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33-416: This river was used as a vital trade route by First Nations, in particular the coastal Tlingit people . The first Europeans to travel the present-day Tatshenshini River were Jack Dalton and Edward Glave in 1890, accompanied by two native guides. Prior to 1891, the present-day Tatshenshini River was considered to be the upper Alsek River. (At that time, the present-day upper Alsek River was considered to be

66-467: 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

99-531: Is a tributary of the present-day Tatshenshini River, located about 10 miles (16 km) upstream from Dalton's trading post. In 1891, or shortly thereafter, the Canadian government reassigned the name Tatshenshini from the present-day Blanchard River to the present-day Tatshenshini River. Apparently, the government did this without knowledge of the English translation of tatshenshini . The name Tatshenshini

132-403: 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,

165-418: Is derived from a Tlingit phrase, the meaning of which was not recorded. However, the original phrase appears to have been t’áchán shahéeni , a compound Tlingit noun meaning river with stinking chinook (king) salmon at its headwaters ( t’á [ chinook or king salmon ] + chán [ stink ] + sha [ head of ] + héen [ river ] + i [possessed noun suffix] ). The Tlingit phrase t’áchán shahéeni describes

198-598: 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

231-899: 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

264-560: The Klondike Gold Rush . Today, the site of Dalton's trading post is a popular location for salmon fishermen, and it is the launch point for rafting trips on the Tatshenshini River. The Tatshenshini River was designated a Canadian Heritage River in 2004. Prior to 1891, the name Tatshenshini did not refer to the present-day Tatshenshini River. Instead, the name referred to the present-day Blanchard River, which

297-536: 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

330-764: 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

363-551: 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

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396-506: 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

429-622: 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"

462-716: 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

495-610: 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

528-673: 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

561-515: The Tlingit can be traced back to Paleolithic groups in Southern Siberia . Sitka Tribe of Alaska The Sitka Tribe of Alaska is the federally recognized tribal government for more than 4,000 federally recognized Native people, mostly Alaska Natives from Southeast Alaska, living in or near Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska . Most Sitka Tribe citizens of are Tlingit , Haida or Tsimshian heritage. The tribal government

594-651: 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

627-739: 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

660-531: 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

693-426: 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

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726-628: 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

759-685: 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

792-416: 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

825-583: 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

858-642: 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

891-524: 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,

924-415: 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

957-424: The lower Kaskawulsh River.) In or about 1891, the present-day Tatshenshini River (pre-1891 upper Alsek River) was assigned the name Tatshenshini by the Canadian government, and the pre-1891 lower Kaskawulsh River became the present-day upper Alsek River. About 1897, Jack Dalton established a trading post near the location where the present-day Tatshenini begins to flow westward. This trading post flourished during

990-798: 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

1023-681: The present-day Blanchard River (pre-1891 Tatshenshini River). Chinook (king) salmon run up the present-day Tatshenshini River to the Blanchard River and, thence, up the Blanchard River. At the headwaters ( shahéen ) of the Blanchard River, the salmon ( t’á ) die, and their carcasses stink ( chán ). These headwaters were on the old Tlingit trail and trade route between Haines, Alaska and Lake Kusawa, Yukon. 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

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1056-496: 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

1089-444: 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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