Native Americans: The Tlingit Clan

Though not exactly a major topic of the current chapters, the topic of Native Americans in the reading has intrigued me, and I've been doing some research on my own Native American background, specifically the clan I am descended from, known as the Tlingit tribe. I thought I'd share my findings. 

The Tlingit tribe (pronounced 'Clink it', like clinking glasses together) lives mainly in Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. 

There are two different moieties in the Tlingit, Raven and Eagle/Wolf, with a number of clans falling under each category. In the past, marriages were mainly between people of different moieties, but with the decline in the clan's population, nowadays it is more common for Tlingit members marry inside their own moieties/clans/tribes, or even to marry Dléit Khaa, also known as 'white people'.

The Tlingit kinship structure is matrilineal, and the father's role was relatively minor compared to the mother's. The mother would raise the children, and her brother, the children's uncle, would provide a strong, disciplinary role. In this way, the father was usually seen as kind and playful while the uncle was feared and awed by the children. Grandparents, since they usually had minimal roles in the raising of their own children, generally loved to dote upon their grandchildren, the extent to which is exemplified in the story of Raven stealing the sun, moon, and stars from his grandfather.*


A little personal history: My great great great grandmother, Rose Sylvester (her name was originally Zith Tin, but was changed when she married a white man from Seattle), was part of the Tlingit tribe that lived in Wrangell, Alaska. The Tlingit's name for themselves is Lingít, meaning "People of the Tides". The Wrangell clan is called the Shtax'heen Kwaan, or the 'Bitter Water Tribe'. 


In Tlingit society, many things are considered property that would not be labeled as such in other societies of the time. For example, property didn't only consist of land, rivers, totem poles, berry patches, canoes, and other physical property items, but they included names, stories, songs, dances, and even landscape features. 

Stories, songs, and dances, specifically, are considered property of the clans that created them. Some stories/songs/dances are considered universal, such as the creation stories of the Raven cycle, (see here: http://www.native-languages.org/tlingit-legends.htm) while others were not allowed to be shared without a clan member's permission. Any particular song or dance created or written with a serious intent, be it a love song or song of mourning, is considered the sole property of the creator and may not be shared or replicated without explicit permission.

Names, too, are property, as most names are inherited from ancestors and relatives, and so are considered very important and are carefully defended. In some cases, clans that were owed money from another clan would 'steal' the name of the clan that owed them money as a form of shaming until the debt was paid off.

The Tlingit principle of Woosh yáa awudaéi or “Respect For Each Other", is one of the most important principles of the Tlingit, and so 'stealing' any kind property from others unjustly is a very high offense.

I thought this information would be helpful to anyone wishing to study more social aspects of history, and this gives a good perspective as to Native American life before and after white settlers arrived. In fact, one article I read detailed that most of the conflicts between white settlers and Native American tribes were due to cultural differences and the inability of white settlers to understand the ways of Native American life. The opposite also applied, but less so, as Native Americans were happy leaving the settlers to their own devices and continuing their lives as they had in the past. The white settlers were not so placid, however, and so we have the conflicts we've read about in previous chapters.

Helpful Sites for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_Tlingit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlingit_people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Tlingit#Creation_story_and_the_Raven_Cycle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlingit_language

*The Theft of Daylight
"The most well recognized [Tlingit] story of is that of the Theft of Daylight, in which Raven steals the stars, the moon, and the sun from Naas-sháki Yéil or Naas-sháki Shaan, the Raven (or Old Man) at the Head of the Nass River. The Old Man is very rich and owns three legendary boxes that contain the stars, the moon, and the sun; Raven wants these for himself (various reasons are given, such as wanting to admire himself in the light, wanting light to find food easily, etc.). Raven transforms himself into a hemlock needle and drops into the water cup of the Old Man's daughter while she is out picking berries. She becomes pregnant with him and gives birth to him as a baby boy. The Old Man dotes over his grandson, as is the wont of most Tlingit grandparents. Raven cries incessantly until the Old Man gives him the Box of Stars to pacify him. Raven plays with it for a while, then opens the lid and lets the stars escape through the chimney into the sky. Later Raven begins to cry for the Box of the Moon, and after much fuss the Old Man gives it to him but not before stopping up the chimney. Raven plays with it for a while and then rolls it out the door, where it escapes into the sky. Finally Raven begins crying for the Box of the Sun, and after much fuss finally the Old Man breaks down and gives it to him. Raven knows well that he cannot roll it out the door or toss it up the chimney because he is carefully watched. So he finally waits until everyone is asleep and then changes into his bird form, grasps the sun in his beak and flies up and out the chimney. He takes it to show others who do not believe that he has the sun, so he opens the box to show them and then it flies up into the sky where it has been ever since." (Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Tlingit#Creation_story_and_the_Raven_Cycle)