by similar self-identification among

320-846: The Carcross/Tagish First Nation in Yukon and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska are of Tlingit heritage. Taku Tlingit are enrolled in the Douglas Indian Association in Alaska and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation in Canada. The Tlingit have a matrilineal kinship system , with children born into the mother's clan , and property and hereditary roles passing through the mother's line. Their culture and society developed in

360-609: The Haida nation. Gitxon is popularly etymologized as git (people of) + x (to eat) + hoon (salmon), yielding the meaning "salmon eaters." The anthropologist Marius Barbeau , whose writings are the best introduction to Laxsgiik histories, calls this group's ancestral histories "the Salmon-Eater tradition." Members of the Gitxon group can be found among the Nisga'a , among the Tsimshian tribes of Kitselas and Gitga'ata , among

400-720: The Haisla nation at Kitamaat , and at Skidegate on the Queen Charlottes. Gitxon houses frequently are headed by chiefs named Gitxon. At Hartley Bay , where the Gitga'ata live, the group is known as the House of Sinaxeet. Barbeau's now discredited theories about the peopling of the Americas —he claimed a far more recent Siberian ancestry for the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshianic -speakers (Tsimshian, Gitksan, and Nisga'a) than

440-536: The Pacific , including the Alsek , Tatshenshini , Chilkat , Taku , and Stikine rivers. With regular travel up these rivers, the Tlingit developed extensive trade networks with Athabascan tribes of the interior, and commonly intermarried with them. From this regular travel and trade, a few relatively large populations of Tlingit settled around Atlin , Teslin , and Tagish Lakes , whose headwaters flow from areas near

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480-819: The Tlingit language (Lingít [ɬɪ̀nkítʰ] ), which is a branch of the Na-Dené language family . Lingít has a complex grammar and sound system and also uses certain phonemes unheard in almost any other language. Tlingit has an estimated 200 to 400 native speakers in the United States and 100 speakers in Canada. The speakers are bilingual or near-bilingual in English. Tribes, institutions, and linguists are expending extensive effort into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to revive and preserve

520-551: The temperate rainforest of the southeast Alaskan coast and the Alexander Archipelago . The Tlingit have maintained a complex hunter-gatherer culture based on semi-sedentary management of fisheries. Hereditary slavery was practiced extensively until it was outlawed by the United States Government. The Inland Tlingit live in the far northwestern part of the province of British Columbia and

560-664: The "Gitxon" group who migrated from the land of the Queen Charlottes first to Kitamaat and then to the Gitga'ata people, where a branch of this group, the House of Sinaxeet, is now considered "the royal Eagle house of Kitkata." In 1952, Barbeau recorded a Nass elder's statement that the Gitxons at the Tsimshian village of Hartley Bay were the most numerous, while the Gitxon populations at the Tsimshian villages of Kitsumkalum and Lax Kw'alaams were nearly extinct. The Gitxon people at Kitsumkalum, who are referred to in stories, were not part of

600-506: The Alaska territory for thousands of years, leading to the Tlingit. Human culture with elements related to the Tlingit originated around 10,000 years ago near the mouths of the Skeena and Nass Rivers . The historic Tlingit's first contact with Europeans came in 1741 with Russian explorers. Spanish explorers followed in 1775. Tlingits maintained their independence but suffered from epidemics of smallpox and other infectious diseases brought by

640-534: The Eagle-clan peoples of the Tlingit nation in what is now Alaska. Gwinhuut houses are more numerous than Gitxon ones, and they are related to various Tlingit Eagle groups. All Gitksan Laxsgiik are Gwinhuut, as are most Tsimshian and Nisga'a Laxsgiik houses. Gwinhuut houses include: The Gitxon (also spelled Gitxhoon) group mostly claim descent from ancient migrations from the Haida Gwaii , homeland of

680-622: The Europeans. The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic killed about 60% of the Mainland Tlingit and 37% of the Island Tlingit. Food is a central part of Tlingit culture, and the land is an abundant provider. Most of the richness of intertidal life found on the beaches of Southeast Alaska can be harvested for food. Though eating off the beach could provide a fairly healthy and varied diet, eating nothing but "beach food"

720-716: The Interior Tlingit communities, such as Atlin, British Columbia (Taku River Tlingit), Teslin, Yukon ( Teslin Tlingit Council ), and Carcross, Yukon ( Carcross/Tagish First Nation ) have reserves . Tlingits in Alaska lack Indian reservations because the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) established regional corporations throughout Alaska with complex portfolios of land ownership rather than bounded reservations administered by Tribal Governments. The corporation in

