Encyclopedia of World CulturesVolume I - NORTH AMERICA - T potx

334 Tahitan Tahitan The Tahltan (Western Nahane), an Athapaskan-speaking group, live in the upper basin of the Stikine River and in neighboring areas of northern British Columbia. They numbered 793 in 1978. See Nahane Bibliography MacLachlan, Bruce B. 'Tahltan." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 6, Subarctic, edited by June Helm, 458-468. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Tanaina ETHNONYMS: Knaiakhotana Dena'ina, Tnaina, Kenaitze, Kenai, Orientation Identification. The Tanaina are an Athapaskan-speaking American Indian group located in Alaska. Tanaina synonyms are variations of 'Dena'ina" (people) or "Kenaitze." The latter may refer only to the people of Kenai Peninsula, but frequently it is extended to include all Tanaina. Location. Tanaina are located in the Cook Inlet and adjacent areas of southwestern Alaska between 590 and 63° N and 148° and 157° W. Traditionally and today they comprise three subdivisions, or "societies," based on cultural similari- ties and on levels of interaction and social interchange including intermarriage. The Kenai subdivision occupied the southeastern shore of Cook Inlet including the Kenai Penin- sula, except for the Pacific Ocean side. The Susitna subdivision encompassed the Susitna, Matanuska, and Yentna river valleys including the area now occupied by the modem city of Anchorage and the northwest shore of Cook Inlet. The Inte- rior subdivision was northwest of Cook Inlet. Today, some Tanaina are still found on the Stony River, but the Mul- chatna villages have been abandoned. The Lake Clark (Kijik) population has moved south to Sixmile Lake (Nondalton). Iliamna Lake has one Tanaina village (Pedro Bay). Only Tyonek Villag~e remains on the northwest shore of Cook Inlet. Tanaina still reside on the Kenai Peninsula, up the Susitna, Matanuska, and Yentna rivers, and around the city of Anchorage. The region is mountainous or hilly with many lakes, rivers, and streams. Boreal spruce forest with some cot- tonwood and birch stands on the east shift to taiga at the far western perimeter. The climate is mild in summer with a dry early and wet late period. Winters are cold, reaching -20° F. Demography. Exact population figures for Tanaina are especially difficult to calculate. According to my estimations, precontact Tanaina must have numbered at least four thousand to five thousand. After severe epidemics of the late 1800s, the figure apparently dropped to about fifteen hundred. Modem census figures do not segregate Tanaina ethni- cally, and many villages are multiethnic. A rough estimate would be at least fifteen hundred. Linguistic Affiliation. Tanaina speak an Athapaskan language with two dialects: Upper Inlet (Susitna subdivision) and Lower Inlet. Lower Inlet dialect is subdivided into Outer Inlet, Iliamna, and Interior. Today, all except the elderly speak English, and some young people speak no Tanaina. In recent years a resurgence of interest has stimulated its teaching again. History and Cultural Relations Tanaina entered their current location, presumably from the interior, in prehistoric times. Russians discovered Alaska in 1741, but the Tanaina's first European contact was with Capt. James Cook in 1778. They had, however, received a few European goods earlier through trade. In spite of opposition, the Russians were able to establish a post on Kodiak Island as the base of their operations in 1784 (after 1799, the Russian- American Company mercantile monopoly) and from that post managed to establish other trading posts. Some Tanaina intermarriage occurred with Russians, but most was with Koniag Eskimos (from Kodiak Island) and Aleuts who worked for the company. The resulting population of Creoles was most often used by the company to trade with other Tanaina groups. As a result, cultural contact was not purely Russian, but was mediated through Eskimo and Aleut cultural perspectives. Western contact was less severe than in other Alaskan groups, and Tanaina society tended to flourish within its own cultural milieu as a result of Russian trade inte- grated within the already existing trading complex. With the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867, the Russian trade monopoly was replaced by independent competing traders, but there was little in the way of U.S. government control. Native populations were neglected until well into the twentieth century. Local education is available today at least through the eighth grade, and children may complete high school at boarding schools or in cities such as Anchorage. A few take advantage of university or trade school training. Following the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, twelve regional corporations were established to represent natives throughout the state. The Kenai and Susitna subdivisions joined the Cook Inlet Region, Inc.; those near Iliamna Lake affiliated with the Bristol Bay Native Corporation. Ahtna territory abuts the Tanaina on the east and northeast. Culturally and linguistically similar, they share a hunting region west of Talkeetna along the Susitna River. Tanaina feel a close relation with Ahtna in part because they believe they share clan affiliations. To the north and northwest are the Kolchan and Ingalik. To the east and southeast are Pacific Eskimo groups. West of the Tanaina are the southwestern mainland Eskimos. Tanaina settlements near Eskimo and Athapaskan groups were active with them in trading and intermarriage as well as raiding. Tanaina 335 Settlements Tanaina villages were located on or near streams and rivers with salmon runs. There were usually at least two lineage houses in a settlement and frequently ten or more. During pe- riods of conflict, a village might be hidden in the woods to guard against attack from enemies. A village population ranged from around fifty to one hundred or more. In spring and summer, people moved into smaller camps-groups of small nuclear or extended family houses or skin tents either at a lake mouth or spread out along a lake or river shore to facili- tate salmon fishing. In late prehistoric and historic times winter houses were semisubterranean (up to about three feet deep), lineage-owned structures. There was one large room about twenty feet square with a central fireplace. Each nuclear family had a small compartment for sleeping, and rooms might be attached as sweatlodges or menstrual huts. Summer houses at fish camps and in hunting areas were small, wood, above-ground houses or skin tents for one or two nuclear families. During the second half of the nineteenth century, houses began to be constructed above ground in log-cabin style, and at summer fishing camps commercial canvas tents were often used. Some Tanaina, particularly those in interior villages, continue today to move to "fish camp" in the summer. Winter houses today are of a small European style and usually made of milled lumber with wood floors. Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Tanaina have traditionally been hunters, gatherers, and fishermen. Fish, particularly salmon, has been the basis of the subsistence economy both prehistorically and today. The abundance of salmon during the summer runs and fish preservation techniques made possible permanent winter villages in most areas. Freshwater fish were also exploited. Seal hunting was conducted both at Iliamna Lake and in Cook Inlet. Moose, caribou, bear, and mountain sheep were important resources, but small mammals such as porcupine, squirrel, and hares were also significant. Wild berries were abundant in summer, other wild plants were gathered where available. Fur-bearing animals were trapped for personal use and trade. These subsistence activities persist today, particularly in more remote villages, and many villagers maintain small vegetable gardens. Fish canneries opened after 1880 and monopolized the best salmon-fishing streams. Tanaina began to work for salmon canneries after 1915 and became directly involved in commercial fishing in Bristol Bay and Cook Inlet after 1940; today many obtain a major part of their income from this activity. Game and fur-bearing animals became more scarce from overhunting, but fur trapping still provides supplemen- tal income for some, although its importance has declined. A few own small planes and make commercial flights locally; others guide vacationing hunters and fishers, work for government installations, or take wage employment in larger towns and cities. The only domestic animal is the dog. It was used for packing and hunting in prehistoric times. Teams of sled dogs were maintained until the mid-twentieth century, and some people still use them. Trade. Tanaina, like other southern Alaskan societies, maintained extensive intra- and intertribal trade and trade fairs in precontact times. Trade items included furs, caribou skins, native copper, porcupine quills, sea mammal products, dentalium shells, and slaves. After contact, the Russians also supplied dentalium shells from southeastern Alaska as well as glass beads, and metal products, especially iron. During the first half of the nineteenth century, Tanaina began to trade some of their furs to Russians, and trade, especially between the Kenai Tanaina and the Russian-American Company, increased. When Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867, the assets of the Russian-American Company were as- sumed by the Alaska Commercial Company. The price of furs dropped considerably at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1911, the Alaska Commercial Company sold its interests in the area to private traders. Since that time, the fur trade has become almost moribund. Industrial Arts. Aboriginally, stone flaking and grinding were the techniques for manufacturing cutting and piercing weapons. Hammered copper was also used for arrowheads and knives. Bone and antler were used for tools as well. The. sinew-backed bow and arrows and the spear and spear thrower were the primary weapons. Skins were worked into clothes and foot gear. Basketry, birchbark, wood, and hide provided containers. Birchbark canoes, moose-skin boats, and sealskin open and decked-over boats similar to the Es- kimo umiak and kayak were used for water transportation. For winter use, snowshoes were made of birch wood, with bear- or moose-skin webbing (babiche). Sleds were manufactured from wood and rawhide. Today, most goods are com- mercially made, but some people continue to make skin boots, sleds, and snowshoes. Locally made wood skiffs have replaced earlier watercraft. Division of Labor. In prehistoric and historic times, men hunted large game, trapped and fished, and manufactured weapons and tools. Women snared small animals, split and dried fish, prepared other game, collected berries and plants, prepared skins, manufactured clothing, embroidered with porcupine quills, and made some containers. Today men are most active in commercial fishing from boats, and women usually tend commercial set nets and work in canneries. At home, men and sometimes women hunt and trap. Women set and tend subsistence fish nets, as well as split, dry, and smoke salmon. Both sexes are involved in freshwater fishing. Men continue to manufacture sleds, boats, and snowshoes and are most active in trapping, although women assist in the last. Men are usually the pilots and sport hunting/fishing guides. Women sew, prepare and preserve food, and continue to act both as midwives and village first aid practitioners. Land Tenure. Aboriginally, land use was based on clan- lineage affiliation. In some areas, lineages had fishing rights at specific locales along a stream. Trap lines have never been registered; a person has the right to trap or hunt in an area he or his family has consistently used. Except for Tyonek, on Cook Inlet, no Tanaina land has been a reservation. People could, however, register a house or homesite but few did so. After the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, village sites were established and individuals allowed to claim specific tracts of land if they could establish that they are at least one- quarter Alaskan native. 