Tlingit Tribe

                 Today in class we were assigned to groups that we would be working with to learn more about different Tribes. My group was the Tlingit Tribe, a tribe that I have never heard of before. My group worked together to collaborate a powerpoint on this tribe that we would later introduce to our classmates, so that they were able to learn a little background information on the Tlingit Tribe as well. The Tlingit Tribe was a tribe that was located from the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. They are known to live in Southeastern Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon in Canada. There culture is different then ours in many ways, one being that their language is known to be an endangered  language and most Tlingit people today are speaking english rather then the Tlingit language. The elders that were and that are apart of the tribes are still trying to keep their native language alive, they don't want to see it die out. Tlingit is a very complicated language.  There are many sounds that don't exist in english, which makes it very tricky to learn.

            The Tlingit Tribe is also very into the culture of art. They spend a lot of time weaving baskets, making chilikat robes and carving.  Carving is the largest example of artwork in this tribe.  They create artwork on totem poles, much life family crests and the creation of some animals. Because of their culture they also wear certain types of clothing. Their style of clothing was considered to be "art form" they wore a lot of ceremonial dresses along with carved masks. Some also carried special weapons  along with their everyday outfit and appearance and they wore their chilikat robes. For survival and food this tribe relied on fishing. They were known to be fishing people. The males often spent time outside catching fish and sea mammals from their canoes so that they were able to provide their families and themselves with food.  When they weren't out fishing, they were spending their time hunting.  They hunted animals such as deer, mountain goats, caribou, moose and some birds. The women were also able to help out when it came to supplying food. Although they did not hunt they were able to gather small things to eat such as shellfish, seaweed, berries and even some roots right from the ground. This tribe had a routine and a certain way of doing things and surviving.

             When it came to their living environment their main territories were the mainland coasts, islands, bays of southeast Alaska and British Columbia. This tribe spread through many different locations and areas. The land was usually made up of tall dense forests, oceans, mountains and even rivers. The climate was not always the best, this tribe had to deal with cold and rainy winters due to their location. Their living conditions weren't bad at all though! They were able to have a roof over their head. They lived in rectangular plank houses that were built from red cedar trees or from fir and spruce trees and they often painted their houses due to their family symbols. The houses all had unique designs on the outside. These houses are so big that they can fit up to 50 tribes members in them at once. This allowed everyone to have shelter and a place to sleep at night. This tribe did whatever it as they needed to do to make it. They had one inspirational individual who they looked up to and who helped them. He went by the name of Sitting Bull and he was a Native America Chief.


            This is all the information my group was able to gather on the Tlingit Tribe. We provided this information to our classmates and were able to give them a little insight on what is was like to be apart of the Tlingit Tribe and what your everyday life and duties were. Men often hunted and built things, while women worked on art and family chores. I was able to learn a lot about a Tribe I had no idea even existed in a short period of time.


Here's the Link  to our Powerpoint Presentation on the Tlingit Tribe, Hope you enjoy!