Tlingit art was highly developed, and it was coveted by Westerners for its beauty and craftsmanship.
United by a common language and a culture, members of this society are divided into two groups, or moieties: the Eagles and the Ravens. Every member of the Tlingit nation is born with the absolute right to one or the other.
These moieties are further divided into clans, which are in turn subdivided into house groups. The term moiety is a word meaning ’half’. Each moiety also includes many clans. The clan was the major traditional unit of social, political, ceremonial identity and interaction, but this system has weakened in the past one hundred years.
The Tlingit was primarily a fisherman, sea hunter and canoeman. Living at the edge of the tide, they looked for the water for their food. They hunted on land and sea. The primary tools used in the hunt were bows and arrows, spears, slings, darts, daggers, clubs and harpoons. They also used all kinds of traps and snares.
Fish were procured with the aid of wood or stone dams or fish traps, as well as hooks, leisters, harpoon and nets and dipnets. Herring and candlefish, during spawning, were caught by distinctive rakes that consisted of wooden lath with teeth of bone or copper.
In spring, the Tlingit in the mainland coast hunt and trap bear, marten and mink. Those in the island shores hunt fur seals in April and May.
Tlingit Indians of Alaska