336 Tanaina Kinship Kin Groups and Descent. Tanaina were organized into moieties and between eleven and eighteen matrilineal exogamous clans. Clans often cross-cut societal and language boundaries. Today, some clans remain active during funeral potlatches and influence the selection of marriage partners. Kinship Terminology. Twentieth-century terminology probably reflects changes over the last two hundred years of European contact as well as the geographic distances between groups. Iliamna dialect uses Iroquois cousin terms and bifurcate merging avuncular (first ascending generation) terms. The Inland dialect uses Crow cousin and bifurcate merging avuncular terms; Upper Inlet is Iroquois and bifurcate collateral; Outer Inlet dialect is Hawaiian cousin and mixed avuncular terms. Marriage and Family Marriage. Marriage was moiety and clan exogamous in the past and to some extent today. Cross-cousin marriage, especially of a male to his father's sister's daughter, was preferred, but there was no strict rule regarding village endogamy. Bride- price or -service and polygyny were practiced. Residence was matrilocal in some instances, but particularly after wealth and prestige became significant, avunculocality was practiced. After about 1900, neolocality and bilaterality with some pat- rilineal emphasis began to appear. Divorce was simple, but apparently not common in traditional times. Domestic Unit. By the nineteenth century, the residence unit was a lineage segment headed by a 'richman" composed of two or more generations of matrilineally related males and their families. Today, the nuclear family predominates. Inheritance. Inheritance was matrilineal with regard to affiliation and clan property, but personal property was often destroyed or placed in the grave. Recently, except for certain kinds of clan paraphernalia, inheritance has become primarily bilateral within the nuclear family. Socialization. Children raised in the extended family were socialized by the residence group, but people were generally permissive. Ridicule was a common means of highlighting un- acceptable behavior. Sociopolitical Organization Social Organization. Tanaina social organization was based on ranking, which was most prominent in the Kenai subdivision and in other villages near the coast. As one moved inland, rank became less crystallized. There were two ranks: richmen and commoners; slaves were outside the system. Women seem always to have held positions equal to men of the same rank and could accumulate wealth in their own right. Each village was composed of one or more local lineage groups of clans. Each lineage was represented by a richman (highest ranking man of the lineage) who was aided by a group of male relatives of his lineage, usually residing avuncu- locally either within the lineage house or in individual houses nearby. The richman was responsible for the economic, political, and social well-being of his lineage. He led trading expe. ditions and maintained trade partners in other Tanaina, In- dian, and Eskimo villages. Trade partners not only ensured amicable trade but were also used to negotiate peace between warring villages. After the Russian entry into the fur trade, influential men, usually the most prominent richmen, were ap- pointed as "chiefs" to act as liaisons between the Russians and Tanaina and to lead trading expeditions for the Russians. The added wealth that flowed to selected richmen enhanced their prestige further. With the fur price collapse of 1897, the richmen lost the economic prestige base, and the rank system became less important. Slavery was practiced in late precontact times, with Indian and Eskimo slaves acquired through raiding or trading and retained by richmen. Political Organization. Each Tanaina village was politically autonomous. Leadership, which rested primarily within the lineage, involved authority rather than power. Richmen and elders held primary leadership and decision-making positions, but people were generally free to dissent if they wished. Women and men had complementary authority, but it was related to inherited wealth, prestige, and rank rather than merely gender. Although autonomous, each village maintained close ties with nearby villages with ties based on marriage, presence of the same clans, and trade. Social Control. The leading richmen of a village acted as authorities. Gossip was and still is one of the most effective means of social control. Ostracism, revenge killing, beating, or paying wergild (compensation) could be used if lesser measures failed. If harm occurred within a clan or moiety, it was for the injured person or a close relative to seek revenge. For problems between clans or moieties, members of the ag- grieved kin unit took revenge. At times, this resulted in civil war; prisoners were ransomed back by their kin groups. Conflict. Tanaina conflicts, primarily raids, were village- specific rather than with an entire society. Occasionally conflicts were between Tanaina villages, but most were with neighboring Eskimo or other Indian villages. Thus, an alliance might exist between one Tanaina and one Eskimo village at the same time that the Tanaina village raided another Eskimo village. Minor conflict occurred between Russians and Tanaina during the early years of contact, but overall relations were comparatively amicable because of the economic advantages for both parties during the fur trade. Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Beliefs. The concept of a remote supreme deity living in the North Star may have preceded Russian contact. The world was filled with spirit powers. There was a close relationship between humans, animals, and the spirit realm; everyone had a familiar in which his or her soul could travel. A special alliance existed between humans and the highly respected bear; wolf was a brother who would come to the aid of a person who was lost and hungry. The world was peopled with spirits and quasi-spirits. The trickster, Raven, was the mythological creator. Harmful spirits in the woods hurt or kidnapped people and stole fish and other goods. Other woods and mountain spirits were benign in their relation to humans. Another category of quasi-spirits have reportedly been sighted by Eskimo, Tanaina, and European-Americans in recent years. One, called the "Hairy Man," is equivalent to the Sasquatch. Finally, the belief in luck and hunting magic persists in attenuated form. Offerings may be made at special locales for good luck, and magical songs sung to assist in hunting. Omens are believed to foretell the future, especially Tanana 337 potentially bad events. Russian Orthodox priests came into the Kenai area in 1794, but it was another thirty years before active missionization began in any locale. By the end of the nineteenth century priests had become accepted and actively attempted to wipe out shamanism. Some former shamans incorporated themselves into the church hierarchy as deacons. Most Tanaina today are nominally Russian Orthodox. Active missionization by more fundamentalist Protestant groups began after the turn of the twentieth century, and some have become aligned with that faction. Religious Practitioners. Shamans were the primary religious and medical practitioners. They often were wealthy, holding authority similar to richmen. They could be of either sex and received their calling in dreams. Although normally .good," assisting their people, they occasionally turned evil. Ceremonies. A first salmon ceremony was held at the beginning of fishing season. Girls at menarche were confined from forty days to a year during which time they were taught sewing and other women's skills and proper behavior. Pot- latches were originally held following a death, but later were held by richmen at trading and other times as a display of wealth to garner prestige. Arts. Singing and dancing at potlatches and the singing of magical songs in hunting were common. Clothing was elabo- rately decorated with porcupine quill embroidery, sometimes incorporating valuable dentalium shells. After contact, glass beads were worked into long belts of dentalium shells for use at potlatches. Animal and human figures were painted on such items as skin quivers. Some rock paintings may be attrib- uted to Tanaina. Medicine. The shaman, wearing a mask, used the spirit in a powerful doll to discern and remove the cause of illness. His long staff was also used to assist in driving out illness. Illness might be caused by soul loss or magical intrusion of objects. Helper spirits located lost souls; intrusive objects were sucked out. In addition, herbal medicines, potions, teas, and plant compresses were used by both shamans and lay people to ef- fect cures. Today, Western medicine is the primary recourse in illness. Trained nurses' aides and midwives are found in some villages, but serious illness requires travel to cities with hospitals. Death and Afterlife. At death, the "breath-soul" flew away, but the 'shadow-soul" might remain to be near friends or to take revenge. Eventually they journeyed to the lower world where they lived in a way similar to that on earth. Be- fore Christians introduced burial, the deceased was cremated and ashes were buried. At least by early contact times, over the grave a small house might be erected in which the deceased's personal goods were placed. Subsequently, food offerings were left. Members of the opposite (father's or spouse's) clan of the deceased took care of the funeral ar- rangements. Between forty days and a year following the death, a potlatch involving feasting and distribution of valued goods was given by the deceased's clan for the opposite clan in appreciation for assistance. At times, the deceased's spirit would return to relatives and disturb them, especially if he or she thought the potlatch inadequate. Although not yet documented specifically for the Tanaina, there is some indi- cation of a belief in reincarnation. Bibliography Fall, James A. (1981). "Patterns of Upper Inlet Tanaina Leadership, 1741-1918." Ph.D. diss., University of Wis- consin. Osgood, Cornelius (1937). The Ethnography of the Tanaina. Yale University Publications in Anthropology, no. 16. New Haven, Conn.: Department of Anthropology, Yale Univer- sity. Townsend, Joan B. (1965). 'Ethnohistory and Culture Change of the Iliamna Tanaina." Ph.D. diss., University of California. Townsend, Joan B. (1970). "The Tanaina of Southwestern Alaska: An Historical Synopsis." Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology 2:2-16. Townsend, Joan B. (1980). "Ranked Societies of the Alaskan Pacific Rim." In Alaskan Native Culture and History, edited by Y. Kotani and W. Workman, 123-156. Senri Ethnological Studies, no. 4. Osaka, Japan: National Museum of Ethno- logy. Townsend, Joan B. (1981). "Tanaina." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 6, Subarctic, edited by June Helm, 623-640. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. VanStone, James, and Joan B. Townsend (1970). Kijik: An Historic Tanaina Settlement. Fieldiana: Anthropology, vol. 59. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. JOAN B. TOWNSEND Tanana ETHNONYMS: Gens des Buttes, Tannin-kootchin, Tenan- kutchin, Tennankutchin, Tennan-tnu-kokhtana Orientation Identification. The Tanana are an American Indian group located in Alaska. The name "Tanana" is a corruption of the Tanana Athapaskan term Ten Dona' which refers to the Tanana River valley. Among Tanana Athapaskans the term used for the Tanana River proper is Tth'eetoo', meaning "straight water." The names cited in historical accounts reflect the term applied by neighboring Gwich'in ("Kutchin") Athapaskan groups of the Yukon River valley. The Tanana Athapaskans do not refer to themselves by this larger grouping, but rather by the individual band name, such as "Mentekhut'ana" (people who inhabit the Minto Lakes). Nowadays "Tanana" is a linguistic term used to refer to Atha- paskan-speaking people of the middle Tanana River and should not be confused with Koyukon-speaking Athapaskans 338 Tanana who reside at the village of Tanana situated along the middle Yukon River. Location. At contact the Tanana occupied and used the areas along the middle Tanana River between the Kantishna and Goodpaster rivers, the adjacent areas of the Tanana Low- lands and Minto Flats, as well as the surrounding hills of the Yukon-Tanana Upland north of the Tanana River and the foothills of the Alaska Range south of the Tanana River. This area is part of the boreal forest situated between 640 and 66° N and 144° and 150° W in central Alaska. Currently, most Tanana-speaking Athapaskans reside in the communities of Minto, Nenana, and Fairbanks. Demography. In the early 1980s the Tanana population numbered about 500-600, residing primarily in the native villages of Minto and Nenana and the urban center of Fair- banks. In 1910, Tanana Athapaskans totaled about 370 (Minto, Nenana, Chena, and Salcha). Linguistic Affiliation. The Tanana language is one of twenty-three Northern Athapaskan languages of the Atha- paskan family. At contact there were three dialects: Minto- Nenana, Chena, and Salcha-Goodpaster. Nowadays only the Minto-Nenana dialect is spoken. History and Cultural Relations Prehistoric evidence of human occupation in the area histori- cally occupied by the Tanana extends as far back as eleven thousand years ago at one of the oldest radiocarbon-dated sites in North America. Elsewhere in the area, there