Tlingit

The Tlingit are a Native American group from the Pacific Northwest. They live in the United States (in the state of Alaska) and in Canada (British Columbia and Yukon). They speak the Tlingit language. In their language, Tlingit means "people of the tides."

The Tlingit get their food through hunting, gathering, and fishing. They are a matrilineal society. That means property is passed down from a mother to her children.

The Tlingit practiced slavery extensively until it was outlawed by the United States.^[1]

Territory

The Tlingit organized themselves into tribes, which they called Ḵwáan.

Tribes or Ḵwáan

Tlingit tribe	Translation	Village or Community location	English names
G̱alyáx̱ Ḵwáan	Salmon Stream Tribe	Yakataga-Controller Bay area	Kaliakh
Xunaa Ḵáawu	Tribe or People from the Direction of the North Wind	Hoonah	Hoonah people
S'awdáan Ḵwáan	From S'oow (jade) daa (around), aan (land/country/village) because the bay is the color of jade all around.	Sumdum	Sumdum
Tʼaḵjik.aan Ḵwáan:	Coast Town Tribe	northern Prince of Wales Island	Tuxekan
Laax̱aayík Kwáan:	Inside the Glacier People	Yakutat area	Yakutat
Tʼaaḵu Ḵwáan:	Geese Flood Upriver Tribe	Taku	Taku Tlingit, Taku people
Xutsnoowú (a.k.a. Xudzidaa) Ḵwáan	Brown Bear Fort a.k.a. Burnt Wood Tribe	Angoon	Hootchenoo people, Hoochenoo, Kootznahoo
Hinyaa Ḵwáan	Tribe From Across The Water	Klawock	Henya
G̱unaax̱oo Ḵwáan	Among The Athabascans Tribe	Dry Bay	Gunahoo people, Dry Bay people
Deisleen Ḵwáan:	Big Sinew Tribe	Teslin	Teslin Tlingit, Teslin people, Inland Tlinkit
Shee Tʼiká (a.k.a. Sheetʼká) Ḵwáan	Outside Edge of a Branch Tribe	Sitka	Sitka, Shee Atika
Shtaxʼhéen Ḵwáan	Bitter Water Tribe	Wrangell	Stikine people, Stikine Tlingit
Jilḵáat Ḵwáan	From Chaal (food cache) xhaat (salmon) khwaan (dwellers): "Salmon Cache Tribe"	Klukwan	Chilkat people
Áa Tlein Ḵwáan	Big Lake Tribe	Atlin	Taku River Tlingit, Inland Tlinkit
Ḵéex̱ʼ Kwáan	The Opening of the Day (Dawn) Tribe a.k.a. The Town That Never Sleeps	Kake	Kake people
Taantʼa Ḵwáan	Sea Lion Tribe	Fort Tongass (formerly) & Ketchikan (today)	Tongass people
Jilḵoot Ḵwáan	Chilkoot Tribe	Haines	Chilkoot people
Áakʼw Ḵwáan	Small Lake Tribe	Auke Bay	Auke people
Kooyu Ḵwáan	Stomach Tribe	Kuiu Island	Kuiu people
Saanyaa Ḵwáan	Southward Tribe	Cape Fox Village (formerly) & Saxman (today)	Saanya Kwaan, owns Saxman Corporation, which owns Cape Fox Corporation

Culture

The Tlingit have a very rich culture. They are famous for their totem poles. They incorporate art in every part of their lives. Their art has deep spiritual meaning.

Philosophy and religion

The Tlingit didn't write down their beliefs, but they do have a very complex philosophy on how they view the world.

They were animists. Their shamans did many things, such as curing diseases, helping hunters, and protecting people from evil.

In the 1880s, many Tlingit began to convert to Orthodox Christianity, which was introduced by the Russians. They clung to the Orthodox religion as Americans and Canadians came onto their land.

Today, young Tlingit are turning back to their traditional beliefs in order to regain a sense of identity as Tlingit.

Language

The Tlingit have their own language, the Tlingit language. Their language has a very complex grammar and uses sounds that almost no other languages use.

However, most of them now speak English.

Housing

The Tlingit made their houses from cedar wood.

Food

The Tlingit harvest food from the sea.

They also enjoy eating berries and meat from land animals.

Famous Tlingit people

Yeilxaak (unknown-1791), the first chief of Klukwan to be encountered by Europeans
X'unéi (unknown), a powerful Yakutat chief that went to war against Yeilxaak
Shotridge (1817–1887), a powerful chief and leader of the Chilkat Tlingits
Louis Shotridge (1883–1937), a Tlingit nobleman and American art collector, a grandson of the chief Shotridge
K'alyaan (1773-unknown), a chief and leader who led the Tlingits against the Russians at the Battle of Sitka
Debra Lekanoff, member of Washington State Legislature 2018
Nora Marks Dauenhauer (1927–2017), poet, author, and scholar
Byron Mallott (b. 1943), Lieutenant Governor of Alaska (2014–2018)
Larry McNeil (b. 1955), photographer
Tillie Paul (1863–1952), civil rights advocate and educator
William Paul (1885–1977), attorney
Elizabeth Peratrovich (1911–1958), civil rights advocate
Clarissa Rizal (1956–2016), Chilkat and Ravenstail weaver
Walter Soboleff (1908–2011), scholar, elder, and religious leader
Preston Singletary (b. 1963), glass artist
Jennie Thlunaut (ca. 1891–1986), Chilkat weaver
Ernestine Hayes (b. 1945), poet, memorist, and professor
Dino Rossi (b. 1959), politician
Martin Sensmeier (b. 1985), actor

Tlingit Media

Chief Anotklosh of the Taku nation. He wears a woven Chilkan blanket of cedar bark and mountain goat wool and a European-style cap, and holds a carved wooden bird rattle. Photograph by W.H. Case, ca. 1913, Juneau, Alaska
Tlingit and neighbouring peoples
Hoonah, Alaska, a traditional Tlingit village near Glacier Bay, home of the Xúnaa Kháawu
A Tlingit totem pole in Ketchikan c. 1901
Two Tlingit girls, near Copper River (Alaska), 1903. Photograph taken by the Miles Brothers
Kóok gaaw, box drum, late 19th century. Image is of a sea wolf (orca).
Tlingit twined basket tray, late 19th c., spruce root, American dunegrass, pigment, Cleveland Museum of Art
Two Tlingit speakers, recorded in the United States.
Tommy Joseph, Tlingit woodcarver and sculptor from Sitka, Alaska