760-599: The Kitsumkalum tribe by the time Barbeau interviewed Kitsumkalum elders on the subject in the 1920s. The anthropologist James McDonald speculates that the Kitsumkalum Gitxons may have become extinct during the fur trade and that the Kitselas Gitxons borrowed members from the Gispaxlo'ots Laxsgiik to perpetuate their lineage during the 20th century. The Kitselas House of Gitxon and Niisgitloop today

800-455: The Nass to the Charlottes and back again, from Kitsumkalum to the Charlottes and back again, or from Kitselas to Kitamaat to the Charlottes and back again. The Charlottes and Alaska both arise as possible originary points for this group. In 1947, Edmund Patalas ("belonging to the Kitamat tribe at Hartley Bay") described to the Tsimshian ethnologist William Beynon the origins of the people of

840-610: The Pacific Northwest Coast of North America and constitute two of the 231 (As of 2022) federally recognized Tribes of Alaska . Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives ; however, some are First Nations in Canada . Their language is the Tlingit language ( Łingít , pronounced [ɬɪ̀nkɪ́tʰ] ), Tlingit people today belong to several federally recognized Alaska Native tribes including the Angoon Community Association, Central Council of

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880-673: The Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes, Chilkat Indian Village , Chilkoot Indian Association, Craig Tribal Association, Hoonah Indian Association, Ketchikan Indian Corporation, Klawock Cooperative Association, the Organized Village of Kasaan, the Organized Village of Kake, the Organized Village of Saxman, Petersburg Indian Association, Skagway Village, the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe , and the Wrangell Cooperative Association. Some citizens of

920-593: The Tlingit can be traced back to Paleolithic groups in Southern Siberia . Gispaxlo%27ots The Gispaxlo'ots are one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian nation in British Columbia , Canada, and one of the nine of those tribes making up the "Nine Tribes" of the lower Skeena River resident at Lax Kw'alaams (a.k.a. Port Simpson), B.C. The name Gispaxlo'ots means literally "people of

960-651: The Tlingit extended from the Portland Canal along the present border between Alaska and British Columbia , north to the coast just southeast of the Copper River delta in Alaska. The Tlingit occupied almost all of the Alexander Archipelago , except the southernmost end of Prince of Wales Island and its surroundings, where the Kaigani Haida moved just before the first encounters with European explorers. The Coastal Tlingit tribes controlled one of

1000-739: The Tlingit harvest many other resources for food besides those they easily find outside their front doors. No other food resource receives as much emphasis as salmon ; however, seal and game are both close seconds. Halibut , shellfish , and seaweed traditionally provided food in the spring, while late spring and summer bring seal and salmon . Summer is a time for gathering wild and tame berries, such as salmonberry , soap berry , and currants . In fall, sea otters are hunted. Herring and eulachon are also important staples, that can be eaten fresh or dried and stored for later use. Fish provide meat, oil, and eggs. Sea mammals, such as sea lions and sea otters, are used for food and clothing materials. In

1040-531: The Tlingit language and its culture. Sealaska Heritage Institute, Goldbelt Heritage Institute and the University of Alaska Southeast have Tlingit language programs, and community classes are held in Klukwan and Angoon . Tlingit tribes historically built plank houses made from cedar and today call them clanhouses; these houses were built with a foundation such that they could store their belongings under

1080-426: The Tlingit region is Sealaska Corporation , which serves the Tlingit, Haida , and Tsimshian in Alaska. Tlingit people participate in the commercial economy of Alaska, and typically live in privately owned housing and land. Many also possess land allotments from Sealaska or from earlier distributions predating ANCSA. Their current residences are within their historical homelands. Land around Yakutat , south through

1120-628: The Tlingit. The Tlingit culture is multifaceted and complex, a characteristic of Northwest Pacific Coast people with access to easily exploited rich resources. In Tlingit culture a heavy emphasis is placed upon family and kinship, and on a rich oratory tradition. Wealth and economic power are important indicators of rank, but so is generosity and proper behavior, all signs of "good breeding" and ties to aristocracy. Art and spirituality are incorporated in nearly all areas of Tlingit culture, with even everyday objects such as spoons and storage boxes decorated and imbued with spiritual power and historical beliefs of

1160-633: The Tlingits. Tlingit society is divided into two moieties , the Raven and the Eagle. These in turn are divided into numerous clans , which are subdivided into lineages or house groups. They have a matrilineal kinship system, with descent and inheritance passed through the mother's line. These groups have heraldic crests, which are displayed on totem poles , canoes , feast dishes, house posts, weavings, jewelry, and other art forms. The Tlingits pass down at.oow (s) or blankets that represented trust. Only

