Tlingit Tribe

Discovered by: Amanda Almodovar, Kimberly Struzzieri, and Kristen Zaharek

“KLIN-kit”

History

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• Tlingit means “People of the Tides”
• Their origins are speculated to be dated around 11,000 years ago
• Some believe that these people migrated from Polynesia by island-hopping
• They settled along Southeast Alaska thousands of years ago

Geography

Location of traditional Tlingit lands

The Tlingit tribe lives in southeastern Alaska and in British Columbia and the Yukon in Canada!

Customs

• To the Tlingit people, the world is filled with spirits, or yéiks, who could manifest their powers through anything.
• They were taught to respect everything that existed around them; the punishment for disrespect was loss of food.
• Each person also had a guardian spirit, known as a tu-na-jek.

Traditions

• Tlingit women gathered plants & herbs and did most of the child care and cooking.
• Men were fishermen & hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families.
• Both genders took part in storytelling, artwork, music, & traditional medicine.

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Language

• Tlingit language is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada
• Language is well known for its complex grammar, sound system, and use of certain phonemes unheard in almost any other language.

Tlingit Art

• Most forms are defined by features such as eyes, joints, fins, and feathers being fragmented with bold black lines, and filled in with red and blue hues.
• Totem poles are the most notable art form.

Clothes

• Clothes were made through a weaving technique
• Men wore moccasin shoes to hunt during the winter
• Tlingits wore basketry hats made of finely woven spruce root and bear grass
• Designs and patterns of these hats displayed a person’s status and family connections

Food

• The Tlingit Indians were fishing people!
• Fish, wapato (Indian Potato) greens, seeds and berries
• Oil would be extracted from candlefish to be used as a dip for food!
• Tlingit men caught fish and sea mammals from their canoes.
• Hunted deer, mountain goats, and birds
• Tlingit women gathered shellfish, seaweed, berries, and roots.

Homes

The Tlingits lived in rectangular cedar-plank houses with bark roofs.

These houses were large (up to 100 feet long) and each one housed several families from the same clan (as many as 50 people.)

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Today, people live in modern houses and apartment buildings, just like you.

Famous People

Nathan Jackson is one of the most famous living Tlingit artists. His totem poles have been placed in the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC.

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Generalization

Without this geographical influence, the Native Americans would have no place for resources for their unique culture, food, clothing, or homes!

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Geography influences the Native Americans heavily! Without geography, there would be no unique tribe such as the Tlingits!

Color & Relax!

Do you remember?

1. What does Tlingit mean?
2. How do you pronounce Tlingit?
3. What colors did the Tlingits use most in their art?
4. What was the most common food that the Tlingits ate?
5. What was your favorite part of our lesson?