TLINGIT

northernmost Indians of the North Pacific Coast of North America, inhabiting the islands and coastal lands of southern Alaska from Yakutat Bay to Cape Fox. They were speakers of the Tlingit language, which is believed to be related to Athabascan. They were divided into 14 territorial groups, or tribes. According to tradition, some of their ancestors came from the south; others migrated from the interior. Tlingit groups were organized into twofold divisions, or moieties, each individual being assigned at birth according to his mother's affiliation. Moieties were subdivided into clans, groups whose members traced their relationship to a legendary common ancestor. The basic social unit, however, was the lineage of people related through maternal descent. The lineage was usually politically independent, each lineage having its own chief, with no overall tribal authority. Lineages might cooperate, as in war, but there was no compulsion to do so. During the historic period there was a tendency for tribes consisting of one or more lineages to consolidate into unified villages, but formerly each lineage probably had its own village. Each lineage owned and exploited lands of economic importance and functioned as the basic ceremonial unit. Tlingit economy was based on fishing, with salmon caught by harpoons, nets, and traps the main source of food. The Tlingit also hunted sea, and sometimes land, mammals. Wood was the primary material for manufacture and was used for houses, canoes, dishes, utensils, and other objects. Large permanent houses were built near good fishing grounds and safe landing places for canoes, often along the beaches of a bay sheltered from the tides. The houses were occupied only in winter; during the summer, inhabitants scattered for fishing and hunting. Tlingit potlatches (q.v.), the ceremonial distributions of gifts, marked a cycle of rituals mourning the death of a chief. See also Haida; Tsimshian.