Glacier Bay: Home to the Tlingit

Glacier Bay: Home to the Tlingit
The Tlinglit are located in the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. The Tlingit claim the land around the Yukatan south through the Alaskan Panhandle and the lakes of the Canadian interior. The Tlingit are a matrilineal society that developed in the temperate rainforest of the southeast Alaska coast and the Alexander Archipelago. An inland group, known as the Inland Tlingit, inhabits the far northwestern part of the province of British Columbia and the southern Yukon Territory in Canada.

October 24, 2015

Art is in the Eye of the Tlingit

     Dempsey Bob, a local Tlingit artist, said "There are rules in our art, and you have to know them so well that you can make them your own. Within these rules we have to create everything, and that's the hardest part," when asked about the art of his ancestors. Similar among all Native tribes throughout the United States, the art each tribe created meant something specific to their culture and way of life; the Tlingit were no different. What they did with their art, however, slightly differed from how other tribes use theirs, typically for ceremony or clothing, No with the Tlingit, all artwork was used because their artwork was the bowls, plates, silverware, essentially anything that would be used for food, eating, drinking, or daily life. High society Tlingit were found to even own fish hooks that, like all other artistic items, could be carved, painted or even engraved with various materials although they mainly used sliver and gold even though totem poles were the only things to ever get noticed by today's society.  
     Unbeknownst among culture in the United States today is what totem poles actually symbolized to the tribes where the clans lived and survived. Totems were used to tell stories of their religion, family, ancestors, anything that the people felt was important enough for future generations to know. Even with the threat of extinction from foreigners, the Tlingit, similar to other tribes, embraced what was brought to help with enhancing their work; like using metal tools to carve more elaborate designs into cedar to create their totem poles that could range up to thirty to forty feet high. The reason the Tlingit's are not specified from other Pacific North tribes is because the tribes would intermingle consistently because the people would not always marry from the same tribe. This is why many totem poles have either an eagle or raven within them when the totems represent a specific family. All people, specifically the Tlingit tribe, were divided into two distinct families-the eagle and the raven. It was tribe law that a person had to marry an eagle if they were a raven and vice versa. The totem pole tells of these stories with the animals carved within the wood, the most important animal being of the bottom of the totem pole in most cases since the totem pole is read from the bottom up.
     "The Tlingits were originally expert stone carvers, copper workers, wood workers, weavers, and basket weavers...The men [also] made dugout canoes out of red cedar." (Kaiper 1992) These canoes were just as important to their culture as the totem poles were. On average, canoes that were used as war canoes were typically "...fifty feet long and able to carry forty or fifty men," however, "...smaller eight to twenty foot canoes," that were usually used for hunting and fishing. (Kaiper 1992) An interesting add on that the tribe would make for the war canoes was that of their "tribal insignia" that would tell others fighting them who they belonged to.  Similar to that of the totem pole, there was one person dubbed as "master carver" who would have a high knowledge and understanding of the structure of a canoe. Unlike the totem pole, this person could be the chief and all men were taught how to build a decent canoe. Building a canoe, and a quite excellent one at that, was to teach the men patience that they could later use while hunting. If the men were to speed up the process of the canoe by not making it the correct thickness, or hollowing it out enough that it still floats and has a big enough area on the inside. 
    Canoes and totem poles, however popular they are in today's society, was only a small piece of the broad expanse that
is their "art". Technically the Tlingit were various smaller tribes all put under the Tlingit name, and it individual "mini-tribe" specialized in an array of things. One small group in particular, the Chilkat, were known for making the best clothing, and blankets, out of all of the Tlingit tribe. This group would develop these articles for various things: daily life, rituals, and seasonal. Without this tribe, the blankets and winter clothing worn specifically during the colder months, would not be available to the rest of the existing tribe. Typically the designs on the clothing and blankets were decorated with the tribes insignia, as well as, the individual persons, family or house (eagle and raven).

Kaiper, Dan. and Nan Kaiper. 1992. Tlingit, Their Art, Culture, and Legends. 3rd ed. Blaine: Washington

N.p. N.d. "Indians.org" Retrieved October 24, 2015.

N.p. N.d. "American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved October 24, 2015.


1 comment:

  1. After learning about the art of the Tlingit makes me feel as if I need to improve on my artistic abilities. The amount of time and creativity that goes into even a spoon is beyond my physical comprehension. My longest project was three months and it doesn't even compare to their blankets! They only use three-four different colors, and yet, they create such a variety of physical artwork. Never have I ever done anything as beautiful as these people, and I feel as if everyone could learn something from these people.
    Not to mention that each image has a meaning or story that applies to them as a community. To me as an artist, that means so much more because when I do my artwork, each one has a special meaning to me. If there isn't one, or I can't make it have a meaning, then the art isn't as beautiful and it reflects within the piece itself. It's interesting to see how something as magnificent as a totem pole, (which doesn't mean the same to tourists as it does to the Tlingit,) can look so intricate, but be so simplistic-simply because they take the time to do it and make it special. To see how each color represent a certain part of them is amazing in, and of, itself! Plus the women are the ones to create the paint by chewing fish eggs and then mixing them with all natural dyes.
    To simply put, I love their art! I love the creativity, the depth, the color schemes, meaning, values, everything! It's all so intricate and interlocking with one another that if your remove even the smallest of details, it changes everything. I personally believe that people don't notice anything beyond the object to see the Tlingit for who they are. Their art is an extension of them, they are their art, and their art is them. Without being able to share it in these ways, they would lose a piece of their identity. I love their art and I hope others will come to love it for its depth as well.

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