have been few archaeological investigations, and little is known of prehistory of the area or the late prehistoric period that might shed light on the precontact culture and origin of the Tanana. The Tanana language reflects contact with neighboring groups to the west, south, and southeast where the Upper Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, and Tanacross Atha- paskan languages, respectively, are spoken. Social contact with the Upper Koyukon and Tanacross speakers has per- sisted from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Di- rect contact with European-Americans dates from the mid- 1800s, first with the Russians who established a network of trading stations to the south and west and the English to the north and northeast. Contact with Americans was later when, after the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia, commercial activity and exploration expanded. Continuous contact among Tanana and European-Americans dates from the 1902 discovery of gold in the Fairbanks district and the sub- sequent intensification of mining at the core of the Tanana geographical area. Trading posts, roadhouses, telegraph stations, and commercial centers were established in the Tanana River valley; steamboats plied the Tanana River bringing goods and nonnative residents into the area. Furs were traded and dried salmon and cordwood became products of trade as dog teams and steamboats became central modes of transportation to supply and service mining operations and commercial activity. Episcopalian missionaries established churches, schools, and medical facilities in the area during the first twenty years of the twentieth century. By the 1950s, the Salcha and Chena bands were nearly extinct and members of the Nenana, Wood River, Toklat, and Minto bands became consolidated at the villages of Nenana and Minto along the Tanana River. This marked the shift from a mobile hunting and gathering band population to a semipermanent village population. Hunting, fishing, and gathering of local fish and wildlife resources, however, continue to play an important role in the village economies of Minto and Nenana. Settlements Aboriginally and in early contact times, Tanana Athapaskans traveled in small bands or extended family groups during the course of the year to harvest seasonally available fish and wildlife. Seasonal settlements were situated along salmon- bearing streams and at the mouths of major salmon-spawning streams during summer and early fall. Some bands occupied fishing settlements at the outlets of large lakes to harvest from the large migrations of whitefish during early summer and fall. During late fall and spring, families moved and set up seasonal camps from which they hunted caribou during their seasonal migrations. During winter families moved frequently, hunting moose and trapping fur animals. Some traveled to the foothills of the Alaska Range where they hunted sheep. The fishing stations were essentially semipermanent villages where family groups returned and the band joined together for ceremonial and religious activities. Around 1900 there were about eight semipermanent villages of the Tanana; most were situated along the Tanana or at the mouth of major tributary streams. Numerous seasonal and temporary camps were dispersed throughout the area along lakes and smaller streams and in the flats and foothills. Band size ranged from about fifty to one hundred persons. By 1950 the population resided in two year-round villages as it does today, with many members also residing in the urban center of Fair- banks. Aboriginal housing included the use of semipermanent log and sod houses and caribou- or moose-skin tents. Throughout the twentieth century, canvas tents and log houses have been used for shelter along with wood-frame houses. Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The Tanana were a hunting, fishing, and gathering society. They hunted large and small game of the boreal forest, including moose, caribou, bear, sheep, muskrat, beaver, ptarmigan, hare, grouse, porcupine, and waterfowl. Several species of salmon and whitefish were taken by a variety of methods that included traps, fences, gill nets, dip nets, and fish wheels for salmon. Other fish species taken included northern pike, bur- bot, sheepish, and longnose sucker. Berries, edible plants, and wood were gathered for use. Nowadays, nearly all of these same fish and wildlife resources continue to be harvested for subsistence. In 1984, the village of Minto had among the largest per capita harvest of wild foods in the state- 1,015 edible pounds per person. Since contact, fish and wildlife have been used in trade with European-Americans to obtain manufactured goods. Furs, dried salmon, and cordwood were used in trade and for acquiring cash. A mixed subsistence-cash economy is characteristic of present-day Tanana villages. Trapping, commercial salmon fishing, and wage employment, although all limited, are the primary means for earning cash. Tanana 339 Industrial Arts. Handicrafts include the manufacture of birchbark baskets, dog sleds, snowshoes, fur caps and boots, and various articles of beadwork for sale and exchange. Trade. Little is known of aboriginal trading practices, although an interregional trail network was clearly well devel- oped as evidenced in several historic accounts that reported the presence of imported manufactured items in advance of European-Americans in central Alaska. After contact, trading trips were made regularly by certain band members to posts along the Yukon River and near the mouth of the Cop- per River to the south. A native trade fair was held frequently at a site near the junction of the Tanana and Yukon rivers, although its antiquity is uncertain. Trading expeditions declined in the twentieth century as goods and products became available at stations and stores in the Tanana Valley proper. Division of Labor. Aboriginally, men were responsible for hunting, providing firewood, cooking food, and manufacture ing tools, snowshoe frames, boats, and canoes. Women tanned skins from which they made clothing, footwear, and tents. They made birchbark utensils and collected water, edible plants, and berries. Women carried the heavy loads and pulled toboggans loaded with gear and equipment. Women, then as now, could and did hunt large and small game. They cut and dried fish and meat, although men often assisted as they do nowadays. Both men and women fished. Now, traditional cooking of food, particularly for ceremonial purposes and in camp is done by men, and European-American-style cooking is done by women. Earlier in the twentieth century both men and women trapped; however, this is virtually a male activity nowadays. Commercial fishing is done primarily by men, although women commonly assist. Both men and women are involved in wage employment. Land Tenure. Aboriginally, individuals, family groups, or bands did not own property in the Western legal sense. The use and occupancy of lands were guided by usufruct rights based upon kinship and group affiliation. Band territory was open to all members of the band for subsistence use. Mem- bers of neighboring bands asked permission to use certain areas. Trapping areas were used by and associated with particular families and were handed down along family lines from one generation to the next as they often are today. The 1906 Alaska Native Allotment Act was extinguished in 1971 by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Prior to 1971 many natives applied for individual land allotments, although few have received patent to date. Land was granted to natives of Nenana and Minto in the form of profit-making corporations by the 1971 act, but these lands include a relatively small proportion of the land traditionally used and occupied by Tanana Athapaskans. Kinship Kin Groups and Descent. Tanana society was divided into exogamous matrilineal kin groups, or sibs. Within each band were one or several sibs that were associated with one of two moieties. Sibs and moieties regulated marriages, partner- ships, and economic and ceremonial exchanges. They were not land-holding groups, nor did they act as corporate groups in intraband affairs. Remnant evidence of the sib system nowadays is found primarily in ceremonial and religious activities associated with funerals and funeral and memorial potlatches. Kinship Terminology. Tanana kinship is characterized by Iroquois cousin terminology and bifurcate collateral terminology in the first ascending generation, although there has been a shift toward Hawaiian cousin terminology. Marriage and Family Marriage. Traditional marriage rules precluded marriage within one's matrilineage: cross-cousin marriages were preferred and sib exogamy was the rule. Residence was generally matrilocal. There was no bride-price or dowry, although the future husband was expected to help his parents-in-law and provide them with gifts. Formerly polygamy was practiced. Di- vorce was not common. Nowadays marriage is monogamous and avoided between first cousins. Residence tends toward matrilocality, and divorce is still rare. Domestic Unit. Residence units were characteristically small extended families. Although nuclear families predomi- nate today, extended family groups are still common in the residential unit and are characteristic of most task groups for hunting and fishing. Inheritance. In the past, among the neighboring Upper Tanana, personal belongings were sometimes given to a close relative or friend prior to death or were supposed to be destroyed upon death. Among the Tanana, valuable items and personal belongings now are often given away at the funeral potlatch. Socialization. Children were raised to exhibit humility and modesty in pursuits and accomplishments. They had freedom in their activities, and independence was valued. These ideals persist. Formal education is now mandatory through age six- teen, and most students complete high school, although few continue their education beyond the secondary level. Sociopolitical Organization Social Organization. Leadership was provided by men who held the position of chief either by ascription or achieve- ment. Their status had to be continually validated by their ex- hibiting qualities associated with chieftainships-wealth, generosity, wisdom, and hunting prowess. In some cases a wealthy woman who had exhibited industriousness and skill- fulness in subsistence activities could regulate activities in and out of camp. Both men and women had an equal voice in community affairs, and influential individuals of both sexes in modem communities are respected for their wisdom, industriousness, and generosity. Political Organization. Prior to contact, bands, like villages today, were politically independent from others. Trad- ing chiefs were prominent during the Russian period (c. 1820-1867), but they had no power unless they also exhibited the qualities of a traditional leader. Similarly, in modem villages an elected chief of a tribal council formed under the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act may or may not be a leader in the traditional sense. Traditional leaders and chiefs continue to be influential in community matters. Social Control. Within Tanana society, social control was a family matter, whereas leaders often negotiated with those 340 Tanana of other bands to settle disputes between bands. Social avoid- ance prevented confrontation as did temporary emigration from the camp or village. In some cases, emigration was forced through overt or subtle social pressure by community or family heads. Although members are subject to state and federal laws, traditional social controls often sanction offend- ing persons as well. Conflict. The Tanana have never entered into overt conflict with European-American society. Rather, individuals were judged on their personal qualities and characteristics. In historic and modem times, Tanana Athapaskans have been at the heart of native efforts to bring about claims settlements. They have been active leaders beginning with the first Tanana Chiefs Conference held in 1915 and, since the late 1960s, within the nonprofit native organization of the same name, which provides health, social, and advocacy services to natives of all of interior Alaska. Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Beliefs. Aboriginally and in early historic times the shaman was the central figure of religious life. Magico- religious practices included omens, charms, amulets, songs, taboos, and beliefs about the supernatural. Beliefs and practices were associated with certain animals, and many centered around hunting. Animal spirits appear to have predominated in Tanana spiritual life, although an evil spirit was manifested in a half-man, half-animal being. Spirits were influential in the activities of the living and in guiding the dead to their final resting place. As in other aspects of society, religious beliefs and practices were highly individualized and were a personal matter. Christian missionaries of the Episcopal church established churches and missions in the area beginning in the early 1900s. Several members of Tanana society, including one woman, have become ordained ministers of the Epis- copal church. Many traditional beliefs persist, however, and are particularly evident in ritual behavior surrounding death. Religious Practitioners. Medicine making was carried out by shamans, both male and female, especially in the cure of the sick. They were integral in the society at least until the 1930s and probably much later. Both ordained and lay ministers are central in religious practices today. Ceremonies. The most important religious ceremonies have been and continue to be potlatches, particularly the funeral and memorial types. Both the ceremony following the death of an individual and the potlatch held one or several years later as a memorial are central to religious, social, and economic life in Tanana society. Arts. Songs have been associated with supernatural power particularly surrounding hunting activities. Individuals often had their own songs to empower them in dealing with the natural world and its creatures. Songs continue to be composed in the native language and English to mark key events, as storytelling and as mourning songs sung at funeral and memorial potlatches commemorating deceased individuals. Medicine. Sickness was rare prior to the coming of European-Americans. Both physical medical cures and shamanism were used to treat various ailments and diseases. Some herbal and traditional medicines continue to be used, and a village health aide staffs a medical clinic. Death and Afterlife. The native attitude toward death is fatalistic, and death is faced with composure. Although there is no belief in an afterlife, appropriate ritualistic behavior by the survivors ensures that the soul of the deceased will be guided to the narrow trail that leads to the afterworld. The activities and behavior surrounding the death of an individual and the funeral potlatch are especially important in this regard. Bibliography Andrews, Elizabeth F. (1975). "Salcha: An Athapaskan Band of the Tanana River and Its Culture." M.A. thesis, Uni- versity of Alaska, Fairbanks. Andrews, Elizabeth F. (1988). The Harvest of Fish and Wild- life for Subsistence by the Residents of Minto, Alaska. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Technical Paper no. 137. Juneau. Olson, Wallace M. (1968). "Minto: Cultural and Historical Influences on Group Identity." M.A. thesis, University of Alaska. Shinkwin, Anne, and Martha Case (1984). Modern Foragers: Wild Resource Use in Nenana Village, Alaska. Alaska Depart- ment of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistece, Technical Paper no. 91. Juneau. Toghotthele Corporation (1983). Nenana Denayee. Nenana, Alaska: Toghotthele Corporation. ELIZABETH F. ANDREWS Taos ETHNONYMS: Braba, San Geronimo de Taos, Tayberon (early Spanish), Vallodolid, t' 6ynemv ("the people" in Taos) Orientation Identification. Taos Pueblo is located in northern New Mexico. The name "Taos" is an adaptation of taotho, "in the village," or taobo, "to or toward the village," the usual refer- ences in the Taos language to the Pueblo. The s was the Span- ish plural ending. The name "Taos" is invariable today in both Spanish and English. Location. The most northern of the Rio Grande Pueblos, Taos is seventy miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Pueblo is at the base of Taos Mountain, sacred to the Indians and one of several prominent peaks in the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) mountain range. At an elevation of 7,098 feet, Taos Pueblo is surrounded by an extensive well-watered and agriculturally productive plateau into which the Rio Grande has cut a deep gorge only a few miles from the Pueblo. Wild game is abundant and the mountain stream and Taos 341 small rivers that descend into the Rio Grande are well stocked with fish. Demography. The reservation population in 1987 was 1,484, with a total tribal population of 1,951. Those who do not reside at the Pueblo live primarily in Santa Fe and Albu- querque and in Colorado, with others scattered mainly in cities in Arizona and California. Since World War II the population has increased dramatically, from 830 in 1942 to 1,457 in 1964 and nearly 2,000 today. The Taos have vigorously op- posed intermarriage with other Indian groups, although many such marriages have occurred over the years. Nevertheless, as of 1972 they maintained a mean percent Indian "blood" of 95, which was high even compared to other conservative Eastern Pueblo groups. Linguistic Affiliation. The Taos language is one of two Northern Tiwa languages; the other is spoken at Picuris Pueblo twenty-five miles to the south of Taos. These languages plus the two Southern Tiwa languages spoken at Isleta and Sandia Pueblos near Albuquerque constitute the Tiwa branch of the Kiowa-Tanoan language family. History and Cultural Relations It is believed that the ancestors of Taos and other Eastern Pueblo groups moved into the Rio Grande area from the north and west, possibly from the Anasazi region of the Four Comers beginning in the 1 100s. The Taos creation myth sup- ports a migration from the north, and it is certain that they have been in the Taos Valley since about 1200, first living at the now-ruined Pot Creek Pueblo and others south of their present location, and at the current site since 1350 where they were encountered by the Coronado expedition in 1540. The Taos have figured prominently in every attempt to expel foreigners from their territory. Following Spanish settlement in 1598 resentment against the Europeans intensified, culmi- nating in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 which was plotted from Taos. After U.S. occupation, the Taos joined with the Mexi- cans in the 1847 revolt. The governor, Charles Bent, and others were scalped, and the ruins of the old mission at the Pueblo testify to the retaliation by the U.S. Army. In 1906 Blue Lake, twenty miles above the Pueblo in the mountains, and forty-eight thousand acres of surrounding aboriginal-use area were incorporated into the Carson National Forest. The Indians waged a legal battle with the government for the return of these lands to their reservation. In 1971 sovereignty over the Blue Lake area was restored to the Pueblo, marking the first time in U.S Indian relations that land was returned, rather than financial compensation paid, on the basis of religious freedom. Taos shares many cultural features with the other Pueblo communities of New Mexico and Arizona, and contact between Taos and other Pueblos has been frequent if not inten- sive. Given their northern location and easy access to the Plains, the Taos had significant contacts with southern Plains groups, notably the Comanche in the 1700s and more recently with the Kiowa and Cheyenne in Oklahoma. In spite of many Plains influences-Peyotism, dress style, secular dances and music-Taos has remained distinctly Puebloid. Some customs that appear to be Plains-derived may actually have been elaborated in response to ecological adaptation, including the reliance on hunting and especially bison hunts, which fostered a major dependence on horses and all the material culture that requires. As is true of all the Pueblos, there is a marked ethnocentrism at Taos, but this is even more pro- nounced in terms of their quiet disdain for the Spanish and for the White Americans who have settled in increasing numbers in Taos Valley in the twentieth century, although never on Indian land. Settlements Taos Pueblo itself is divided into two massive adobe house blocks by the Rio Pueblo de Taos. This small river, spanned by three-foot-long bridges, flows mainly from Blue Lake, which now symbolizes not only the native religion but also the total integrity of the culture. The north-side Pueblo is five stories high, while the south-side is four. As the population increased, what had been summer houses near the corn and wheat fields became year-round residences. Many people still reside in the old pueblo apartment buildings (109 units were occupied in 1971), and they remain the center of the people's on-reservation activity. No other Indian settlements have ap- peared since Spanish contact, although Taos Valley is now dotted with many small towns and communities inhabited by Hispanics and White Americans. Most important are the town of Taos, New Mexico, 3 miles south of the Pueblo, which is the hub for local commercial and government activities, and the community of Ranchos de Taos three miles far- ther south. Although there is daily interaction between the Indians and their neighbors, the physical, cultural, and psy- chological separation between the two groups is profound. Aboriginally, coursed adobe was used to construct Taos Pueblo and later supplemented by Hispanic-introduced sun- dried brick. Most dwellings in the old apartment buildings have two rooms, one serving as a kitchen and eating area and the other for sleeping and socializing. Government-spon- sored housing projects have introduced other house styles and building materials in recent years, but all of these units are well out of sight of the old Pueblo. Electricity and running water are not allowed in the old Pueblo. Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The traditional Taos were agriculturalists, depending primarily on maize, beans, and squash. Wheat and other European imports were eagerly adopted, with wheat gaining some commercial importance in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Hunting always supplemented agriculture, with the mountains providing deer, elk, bear, turkey, grouse, and squirrel and the plateau providing antelope and the plains bison in the 1800s. Eagle, hawk, and duck feathers were important in rituals. Rabbits are still hunted on reservation land and figure prominently in summer ceremonies. Many species of wild plants were and are gathered as well as wildflowers that are important in ceremonies. Given the northern location and altitude, the growing season was too short for cotton, so the Taos re- lied on the more southerly Pueblos for woven goods. Today, wage labor, revenue from tourism, and many forms of govem- ment assistance have largely replaced the traditional subsistence base, with agriculture largely replaced by gardening and hunting reduced mostly to a sport or to obtain ritual items. Pigs and chickens are raised by a few households. Sheep and goats were never herded. The dog was ubiquitous, but the 342 Taos most important animal for both practical and prestige purposes was the horse, which figures prominently in myth and legend and is still highly valued. Although never considered prestigious, cattle became important enough for a Cattle- men's Association to be formed at the Pueblo. Industrial Arts. Since 1600 the dominant type of pottery and today the only type is a utilitarian ware of micaceous clay. Taos manufactures reflect their reliance on the hunt and include excellent hard-soles moccasins, folded deerskin "boots" worn by mature women, and drums. Buckskin leggings and shirts, bison robes, and rabbit-skin blankets were important in the past. The art of weaving rabbit-skin blankets was re- vived by Taos women in 1970, and the establishment of a Pueblo arts and crafts center, along with the popularity of Indian crafts in general, has fostered the emergence of a number of skilled craftspeople and artists working in a number of media. Trade. Trade was never of any great importance either pre- or postcontact, although trade from as far away as Mexico (for parrot feathers) did occur. Division of Labor. Household chores, horticulture, pottery making, the tending of small domestic animals, and the annual remudding of houses were women's concerns. The men farmed, irrigated, hunted, raised livestock, and worked hides. Men also were more involved in ceremonial activities than were women. Land Tenure. Theoretically, land is communally owned, and there are pastures and grazing lands on which anyone can run their horses and cattle. Houses, summer houses, and fields are considered to be individual property and are passed down from one generation to the next without regard for the age or sex ofthe heir. As is true of all reservations, the land is legally held in trust by the federal government. At Taos, land may be sold, traded, or inherited only by and to a tribally rec- ognized Taos Indian. Kinship Kin Groups and Descent. The kinship system lacks clans and is bilateral. Moiety organization is expressed physically and