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Haida, Eyak, Tlingit and Tsimshian Native American history - page 3 of 4

The Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people built their homes from the local red cedar, spruce, and hemlock timber and planks. The houses, roofed with heavy cedar bark or spruce shingles, ranged in size from 35’ to 40’ x 50’ to 100’, some Haida houses were as large as 100’ x 75’. All houses had a central fire pit and a centrally located smoke hole in the roof. A plank shield framed the smoke hole. Generally, a village population ranged from 300 to 500 people, with 20 to 50 individuals living in a house.

The main means of travel was by canoe. The people traveled regularly for seasonal subsistence activities and trading. The Haida canoes, made from a single cedar log as long as 60 feet, were a most highly prized commodity.

All four groups used animal fur, mountain goat wool, tanned skins and cedar bark for clothing. Hats made of spruce roots and cedar bark protected them from rain. After western trading, wool and cotton materials were common.

Various shaped baskets were used for cooking, storage, and for holding clams, berries, seaweed and water. The Tsimshian used baskets in their process of making ooligan oil, a special oil of smelt. Weaving techniques were also used to make mats, aprons, and hats. Mats woven of cedar bark were used as room dividers and floor mats, as well as to wrap the dead prior to burial or cremation. The inner cedar bark was pounded to make baby cradle padding, as well as clothing such as capes, skirts, shorts blankets and shawls.

The Eyak clan system was organized into two moieties or groups, the Raven and the Eagle. In the Tlingit clan system, one moiety was known as Raven or Crow, the other moiety as Eagle or Wolf varying with the time periods. Each moiety included many clans. The Haida also had two moieties, Eagle and Raven, and similarly many clans within each moiety. The Tsimshian had phratries, four groups instead of two and each represented by a crest: Killer whale or Blackfish, Wolf, Raven and Eagle. Fireweed, Wolf, Raven and Eagle represented the Gitksan Tsimshian.

No central government existed. Each village and each clan house resolved its differences through traditional customs and practices; there were no organized gatherings for discussions of national policy. Decisions affecting clan members of an individual village or house were made at the clan, village or house level. societies were divided into high-ranking individuals and families, commoners and slaves, usually captives from war raids on other villages. Family members arranged marriages.

• Athabascans,
• Yup'ik and Cup'ik,
• Inupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik people,
• Aleut and Alutiiq peoples,
• Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people.

Tsimshian, Eyak, Tlingit and Haida Native American history - page 4

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