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

All four groups were composed of clans, and married outside their own group. Children traced their lineage and acquired names from their mother, not their father. The children inherited all rights through their mother, including the use of the clan fishing, hunting and gathering land, and the right to use the clan crest on totem poles, houses, clothing, and ceremonial regalia.

Traditional ceremonies were and are still essential and important to the Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people’s cultural identity. The Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian are known for a ceremony called the “potlatch”, a formal ceremony including a feast. An Eyak village, included two potlatch houses, each with an outdoor post topped with the Eagle or Raven. Haida feasts, a less formal but similar event, were common when debt was paid to another clan.

High-ranking Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian clans or individuals were expected to offer potlatches. However, a potlatch could be given by a commoner who could raise his position or that of his children by doing so. Potlatches were held for many occasions: a funeral or memorial potlatch honoring the dead; witness and validation of payment of a debt; the completion of a new house; completion and naming of clan regalia; a wedding; naming of a child; erection of a totem pole; or to rid the host of shame. Potlatches might last days and would include feasting, speeches, singing and dancing. Guests witness and validate the events and are paid with gifts during the ceremony. In potlatches, there would also be a feast; however, a feast does not necessarily constitute a potlatch.

Regalia worn at potlatches included the Chilkat and Raven’s Tail woven robes, painted tanned leather clothing, tunics, leggings, moccasins, ground squirrel robes, red cedar ropes, masks, rattles, and frontlets. Drums, rattles, whistles, paddles, and staffs were also used at potlatches. Only clan regalia named and validated at a potlatch could be used for these formal gatherings. Chilkat robes were made of mountain goat wool and cedar warps. The Chilkat weaving style is the only weaving that can create perfect circles. The Nass River Tsimshian are credited with originating the Chilkat weaving technique, which subsequently spread throughout the region. The Raven’s tail robe was made of mountain goat wool. Some of the headpieces contained frontlets decorated with sea lion whiskers and ermine. In later years, robes were made of blankets, typically obtained from the Hudson Bay trading company, and adorned with glass beads, mother-of-pearl, dentalium, and abalone shells.

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

Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Native American history - page 1

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