ceremonially, but weakly so. While individuals belong to either the north- or south-side pueblos and there is alterna- tive ceremonial jurisdiction by north- and south-side kivas, residence is not so determined nor is kiva membership so af- fected. Kinship Terminology. Age and sex are reflected in kin terms, with older males accorded somewhat more respect than females. Marriage and Family Marriage. Marriage is monogamous with freedom of choice in the selection of partners. Little was made of the marriage ceremony, which has been celebrated with the sacra- ments of the Catholic church since conversion. Secular marriages and common-law unions have increased in number in recent years. Postmarital residence is typically neolocal, although the importance of the bilaterally extended family may influence the couple to live with one family or the other for the first few years of marriage. Ideally, this group of kin remains a source of continual security throughout life. Separa- tion and divorce have increased, but given the influence of the Catholic church they are still regarded as unfortunate de- cisions. Instances of intramarital conflict resulting in such things as child support claims, formerly taken to the Pueblo governor for resolution, are today more often handled by U.S. courts and social control agencies outside the Pueblo. Inheritance. Land, houses, and personal property are be- queathed at will. Fractionalization of the land base has occurred with the increasing population even though there is no rule or strong tendency toward equal inheritance for offspring or others. Socialization. Children are greatly valued. Given the strength of the extended family, very few children have ever been given up for adoption. The importance of wage work drawing most young adults of both sexes out of the Pueblo has strengthened the role of grandparents and other older relatives in the early socialization of many Taos infants and young children. Older Indians, particularly women, have often been the primary socializers of even three or four generations of their descendants. This has contributed to the per- petuation of the Taos language as well as many other older traditions. Sociopolitical Organization Social Organization. Knowledge of this aspect of Taos culture is somewhat opaque, since this is generally a subject about which people have been secretive. There is a very strong sense of commonality at Taos, expressed most often in terms of community duties, which every able-bodied adult or legiti- mate substitute from the extended family must perform. Du- ties include secular work projects, such as cleaning irrigation ditches, repairing fences, and plastering the Catholic church, as well as dance obligations and other ceremonially linked activities. Most Taos believe that a weakening of commonality will ultimately spell the passing of Taos culture. Many persons who otherwise deviate from Taos norms, such as refus- ing to participate in the kiva-based religion, are nevertheless allowed to remain at the Pueblo and are considered in good standing if they faithfully perform their community duties. Political Organization. Secular government, partially Spanish-imposed, is closely entwined with the religious kiva organization. The top officials must be kiva-trained and ceremonially active. Annually the Taos Pueblo Council, composed of the kiva leaders and past top secular officials, elects twenty two civil officers. They are divided into the governor, lieutenant governor, and eight staff members, on the one hand, who handle matters pertaining to the Pueblo proper as well as concerns with the wider society off the reservation, and on the other, the war chief, assistant war chief, and ten deputies who are responsible for problems that arise outside the village but generally on reservation land. Serious matters that affect everyone, such as the battle for Blue Lake, are usually council concerns. Social Control. Major deviant behavior requires the inter- vention of legal authority, most often the governor, or in the rare cases of homicide, outside-based agencies, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Minor deviance is controlled in part through gossip and other types of informal sanctions. Given the tight-knit nature of the Pueblo community, very little happens that does not become common knowledge quickly. Teton 343 Witchcraft formerly played a more prominent role than currently. Conflict. Recurrent factionalism is certainly the most ob- vious evidence of conflict as in nearly all the Pueblos of the Southwest. Issues have ranged from the divisiveness caused by the introduction from Oklahoma and establishment of Peyotism (1907) to the rebellion and dissatisfaction of re- turning World War II veterans (1950s) to the installation of electricity on parts of the reservation but outside the old village (1970s). Factionalism is almost constant in life at Taos, and it predates the conflict generated by acculturation to the Spanish and Anglo worlds. It has been argued that the causes lie deep in the nature of Pueblo culture. Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Beliefs. Three religious systems are active at Taos: the kiva-based aboriginal religion, Catholicism to which nearly all belong at least nominally, and Peyotism. Taos is the only Pueblo where the Peyote religion was accepted. Membership today is small. The Indians have been most secretive concerning their kiva religion, so that a full un- derstanding remains impossible. The six active subterranean kivas together with their constituent societies are Big Earring, Day, and Knife on the north side, Water, Old Axe, and Feather on the south. Extended and rigorous male initiation (six-eighteen months) between the ages of seven and ten cul- minate and are tribally validated at the annual August pil- grimage to Blue Lake. No non-Taos in this century have been permitted to observe these rites. The ceremonial round, with public performances as integral parts, generally follow Catho- lic ritual observances such as Saints' Days, Christmas, New Year's Day, and the like and are laced with aboriginal elements. They are paralleled by more or less constant kiva activity about which little has been revealed. There are a host of animistic spirits including prominently Father Sun, Mother Earth, and the cloud spirits. Except for the publicly performed ceremonials, the activities of the kiva societies are poorly described. Prayer sticks, corn meal, pollen, and other standard Pueblo ritual equipment, often referred to as "medicine," are used, but little is known of their true role and significance. Religious Practitioners. Kiva priests conduct rituals aimed at community welfare and rites of intensification di- rected toward game animals and agriculture. A few men and women are skilled in the arts of individual curing. Death and Afterlife. A Catholic mass is held at death with the deceased buried immediately following in the open area of the old mission church destroyed in 1847. It has served since then as the Pueblo cemetery. A four-day obser- vance of general inactivity by the deceased's family follows and closes with a feast celebrating the departure of the dead person's soul to the abode of the cloud spirits in the depths of Blue Lake, although some today regard the Christian heaven as the final place for departed souls. Bibliography Bodine, John J. (1979). 'Taos Pueblo." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 9, Southwest, edited by Alfonso Ortiz, 255-267. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Fenton, William N. (1957). Factionalism at Taos Pueblo, New Mexico. U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology, Anthropologi- cal Paper no. 56. Washington, D.C. Parsons, Elsie Clews (1936). Taos Pueblo. General Series in Anthropology, no. 2. Menasha, Wis. Smith, M. Estellie (1967). Governing at Taos Pueblo. Eastern New Mexico University Contributions in Anthropology, 2(1). Portales, N. Mex. JOHN J. BODINE Tenino The Tenino (Melilema, Warms Springs Sahaptin), including the John Day (Tukspuch), Tyigh (Tygh, Attayes, lyich), and Waiam (Wayam, Wayampam, Deschutes Indians), lived in north-central Oregon and south-central Washington along the Columbia River from the Deschutes River in the west to the Umatilla River in the east. They moved to the Yakima In- dian Reservation in Washington and the Warm Springs In- dian Reservation in Oregon. They spoke a Sahaptin language of the Penutian phylum. Bibliography Murdock, George Peter (1958). "Social Organization of the Tenino." In Miscellanea Paul Rivet Octogenario Dicata. Vol. 1, 299-315. Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Cultura. Teton ETHNosM: Dakota, wan, Western Sioux Lakota, Sioux, Teton Sioux, Titun- Orientation Identification. The Teton are an American Indian group now living predominantly on reservations in South Dakota and in Saskatchewan. The name "Teton" is a corruption of Titunwan, which conventionally is glossed "dwellers of the prairie" but which actually connotes the setting up of camp- sites. The root ti gives rise to the name of the popular dwelling tipi. Teton designates seven subdivisions of Lakota-speakers who migrated from aboriginal homes in the Great Lakes region to the Northern Plains. They are called "Oglala," "Sicangu" (or "Brule"), "Hunkpapa," "Itazipco" (or "Sans [...]... ETHNONYMS: Thlinget, Thlinkets, Tlinkit, Lleeengit Orientation Identification The Tlingit are an American Indian group located in southern Alaska 'Tingit" means "in the people." Location The Tlingit continue to occupy many of their aboriginal village sites along the southeastern coast of Alaska from Ketchikan to Yakutat-54'40' N to about 60° N-and from the coast to Lake Atlin, or as the Tlingit say, the "second... equal with the supreme being who transcended Tlingit legends The Tlingit inhabited a world filled with spirits, or jek These spirits could manifest their power through individuals, animals, or things Since every material object or physical force could be inhabited by a spirit, Tlingit were taught to respect everything in the universe The penalty for disrespect was the loss of ability to obtain food... from the interior to the sea, and linguistic data reveal a close affinity with interior groups While the neighboring Haida and Tsimshian tribes were pushing some southern Tlingit northward, the northern Tlingit were expanding in Eyak and Eskimo territory British, French, and Russian interests vied for control of Alaska with the United States acquiring final control over the rich Alaskan resources in... responsible for village decision making, although women participate, too Political Organization Since aboriginal times, the core Tewa governmental structure has been a theocracy, with political and sacred authority vested in the heads of the two moieties and the religious sodalities In the early 1600s, the Spanish instituted a secular political structure consisting of the following officers who are selected... continue to provide treatment to patients through the implementation of at least eighty kinds of herbal medicines The sweat lodge is still used for spiritual and salutary purposes Death and Afterlife The Teton believe that each individual has four aspects of soul The last may be inhered in another individual at birth, and thus this constitutes a reincarnation system Some deceased are forever required... ETHNONYMS: T' owa, Teguas (Spanish), Tano-Tewa Orientation Identification The name "Tewa" refers to linguistically related American Indian peoples who live in seven distinct communities referred to as 'pueblos," the name applied to them by the Spanish colonists in the late 1500s Location The Tewa-speaking Pueblo peoples live, as they have since aboriginal times, in the southwestern United States Six Tewa... collector's items Bibliography Garfield, Viola (1939) Tsimshian Clan and Society University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, no 7, 16 7-3 40 Seattle: University of Washington Press Miller, Jay, and Carol M Eastman (1984) The Tsimshian and Their Neighbors of the North Pacific Coast Seattle: University of Washington Press Tubatulabal ETHNONYMS: Kern River Indians, Te-bot-e-lob-e-lay The Tubatulabal... adopted a special relationship of co-parenthood Polygyny was socially acceptable but rare Domestic Unit Tiyospayes were divided into groups ofextended families called wicotis, a pattern maintained today Inheritance Inheritance was irrelevant to nomadic living After the establishment of the reservation, however, inheritance followed local American law Socialization Values were instilled in girls by their... The kinship grouping of the New Mexico Tewa reflects their dual social organization, which consists of nonexogamous nonunilinear moieties: every Tewa belongs to either the Winter or Summer