The Tlingit people have lived on the coast and islands of what is now southeastern Alaska since time immemorial. Tlingit society is organized into clans, which follow maternal descent. Fishing, gathering, and hunting were central to historic Tlingit lifeways – they used salmon, shellfish, seals, berries, deer, and other food sources. They used every part for different purposes, not wasting anything. The Tlingit also had many uses for cedar trees, from houses, to totems, canoes, and baskets. Canoes were one of the main modes of transport for the Tlingit and enabled them to travel and trade not only amongst each other but also with neighboring peoples north and south along the Pacific coast.

The two Tlingit people in this photograph wear elaborate painted and beaded tunics. The man (left) wears a tall hat topped with rings which signify the number of potlatches he has given. He holds a painted paddle with a fringe of deer hoof rattles. The woman (right) wears a nose ring and a bear claw headdress. She carries a crescent-shaped object painted with a raven design. Both individuals wear face paint. The woman is identified as Kaw-claa in another photograph in the museum's collection. Potlatches are traditional feasts involving extensive gift-giving as a show of power and wealth. Potlatches are a traditional part of many Northwest Coast Indigenous cultures.

Caption on image: "Natives in full potlatch dancing custome [sic]. Copyright 1906 by Case & Draper."
The name of photographer Frank Nowell is embossed on the lower right corner of the image. Nowell likely copied the original Case & Draper photograph.
SHS category: Alaska - Indians

Caption information source: "Our History," Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, retrieved from http://www.ccthita.org/about/history/index.html