User:ErichAns/Culture of the Tlingit

Art

Knives and Daggers of the Tlingit

Sketch of Tlingit daggers from the Smithsonian Institution

The metal daggers of the Tlingit fall under three primary categories; double bladed, hafted-pommel, and for sale blades. These daggers utilize materials such as copper, iron, and steel for the proper blades in addition to these metals the guards of such weapons could be fabricated from ivory, bone, wood, leather, and the other aforementioned metals. Daggers specifically used for warfare have a leather strip called the “thong” which extends from the upper back of the hilt, the fighting Tlingit warrior would then wrap the leather thong around the wrist to maintain control of the weapon. Blades of the Tlingit with ornate and non-bladed pommels would be “hafted-pommel” blades, which are often characterized by an artistic ornate pommel. These ornate pommels depict artistic representations of animals such as ravens, bears, and other wildlife that are Tlingit cultural subjects. The artistic complexity of Tlingit daggers would reach its climax in the early 19th century, as Tlingit smiths began to increasingly add more designs to their blades using copper for additional artistic details such as crests and scenes. These daggers were symbols of status and authority in Tlingit society, a more ornate weapon would garner respect from one’s peers and would be a respectable heirloom passed through generations of Tlingit. The introduction of firearms phased out the importance of the Tlingit dagger as an implementation of war, though they remained as a symbol of status.

Tlingit Helmets and Knives from the Saint Petersburg Museum

Prior to mercantile interactions with Europeans, copper was the primary metal used by Alaskan Indigenous peoples. Ahtna Athabascan peoples of the Alaskan copper river controlled much of the copper trade, forcing the Tlingit to develop long-standing trade relations with the Anthabascan. In Tlingit oral tradition, iron was first discovered as “drift iron” from a shipwreck, and was then used for in their metallurgical endeavors. When trade began in earnest with Europeans one English captain named George Dixon wrote on the high standards held by the Tlingit in regard to their metal, stating that they would deal only with iron pieces ranging from 8 to 14 inches. In 1786, Jean-Francois de Galoup the Comte de La Perouse, wrote that the Tlingit had; “No great desire for anything but iron… Everyone had a dagger of it (iron) suspended from the neck.”

Tattoos and Body Piercings of the Tlingit

Clockwise from left: A Tlingit woman dressed for potlatch with copper septum ring, a Nakoaktok chief with copper septum ring and an armload of copper, an Inuit woman from Nunivak with beaded septum and beaded labrets.

Both sexes among adults and children above the age of 8 belonging to the higher classes wore some kind of earlobe ornament. Popular among the Tlingit were ornaments made of halitosis shells, copper, wood, and bone which were shaped to assume different geometrical forms. The earrings of men were known as “Dis Yar Kuku”, a half moon shaped earring that would represent a variety of different animals and patterns.  As the Tlingit became familiar with metal working and materials such as silver, they tended to use older ornaments of bone and wood with decreasing frequency. The Tlingit dead were properly dressed and given a nose ring called a "tunás".

The Tlingit traditionally painted their faces with colors of white, black, and red which with traditional methods can remain on the body for months on end. These body paints protected the body from the elements in the winter seasons, guarding against snow blindness, while additionally being used in the summer seasons to ward off gnats and mosquitoes. More complicated body-paints were created through the mixing of fungi, ash, roots, clays, and charcoal while for temporary purposes Tlingit would simply rely on charcoal. Black was commonly used as a marking of death, anger, sorrow, and war, and it was not uncommon for Tlingit to blacken the face with charcoal markings in the event of insult or conflict.

Tattooing, or Kuh Karlh “Mark” to the Tlingit, was largely developed by the Haida peoples who then introduced the practice to Tlingit that lived in closer proximity to them. French explorer La Perouse writes in 1799;“I saw no appearance of tattooing except on the arms of some women.” However, tattooing still held high cultural significance in Tlingit society and would be a marker of being a member of higher status families and households. Slaves were prohibited from being tattooed. The operation was also expensive, requiring the individual being tattooed to pay the artist, almost always a woman, in blankets and food. The process involved the passing of a needle, bone or metal, with blue-black stained sinew beneath the skin to create the necessary designs and motifs. The young girls of the families and clans of the Tlingit would often be tattooed at great potlatches.