1200-704: The Tsimshian tribes, due to the exploits and wealth of Ligeex , a great trading chief. As part of the negotiations with the HBC, he arranged in 1832 for his daughter Sudaał to marry Dr. John Frederick Kennedy , the first HBC partner of the fort. The House of Ligeex belongs to the Laxsgiik (Eagle clan). Other house-groups (extended matrilineal families) of the Gispaxlo'ots include: In 1935 William Beynon recorded that Gispaxlo'ots people in Lax Kw'alaams included 18 members of

1240-416: The face of their shamans' inability to treat Old World diseases including smallpox , many Tlingit people converted to Orthodox Christianity . Russian Orthodox missionaries had translated their liturgy into the Tlingit language. It has been argued that they saw Eastern Orthodox Christianity as a way of resisting assimilation to the "American way of life", which was associated with Presbyterianism . After

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1280-583: The floors. It is said that these plank houses had no adhesive, nails, or any other sort of fastening devices. Clan houses were usually square or rectangular in shape and had front facing designs and totem poles to represent to which clan and moiety the makers belonged. Many Tlingit men work in the fishing industry while women are employed at canneries or in the local handicraft industry. These handicrafts include items like wood carvings and woven baskets which are sold for practical or tourist consumption. Various cultures of indigenous people have continuously occupied

1320-586: The forests near their homes, Tlingit hunted deer, bear, mountain goats and other small mammals. Genetic analyses of HLA I and HLA II genes as well as HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 gene frequencies links the Ainu people of Japan to some Indigenous peoples of the Americas , especially to populations on the Pacific Northwest Coast such as Tlingit. The scientists suggest that the main ancestor of the Ainu and of

1360-587: The fur trade.) In 1927 in Kincolith, B.C. , Barbeau recorded from the Nisga'a "Chief Mountain" (Sga'niism Sim'oogit, a.k.a. Saga'wan), a story ( adaawak in Nisga'a) of the origin of the Gitxon people which records their arrival on Haida Gwaii , homeland of the Haida , where the Gitxon Eagles came to form one moiety of a village while the people of Qoona formed another. This story tells of Gitxon's niece Dzilakons (variously spelled) and her engagement with

1400-524: The headwaters of the Taku River. Delineating the current territory of the Tlingit is complicated because they live in both Canada and the United States, they lack designated reservations, other complex legal and political concerns make the situation confusing, and their population is highly mobile. They also share territory with Athabascan peoples such as the Tahltan , Kaska , and Tagish . In Canada,

1440-415: The introduction of Christianity , the Tlingit belief system began to erode. Today, some young Tlingits look back towards their traditional tribal religions and worldview for inspiration, security, and a sense of identity. While many elders converted to Christianity, contemporary Tlingit "reconcile Christianity and the 'traditional culture.'" The Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada speak

1480-798: The mountain passes into the Yukon interior; they were divided into three tribes: the Chilkat Tlingit ( Jilḵáat Ḵwáan ) along the Chilkat River and on Chilkat Peninsula , the Chilkoot Tlingit ( Jilḵoot Ḵwáan ) and the Taku Tlingit ( Tʼaaḵu Ḵwáan: ) along the Taku River . Inland, the Tlingit occupied areas along the major rivers that pierce the Coast Mountains and Saint Elias Mountains and flow into

1520-461: The place of elderberries." Their traditional territory includes an area on the Skeena River between present-day Terrace and Prince Rupert . Since 1834, when a Hudson's Bay Company trading fort was established at Lax Kw'alaams, they have been based there. Their chief Ligeex permitted the HBC to build on Gispaxlo'ots territory. Traditionally, the Gispaxlo'ots have been the most powerful of

1560-496: The southern Yukon in Canada. Their autonym, Łingít, means "People of the Tides". The Russian name Koloshi ( Колоши , from a Sugpiaq-Alutiiq term kulut'ruaq for the labret worn by women) or the related German name Koulischen may be encountered referring to the people in older historical literature, such as Grigory Shelikhov 's 1796 map of Russian America . The greatest territory historically occupied by

1600-444: The way Tlingit people viewed and interacted with the world around them. Tlingits were traditionally animists , and hunters ritually purified themselves before hunting animals. Shamans , primarily men, cured diseases, influenced weather, aided in hunting, predicted the future, and protected people against witchcraft. A central tenet of the Tlingit belief system is the reincarnation of both humans and animals. Between 1886 and 1895, in

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