moiety These moieties are the largest kin groups for the Tewa; however, moieties are more than kinship entities (see Social Organization and Religion below) Hopi-Tewa society is divided into exogamous matrilineal... tu-kina-jek Spirit doctors, or ichet, received more powerful spirits and therefore could treat the sick with herbs, discern the presence of evil, predict the future, and protect the community from evil forces Witches, or nukw-sati, sought evil power and used it to harm others Ceremonies Dancing societies never gained a major foothold in Tlingit society as they did in neighboring Northwest Coast tribes . so has come to fit easily within the native religious framework. Religious Practitioners. The principal religious practitioners are the Winter and Summer moiety heads and the sodality heads, as established by the Tewa origin story. The sodalities are referred to in English as the Hunt Society, the Medicine Society, the Clown Society, the Scalp Society, and the Women's Society. Ceremonies. Ritual ceremonies are performed following a calendrical cycle. Some rituals are specifically associated with subsistence, and others are concerned with individual and community developmental cycles. Each ritual is the responsi- bility of a particular sodality head, and most are not public. Rituals that are public and may be viewed by outsiders are held in the pueblo plazas. A list of dates for such ceremonies is published each year by the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council, located at San Juan Pueblo. Arts. Tewa art includes highly prized black-on-black pottery made by artists at Santa Clara and San Ildefonso Pueblos and red pottery made at San Juan and Santa Clara pueblos, silverwork, silver and turquoise jewelry, paintings, sculpture, and fabric art made by artists at all the pueblos. Ceremonial songs, dances, and clothing are attended to with great aes- thetic care. Medicine. Herbal teas, poultices, massage, and food taboos (observed during various phases of an individual's de- velopment cycle) are all part of routine health care and main- tenance. A person who becomes ill or suffers an injury may, as has been true since before contact, ask for assistance from 350 Tewa Pueblos one of the medicine men or from a woman healer, or they may go directly to a local Indian health clinic or physician's office for treatment. Often people use a combination of diagnostic and treatment sources. Death and Afterlife. Death occurs as a result of old age, disease, accident, maltreatment of one's own body (such as misuse of alcohol or other drugs), and evil spirits. Funerals are held for the deceased as soon as possible, following a day or more of lying in state. During this time, family and friends visit the deceased and their close kin to pay their respects. The funeral ceremony usually combines native and Catholic religious elements, and burial usually takes place in the grave- yard at the pueblo where the deceased lived. The spirit of a deceased person is thought to stay close to the pueblo for several days following death. Various measures are used to protect the living from untoward response to such spirits. On the fourth day a releasing rite is held by family and community elders so that the spirit of the deceased is freed and encour- aged to join other departed spirits. Bibliography Dozier, Edward P. (1966). Hano: A Tewa Indian Community in Arizona. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Dozier, Edward P. (1970). The Pueblo Indians of North Amer- ica. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Ortiz, Alfonso (1969). The Tewa World: Space, Time, Being and Becoming in a Pueblo Society. Chicago: University of Chi- cago Press. Ortiz, Alfonso, ed. (1972). New Perspectives on the Pueblos. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Ortiz, Alfonso, ed. (1979). Handbook of North American Indi- ans. Vol. 9, Southwest. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Insti- tution. Sando, Joe S. (1976). The Pueblo Indians. San Francisco: In- dian Historian Press. SUE-ELLEN JACOBS whose towns extended from the latter point nearly to Lillooet on the Fraser River, to within a short distance of Ashcroft on the Thompson River, and in the Nicola Valley. Today, about fifteen bands live in the area. The Thompson were probably first contacted by Simon Fraser during his explorations in 1809. The traditional culture was modified by influences from Victoria established in the 1840s, the gold miners and settlers who arrived in increasing numbers in the 1850s, and the smallpox epidemics of 1863 and the 1880s which reduced the aboriginal population of about 5,000. By the turn of century, most Thompson were somewhat assimilated into European-Canadian society, as they moved into areas of White settlement where they worked as wage laborers and farmed, hunted, and fished. The traditional bands were individual groups of related families with hereditary chiefs with limited authority. More powerful were the councils composed of mature men. Salmon was the staple food, often caught from wooden fishing stages built over fish runs, with dip nets and spears used as well as traps and weirs. The salmon were dried on poles. Various mammals such as deer, bear, beaver, and elk were hunted, and women collected berries, fruits, roots, and nuts. Traditionally, the Thompson were seminomadic. In the summer, mat tipis (and later canvas tipis and then tents) were moved to different hunting grounds and berry patches as the season progressed. They also used more permanent semisubterranean earthlodges. The material culture included birchbark canoes, coiled baskets, drums, double-curved bows, snowshoes, goat wool and rabbit fur blankets, and skin clothing. Pubescent girls were segregated in small tipis, and dome- shaped sweat lodges covered with mats or canvas were also used. The latter were used by adolescent boys during their quest for guardian spirits. Shamans and curers worked with the aid of these spirits, which were generally animal in nature. The Thompson believed in numerous deities, a major one being the Chief of the Dead. Important ceremonials were the puberty rites for girls, the First Salmon Ceremony, and various dances. Bibliography Teit, James A. (1898). Traditions of the Thompson River Indi- ans. American Folklore Society, Memoir no. 6. Philadelphia, Pa. Thompson Teit, James A. (1900). The Thompson Indians of British Co- lumbia. American Museum of Natural History Memoirs, vol. 2, 16 3-3 92. New York. ETHNONYMS: Knife Indians, Snare, Thompson River Indians The Thompson (Nlaka'pamux, Ntlakyapamuk) are an American Indian group who live on the Fraser and Thompson rivers in south-central British Columbia. They speak an Interior Salish language closely related to Shuswap and numbered 2,647 in 1967, an increase from the 1902 estimate of 1,825. Internally, they were divided into the Lower Thompson, who lived from just below Spuzzum on the Fraser River nearly to the village of Cisco and the Upper Thompson, Tepper, Leslie H., ed. (1987). The Interior Salish Tribes of British Columbia: A Photographic Essay. Canadian Museum of Civilization, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service, Paper no. 111. Ottawa. Tlingit 351 Tillamook The Tillamook (Calamox, Gillamooks), including the Ne- halem, Nestucca, and Siletz, lived along the northern Oregon coast from the Nehalem River to the Salmon River. They spoke a Coast Salish language and numbered 139 in 1970. Bibliography Pearson, Clara (1959). Nehalem Tillamook Tales. Edited by Melville Jacobs. University of Oregon Monographs, Studies in Anthropology, no. 5. Eugene. Sauter, John, and Bruce Merton (1974). Tillamook Indians of the Oregon Coast. Portland: Binfords and Mort. Tlingit ETHNONYMS: Thlinget, Thlinkets, Tlinkit, Lleeengit Orientation Identification. The Tlingit are an American Indian group located in southern Alaska. 'Tingit" means "in the people." Location. The Tlingit continue to occupy many of their aboriginal village sites along the southeastern coast of Alaska from Ketchikan to Yakutat-54'40' N to about 60° N-and from the coast to Lake Atlin, or as the Tlingit say, the "second mountain range." This area includes many offshore is- lands, numerous streams emptying into inlets, and rugged mountains that jut up from the edge of the sea and whose snow-capped serrated peaks cover most of the area. Demography. Conservative population estimates place the precontact population at ten thousand. The present Tlingit population numbers about twenty-five thousand. Linguistic Affiliation. The Tlingit language is classified in the Na-Dene phylum. Among the coastal Tlingit, northern, central and southern dialects are still spoken by the elders. History and Cultural Relations Archaeological data suggest that a Tlingit or proto-Thngit population inhabited the coast of southeastern Alaska by seven thousand B.C. Oral history traces several migration routes of Tlingit clans down various rivers that flowed from the interior to the sea, and linguistic data reveal a close affinity with interior groups. While the neighboring Haida and Tsimshian tribes were pushing some southern Tlingit northward, the northern Tlingit were expanding in Eyak and Es- kimo territory. British, French, and Russian interests vied for control of Alaska with the United States acquiring final control over the rich Alaskan resources in 1867. Gunboat diplo- macy instituted by the United States undermined local Tlingit autonomy and opened up the territory to outside settlers and gold prospectors. Alaskan natives fought back by organizing the Alaskan Native Brotherhood in 1912 to fight for their civil rights and subsistence resources. In 1929 the Tlingit began a struggle to regain control of their natural resources, resulting in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 transferring some 100 million acres back to Alas- kan natives. Settlements Early Tlingit settlers selected village sites near heavily resourced areas along protected sections of coastline ideal for beaching canoes, digging clams, acquiring drinking water, and catching migrating salmon. An expanding Tlingit population, increasing competition for local resources, and inten- sifying patterns of warfare contributed to the progressive de- velopment of four types of villages: the local household village, the localized clan village, the local moiety village, and the consolidated clan village. In early times, people lived in one large community longhouse, which served as shelter, storage place, and fort. Population increases and mounting tension contributed to the breakup of the large household into several smaller related lineage households sharing a common fort. Later, in a third settlement stage, two intermarrying clans from the two moieties moved together to reduce distances, share resources, and increase village security. Depop- ulation and depletion of subsistence resources following Eu- ropean contact contributed to the rise of a fourth settlement pattern, the consolidated clan village, composed of two or more clans from both moieties. Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The Tlingit hunted deer, bear, seals, and goats; fished for salmon, halibut, and herring; and gathered roots, berries, and shellfish. Runs of salmon choked the local streams each year as five species of salmon migrated to their spawning grounds. Fishnets and gaffing hooks were used to haul in large quantities of salmon for smoking and drying for winter consumption. The rapid depletion of the population by foreign diseases and Increased reliance upon proceeds from fur trapping reduced subsistence resources while increasing dependence upon foreign trade goods. Today, the Tlingit value education, resulting in many members working in business, industry, government, and the professions. Industrial Arts. Carving, basket making, Chilkat blanket weaving, beading, and metalworking were sources of income. Gold and silver coins shaped into bracelets, pendants, and rings were embellished with clan symbols. The active arts and crafts trade that began with the arrival of the early steamship tourists has grown in volume over the years, and several Tlingit villages now have dancing groups that perform for local ceremonies and for tourists. Trade. An aboriginal trade network flourished between the interior Athapaskans and the Tlingit, between coastal and island Tlingit, and with the neighboring Eyak, Haida, Tsimshian, and Kwakiutl. Native trade goods such as cop- pers, shells, slaves, canoes, carvings, oulachan oil, and furs 352 Tlingit were later replaced by European trade goods, including guns, ammunition, knives, axes, blankets, and food. Division of Labor. Prior to the decline of the traditional culture around 1880, Tlingit men hunted, fished, and carved, and women cleaned fish, gathered food, tanned hides, and wove baskets and blankets. Today, men drive diesel-powered boats equipped with hydraulic hoists and large nets, and women work in modem canneries and make button blankets or beaded moccasins from commercial materials. Land Tenure. The localized clan was the basic holder of rights to fishing streams, tidelands, and hunting grounds in traditional Tlingit villages. Today, clans own ceremonial and symbolic ritual items. The 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settle- ment Act organized the Alaska Tlingit into one large regional corporation, called Sealaska. Sealaska received title to 330,000 acres of land and 660,000 acres of mineral rights; it had total assets of $216 million as of March 1988. Sealaska governs nine village corporations each of which received title to 20,040 acres of aboriginal land and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash payments, depending upon the number of tribal members. Kinship Kin Groups and Descent. Tlingit society is divided into two large exogamous moieties-Raven-Crow and Eagle-Wolf (Crow for Inland Tlingit and Wolf for Southern Tlingit). Each moiety contains some twenty autonomous matriclans. Aboriginally, each exogamous localized matriclan had its own village and formed marriage alliances with other communities. Matriclans that intermarried with considerable fre- quency within a given region formed a Kwaan, or district, of which there were fourteen. Following depopulation and the depletion of resources, scattered clans within Kwaans moved together to form consolidated. so has come to fit easily within the native religious framework. Religious Practitioners. The principal religious practitioners are the Winter and Summer moiety heads and the sodality heads, as established by the Tewa origin story. The sodalities are referred to in English as the Hunt Society, the Medicine Society, the Clown Society, the Scalp Society, and the Women's Society. Ceremonies. Ritual ceremonies are performed following a calendrical cycle. Some rituals are specifically associated with subsistence, and others are concerned with individual and community developmental cycles. Each ritual is the responsi- bility of a particular sodality head, and most are not public. Rituals that are public and may be viewed by outsiders are held in the pueblo plazas. A list of dates for such ceremonies is published each year by the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council, located at San Juan Pueblo. Arts. Tewa art includes highly prized black-on-black pottery made by artists at Santa Clara and San Ildefonso Pueblos and red pottery made at San Juan and Santa Clara pueblos, silverwork, silver and turquoise jewelry, paintings, sculpture, and fabric art made by artists at all the pueblos. Ceremonial songs, dances, and clothing are attended to with great aes- thetic care. Medicine. Herbal teas, poultices, massage, and food taboos (observed during various phases of an individual's de- velopment cycle) are all part of routine health care and main- tenance. A person who becomes ill or suffers an injury may, as has been true since before contact, ask for assistance from 350 Tewa Pueblos one of the medicine men or from a woman healer, or they may go directly to a local Indian health clinic or physician's office for treatment. Often people use a combination of diagnostic and treatment sources. Death and Afterlife. Death occurs as a result of old age, disease, accident, maltreatment of one's own body (such as misuse of alcohol or other drugs), and evil spirits. Funerals are held for the deceased as soon as possible, following a day or more of lying in state. During this time, family and friends visit the deceased and their close kin to pay their respects. The funeral ceremony usually combines native and Catholic religious elements, and burial usually takes place in the grave- yard at the pueblo where the deceased lived. The spirit of a deceased person is thought to stay close to the pueblo for several days following death. Various measures are used to protect the living from untoward response to such spirits. On the fourth day a releasing rite is held by family and community elders so that the spirit of the deceased is freed and encour- aged to join other departed spirits. Bibliography Dozier, Edward P. (1966). Hano: A Tewa Indian Community in Arizona. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Dozier, Edward P. (1970). The Pueblo Indians of North Amer- ica. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Ortiz, Alfonso (1969). The Tewa World: Space, Time, Being and Becoming in a Pueblo Society. Chicago: University of Chi- cago Press. Ortiz, Alfonso, ed. (1972). New Perspectives on the Pueblos. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Ortiz, Alfonso, ed. (1979). Handbook of North American Indi- ans. Vol. 9, Southwest. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Insti- tution. Sando, Joe S. (1976). The Pueblo Indians. San Francisco: In- dian Historian Press. SUE-ELLEN JACOBS whose towns extended from the latter point nearly to Lillooet on the Fraser River, to within a short distance of Ashcroft on the Thompson River, and in the Nicola Valley. Today, about fifteen bands live in the area. The Thompson were probably first contacted by Simon Fraser during his explorations in 1809. The traditional culture was modified by influences from Victoria established in the 1840s, the gold miners and settlers who arrived in increasing numbers in the 1850s, and the smallpox epidemics of 1863 and the 1880s which reduced the aboriginal population of about 5,000. By the turn of century, most Thompson were somewhat assimilated into European-Canadian society, as they moved into areas of White settlement where they worked as wage laborers and farmed, hunted, and fished. The traditional bands were individual groups of related families with hereditary chiefs with limited authority. More powerful were the councils composed of mature men. Salmon was the staple food, often caught from wooden fishing stages built over fish runs, with dip nets and spears used as well as traps and weirs. The salmon were dried on poles. Various mammals such as deer, bear, beaver, and elk were hunted, and women collected berries, fruits, roots, and nuts. Traditionally, the Thompson were seminomadic. In the summer, mat tipis (and later canvas tipis and then tents) were moved to different hunting grounds and berry patches as the season progressed. They also used more permanent semisubterranean earthlodges. The material culture included birchbark canoes, coiled baskets, drums, double-curved bows, snowshoes, goat wool and rabbit fur blankets, and skin clothing. Pubescent girls were segregated in small tipis, and dome- shaped sweat lodges covered with mats or canvas were also used. The latter were used by adolescent boys during their quest for guardian spirits. Shamans and curers worked with the aid of these spirits, which were generally animal in nature. The Thompson believed in numerous deities, a major one being the Chief of the Dead. Important ceremonials were the puberty rites for girls, the First Salmon Ceremony, and various dances. Bibliography Teit, James A. (1898). Traditions of the Thompson River Indi- ans. American Folklore Society, Memoir no. 6. Philadelphia, Pa. Thompson Teit, James A. (1900). The Thompson Indians of British Co- lumbia. American Museum of Natural History Memoirs, vol. 2, 16 3-3 92. New York. ETHNONYMS: Knife Indians, Snare, Thompson River Indians The Thompson (Nlaka'pamux, Ntlakyapamuk) are an American Indian group who live on the Fraser and Thompson rivers in south-central British Columbia. They speak an Interior Salish language closely related to Shuswap and numbered 2,647 in 1967, an increase from the 1902 estimate of 1,825. Internally, they were divided into the Lower Thompson, who lived from just below Spuzzum on the Fraser River nearly to the village of Cisco and the Upper Thompson, Tepper, Leslie H., ed. (1987). The Interior Salish Tribes of British Columbia: A Photographic Essay. Canadian Museum of Civilization, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service, Paper no. 111. Ottawa. Tlingit 351 Tillamook The Tillamook (Calamox, Gillamooks), including the Ne- halem, Nestucca, and Siletz, lived along the northern Oregon coast from the Nehalem River to the Salmon River. They spoke a Coast Salish language and numbered 139 in 1970. Bibliography Pearson, Clara (1959). Nehalem Tillamook Tales. Edited by Melville Jacobs. University of Oregon Monographs, Studies in Anthropology, no. 5. Eugene. Sauter, John, and Bruce Merton (1974). Tillamook Indians of the Oregon Coast. Portland: Binfords and Mort. Tlingit ETHNONYMS: Thlinget, Thlinkets, Tlinkit, Lleeengit Orientation Identification. The Tlingit are an American Indian group located in southern Alaska. 'Tingit" means "in the people." Location. The Tlingit continue to occupy many of their aboriginal village sites along the southeastern coast of Alaska from Ketchikan to Yakutat-54'40' N to about 60° N-and from the coast to Lake Atlin, or as the Tlingit say, the "second mountain range." This area includes many offshore is- lands, numerous streams emptying into inlets, and rugged mountains that jut up from the edge of the sea and whose snow-capped serrated peaks cover most of the area. Demography. Conservative population estimates place the precontact population at ten thousand. The present Tlingit population numbers about twenty-five thousand. Linguistic Affiliation. The Tlingit language is classified in the Na-Dene phylum. Among the coastal Tlingit, northern, central and southern dialects are still spoken by the elders. History and Cultural Relations Archaeological data suggest that a Tlingit or proto-Thngit population inhabited the coast of southeastern Alaska by seven thousand B.C. Oral history traces several migration routes of Tlingit clans down various rivers that flowed from the interior to the sea, and linguistic data reveal a close affinity with interior groups. While the neighboring Haida and Tsimshian tribes were pushing some southern Tlingit northward, the northern Tlingit were expanding in Eyak and Es- kimo territory. British, French, and Russian interests vied for control of Alaska with the United States acquiring final control over the rich Alaskan resources in 1867. Gunboat diplo- macy instituted by the United States undermined local Tlingit autonomy and opened up the territory to outside settlers and gold prospectors. Alaskan natives fought back by organizing the Alaskan Native Brotherhood in 1912 to fight for their civil rights and subsistence resources. In 1929 the Tlingit began a struggle to regain control of their natural resources, resulting in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 transferring some 100 million acres back to Alas- kan natives. Settlements Early Tlingit settlers selected village sites near heavily resourced areas along protected sections of coastline ideal for beaching canoes, digging clams, acquiring drinking water, and catching migrating salmon. An expanding Tlingit population, increasing competition for local resources, and inten- sifying patterns of warfare contributed to the progressive de- velopment of four types of villages: the local household village, the localized clan village, the local moiety village, and the consolidated clan village. In early times, people lived in one large community longhouse, which served as shelter, storage place, and fort. Population increases and mounting tension contributed to the breakup of the large household into several smaller related lineage households sharing a common fort. Later, in a third settlement stage, two intermarrying clans from the two moieties moved together to reduce distances, share resources, and increase village security. Depop- ulation and depletion of subsistence resources following Eu- ropean contact contributed to the rise of a fourth settlement pattern, the consolidated clan village, composed of two or more clans from both moieties. Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The Tlingit hunted deer, bear, seals, and goats; fished for salmon, halibut, and herring; and gathered roots, berries, and shellfish. Runs of salmon choked the local streams each year as five species of salmon migrated to their spawning grounds. Fishnets and gaffing hooks were used to haul in large quantities of salmon for smoking and drying for winter consumption. The rapid depletion of the population by foreign diseases and Increased reliance upon proceeds from fur trapping reduced subsistence resources while increasing dependence upon foreign trade goods. Today, the Tlingit value education, resulting in many members working in business, industry, government, and the professions. Industrial Arts. Carving, basket making, Chilkat blanket weaving, beading, and metalworking were sources of income. Gold and silver coins shaped into bracelets, pendants, and rings were embellished with clan symbols. The active arts and crafts trade that began with the arrival of the early steamship tourists has grown in volume over the years, and several Tlingit villages now have dancing groups that perform for local ceremonies and for tourists. Trade. An aboriginal trade network flourished between the interior Athapaskans and the Tlingit, between coastal and island Tlingit, and with the neighboring Eyak, Haida, Tsimshian, and Kwakiutl. Native trade goods such as cop- pers, shells, slaves, canoes, carvings, oulachan oil, and furs 352 Tlingit were later replaced by European trade goods, including guns, ammunition, knives, axes, blankets, and food. Division of Labor. Prior to the decline of the traditional culture around 1880, Tlingit men hunted, fished, and carved, and women cleaned fish, gathered food, tanned hides, and wove baskets and blankets. Today, men drive diesel-powered boats equipped with hydraulic hoists and large nets, and women work in modem canneries and make button blankets or beaded moccasins from commercial materials. Land Tenure. The localized clan was the basic holder of rights to fishing streams, tidelands, and hunting grounds in traditional Tlingit villages. Today, clans own ceremonial and symbolic ritual items. The 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settle- ment Act organized the Alaska Tlingit into one large regional corporation, called Sealaska. Sealaska received title to 330,000 acres of land and 660,000 acres of mineral rights; it had total assets of $216 million as of March 1988. Sealaska governs nine village corporations each of which received title to 20,040 acres of aboriginal land and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash payments, depending upon the number of tribal members. Kinship Kin Groups and Descent. Tlingit society is divided into two large exogamous moieties-Raven-Crow and Eagle-Wolf (Crow for Inland Tlingit and Wolf for Southern Tlingit). Each moiety contains some twenty autonomous matriclans. Aboriginally, each exogamous localized matriclan had its own village and formed marriage alliances with other communities. Matriclans that intermarried with considerable fre- quency within a given region formed a Kwaan, or district, of which there were fourteen. Following depopulation and the depletion of resources, scattered clans within Kwaans moved together to form consolidated. clan villages like Angoon, Hoonah, and Yakutat. Local matriclans were corporate groups holding title to property, real estate, and ceremonial objects. A matriclan consisted of one or more community longhouses in which descent was traced matrilineally. Line- age, clan, and moiety affiliations are still important for marriage and ceremonial purposes. Kinship Terminology. Crow-type kinship terminology, once a characteristic of Tlingit society, is little used by younger members today. Marriage and Family Marriage. The preferential marriage pattern was patrilateral cross-cousin marriage-to father's sister's daughter, the second choice was a member of the paternal grandfather's or great-grandfather's clan; and a third choice was a member of any clan in the opposite moiety. Marriage within one's clan and moiety were strictly forbidden under penalty of death or ostracism. Arranged marriages have rapidly decreased during this century, although patrilateral marriages are still encour- aged. Monogamy was the general rule among the lower classes, and polygamy was practiced by a few high-status men and women. Divorce was rare, as it was seen as an offense against the clans of both spouses. Marriage prohibitions within the clan and moiety are still subscribed to in principle, though broken frequently in practice. Domestic Unit. Until the turn of the century, the lineage community longhouse served as the residential unit. Recent government housing projects have largely eliminated the need for community households. Presently, lineage and clan households have more symbolic than economic significance, serving as the repository for the ceremonial objects and as a symbol of clan identity. Inheritance. Formerly, property was passed on within the matriclan with much of the wealth going from uncle to nephew. Presently, material possessions are inherited in typi- cal American fashion, although ceremonial goods are still expected to be passed on in conformity with traditional rules. Socialization. Many elders played an active role in the education of Tlingit youth. Aunts extolled the virtues of respectable clan leaders, and maternal uncles rigorously and rigidly guided their nephews through adolescence, teaching them basic hunting, fishing, carving, and fighting skills. Grand- mothers or maternal aunts spend considerable time with pubescent girls, preparing them for childbearing and teaching them clan history and domestic skills such as food prepara- tion, basket weaving, and basic hygiene. Elders still maintain a strong influence even among the large number of members who have attended college. Sociopolitical Organization Social Organization. The Tlingit were stratified into three social classes: (1) high-class anyaddi, (2) commoners, or kanackideh, and (3) low-class nitckakaku. Individuals and groups were also ranked within the clan and between clans, depending upon their wealth, titles, and achievements. High- class people managed and controlled strategic resources and used them to promote individual and group status. Class and rank remain important in Tlingit villages. Political Organization. Each aboriginal settlement was owned by a localized clan whose claims were documented through stories and symbols, with other clans residing in their village viewed as guests. Leadership and councils at the household, clan, and local moiety levels were traditional political units and remain influential. Today, three ethnic asso- ciations address Tlingit concerns. The Alaska Native Broth- erhood serves as cultural broker and advocate; the Tlingit- Haida Organization with some 14,500 members of Tlingit descent promotes housing and social welfare; and Sealaska, the largest corporation in Alaska, provides growing economic and political clout. Social Control. Shame and rank were powerful motivators for enforcing traditional social norms. Individuals were said to define their status by the way they conducted themselves, with all ill-mannered persons bringing shame upon their lineage and clan. Thus, elders held a tight rein on youths. Fear of accusation of witchcraft or ridicule also influenced behavior. Several Tlingit villages now have their own mayor, city council, police force, and school boards along with other adminis- trative services. Conflict. Aboriginally, conflicts arose over assaults, in- sults, or damages suffered by individuals and groups to them. selves or their property. Such conflicts were usually resolved through payment of wealth or, in some cases, killing the of- fender. Conflicts with Whites over the past century centered around aboriginal resources, civil rights, and civil liberties. Tolowa 353 The persistence of these conflicts contributes to alcohol abuse and other drug abuse. Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Belief. Early records suggest that the Tlingit believed in a creator, Kah-shu-goon-yah, whose name was sacred and never mentioned above a whisper. This primordial grandfather, or "divisible-rich-man," controlled the sun, moon, stars, and daylight in addition to creating all living things. Little more is known of him. The sacred past centers upon Raven (cultural hero, benefactor, trickster, and rascal) who was credited with organizing the world in its present form and in initiating many Tlingit customs. Raven was never represented, symbolized, or made equal with the supreme being who transcended Tlingit legends. The Tlingit inhabited a world filled with spirits, or jek. These spirits could manifest their power through individuals, animals, or things. Since every material object or physical force could be inhabited by a spirit, Tlingit were taught to respect everything in the universe. The penalty for disrespect was the loss of ability to obtain food. Properly purified persons could acquire spirit power for curing illnesses, for protection in warfare, for success in obtaining wealth, and for ceremonial prerogatives. Each Tlingit had a mortal and an immortal spirit. Religious Practitioners. Two options open to youths were to seek good power and help the community or to seek evil power and threaten the community. Every Tlingit had a personal guardian spirit, or tu-kina-jek. Spirit doctors, or ichet, received more powerful spirits and therefore could treat the sick with herbs, discern the presence of evil, predict the future, and protect the community from evil forces. Witches, or nukw-sati, sought evil power and used it to harm others. Ceremonies. Dancing societies never gained a major foothold in Tlingit society as they did in neighboring Northwest Coast tribes. The Tlingit sought their power primarily through their clan spirit doctor whom they trusted to help and not to harm them. Politicoreligious ceremonies called potlatches, or koolex, marked significant events in the life of the clan and its members. Sacred songs, dances, symbols, and stories accompanied all changes in social stature, political leadership, and ceremonial objects within the clan. Arts. Carving of house posts, heraldic screens, chiefs' hats, chiefs' staffs, and weaving of Chilkat blankets were highly ac- claimed. Wood-carvers, metalworkers, and blanket weavers continue to use their traditional clan symbols (kotea) to indi- cate ownership and identity. Medicine. Every family possessed a basic knowledge of herbs and principles of hygiene and for the most part were medically self-sufficient. Occasionally, a spirit doctor, who possessed superior knowledge of herbal medicines and special spirit power, was called in for difficult cases after household remedies failed. Contemporary Tlingit do not hesitate to con- sult modem medical facilities when the need arises. Death and Afterlife. Spirits of the dead traveled to the appropriate level of heaven commensurate with their moral conduct in this life. Morally respectable people went to the highest heaven, Kiwa-a, a realm of happiness; moral delinquents went to a second level, or Dog Heaven, Ketl-kiwa, a place of torment. Individuals remained in the afterworld for a period of time and then returned to this world as a reincarnation of some deceased maternal relative. Bibliography Krause, Aurel (1970). The Tlingit Indians. Translated by Ema Gunther. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Originally published, 1885. Laguna, Frederica de. (1972). Under Mount Saint Elias: The History and Culture of the Yakutat Tlingit. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. Oberg, Kalervo (1973). The Social Economy of the Tlingit Indi- ans. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Originally published, 1937. Tollefson, Kenneth (1976). "The Cultural Foundations of Po- litical Revitalization among the Tlingit." Ph.D. diss., University of Washington. KENNETH TOLLEFSON Tolowa ETHNONYMS: Talawa, Tah-le-wah The Tolowa are an American Indian group numbering about two hundred whose ancestors in the early nineteenth century numbered about twenty-four hundred and were located in the Pacific coast region from the Oregon boundary of California south to Wilson Creek. In 1850 the California gold rush reached the Tolowa area, and in the latter part of the century the Tolowa population was decimated by measles and cholera. Subsequently, they were removed to small reservations and rancherias where most intermarried with other North American Indian groups. The Tolowa spoke an Athapaskan language and were a fishing and gathering people. Traditionally, in the summers on the coast the Tolowa fished for smelt and hunted sea mammals from forty-foot redwood canoes; in the autumn they moved inland to temporary camps where they fished for salmon and gathered acorns. Prestige was gained through the accumulation of wealth, consisting primarily of obsidian knives, headdresses of red-headed woodpecker scalps and dentalium shell bead necklaces; the wealthiest man in a village was usually its headman. The important religious ceremonies of the Tolowa were connected with catching the season's first salmon, smelt, or sea lion. Both men and women could serve as shamans and cured the sick by dancing, trancing, magical formulas, and sucking the sources of evil out of the afflicted. The dead were wrapped in tule mats and buried along with shell beads and other objects.

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