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.

This image shows a group of Indigenous women selling baskets, beaded clothing, and other goods near the Treadwell gold mines. The Treadwell mines were located on Douglas Island, across the channel from Juneau. The land around Juneau is the traditional home of the Auke and Taku tribes of the Tlingit people. In 1881, settlers and gold miners displaced the Auke and Taku people in order to establish the Treadwell gold mines. After the mines opened, Indigenous women came from nearby villages to sell wares to the gold miners and tourists. The baskets for sale in this photograph are Tlingit in style.

Caption on image: "Indian merchants at Treadwell Mines"