Totem Poles

Tlingit Artist, Tommy Joseph, carves a totem pole for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History

The introduction of iron allowed for a greater proliferation of totem poles, with Tlingit villages reportedly having far more totem poles by the early 1800s and numerous Tlingit families possessing large poles in front of their homes. The totem pole could not be read like a book, knowledge of the stories and legends was required beforehand by the observer before they could understand the specific meaning of the assemblage of symbols and characters on the pole. Crests and totemic symbols provided context to the reader, and based upon the appearance and patterns of the characters, the reader could glean what the meaning of the totem was. In the totemic tradition, the two principal figures are the Raven and the Wolf, with the Raven appearing with great regularity among the Tlingit. In many Tlingit and other stories in the Northwest, the Raven is a central protagonist; having stolen the sun, the waters, and the fish in order to create and provide for the lands of the Tlingit.

Totem poles also fulfilled the role of showing off the power of a ruler or family. Tlingit chiefs would erect vividly designed and colored totem poles in order to commemorate their achievements as chief, as well as showing of his social status and wealth. In anticipation of great Potlatches, some years in the making, wealthy Tlingit would commission craftsmen for the creation of some of the largest and most vivid totem poles in order to commemorate the event.

War

Tlingit War in the American Northwest

Re-Enactment of Two Warriors at the Ksan Historical Village

Wooden slat armor and Tlingit dagger made of imported steel-Peabody Museum, Harvard University

The Tlingit, Haida, and Eastern Aleuts produced some of the best warriors in the Northwest, with these tribes often engaging in battle against one another in order to procure slaves and material resources. The Tlingit were often at odds with the Haida and Tshimians in the south, Chugach, and sometimes the Alutiiq in the North. In order to defend their families and local communities, as there did not exist any kind of central government that could levy protection, individual groups of Tlingit warriors would band together for defensive and offensive actions. The war season for the majority of the groups in the Northwest, including the Tlingit, was the month of July (Tlexa). July was a time of favorable weather, allowing for armed disputes to be settled and for Potlatches to be held.

The warrior of the Tlingit was protected by a dense wooden helmet, in addition to a neck protector and visor to protect the warrior’s face. Furthermore, the warrior wore linens and a leather jacket beneath wooden slat armor, which would be sometimes vividly painted with Tlingit aesthetic motifs. With the introduction of the musket into theTlingit world, Tlingit armorers added a layer of leather over the armor in order to protect the wearer from musket balls. Warriors of the Tlingit carried with them their iconic knives which they wore over their shoulder, in addition to this they carried spears, bows, and beginning in the 18th and 19th century they carried European muskets as well.

The Role of Spirits and Shaman in War

Shaman were very influential and important figures in Tlingit warfare, engaging in the direction of much of the necessary training, coordination, and preparation of the outgoing war party. The Shaman would direct engagements from a defensible or hidden position, one example being that the Tlingit Shaman would position themselves in a canoe during battle and cover and the top of the canoe in heavily reinforced mats so that military action. Spirits were integral in these hostile engagements, as the feuding warriors would give war calls pertaining to their crest spirit by invoking actions that the spirits would allow the warrior to take or even actions that the spirit itself would take against the enemy of the warrior. This back and forth between the warring parties would continue in order to incite fear in either side, and could at times settle the engagement without blood being shed.

References

1. Emmons, G. T., and De Frederica Laguna. The Tlingit Indians. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1991.
2. Kan, Sergei. Sharing our knowledge: The Tlingit and their coastal neighbors. S.l.: UNIV OF NEBRASKA PRESS, 2015.
3. Miller, Polly. Lost heritage of alaska: The adventure and art of the Alaskan Coastal Indians. Cleveland, 1968.
4. Oberg, Kalervo. The social economy of the Tlingit Indians. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1980.
5. Olson, Wallace M. The Tlingit: An introduction to their culture and history. Auke Bay, AK: Heritage Research, 2004.
6. Tlingit : alte indianische Kunst aus Alaska. Zürich : Museum Rietberg, 2001.
7. The Tlingit Indians in Russian America, 1741–1867 . By Andrei V.Grinev. Translated by Richard L. Bland and Katerina G. Solovjova.(Lincoln and London: University of NebraskaPress, 2005.