Prehistoric Pacific Northwest: Shell Mounds, Culture, Religion, Migrations, Languages, Clans, Power/Elites, Inequality, and Slavery

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Tlingit language

Haida language

Tsimshian language

Heiltsuk language (Heiltsuk, also known as Bella Bella, not be confused with Salish-speaking Nuxalk peoples, called Bella Coola)

Kwakwaka’wakw language

Nuu-chah-nulth language

Salishan languages

Chinook languages

Penutian languages

Athabaskan languages (part of the Na-Dené: Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit)

Groundhog Bay

On Your Knees Cave

Namu, British Columbia

Blue Jackets Creek archaeological site

Pander Canal archaeological site

Pre-contact: distribution of North, Central, and South American language families and their Deities/Paganism or Religious/Spiritual beliefs like Shamanism/or “medicine people”

Indigenous Religion and Monuments of the Land: Ancient Earthworks/Rockworks; Rings and Mounds in Canada

Shell Mounds, Earth Mounds, Raised Platforms, and Pyramids: which I think are somewhat related in mythology thinking and culture beliefs

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Indigenous Pre-Columbian Brazilian Shell Mounds and Amazonian Earthworks, Q-DNA migrations and the Spread of Culture and Religious thinking

Old Cordilleran (Stone tool) culture was seen in the Central and Southern parts of the Pacific Northwest

“The old Cordilleran culture, also known as the Cascade phase, is an ancient culture of Native Americans that settled in the Pacific Northwestern region of North America that existed from 9000 or 10000 BCE until about 5500 BCE. The Cascade phase may be even older, depending on when human beings first arrived in America. They originated in Alaska, and migrated to occupy a wide area as far as Idaho and the plateaus of California, but they are generally not considered to be a maritime society. However, their spear points, or points resembling theirs, have been found as far south as Mexico and South America. This was the typical artifact of these people — a simple, bi-facial, leaf-shaped projectile point which average about 6 cm (2.4 in) in length. These tools were used as spears or darts, or also knives, indicating the importance of hunting, although they also fished and gathered for subsistence. However, the main dependence was on land hunting, mostly of deer, bison, and other large mammals. The culture possibly spoke a Macro-Penutian language (a hypothetical macrofamily which may include Penutian, Uto-Aztecan, and some other language families). This culture also created the oldest attested examples of art in the Pacific Northwest.” ref

Uto-Aztecan languages

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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“The Mesoamerican language area is a sprachbund containing many of the languages natively spoken in the cultural area of Mesoamerica. This sprachbund is defined by an array of syntactic, lexical, and phonological traits as well as a number of ethnolinguistic traits found in the languages of Mesoamerica, which belong to a number of language families, such as Uto-Aztecan, Mayan, Totonacan, Oto-Manguean and Mixe–Zoque languages as well as some language isolates and unclassified languages known to the region. Similarities have been noted between many of the languages of Mesoamerica. In their 1986 paper “Meso-America as a Linguistic Area” the above authors explored several proposed areal features of which they discarded most as being weakly attested, possibly by chance or inheritance or not confined to the Mesoamerican region. However, five traits in particular were shown to be widely attested among the languages, with boundaries coinciding with that of the Mesoamerican region and having a probable origin through diffusion.” ref

Olmecs, Mayans, Aztecs, Isthmo-Colombians, and Incas: their differences and similarities, Origins, DNA, Languages, Cultures, Religions, and Gods

Tlingit-related people and California

“Even with today’s DNA testing, the origin of the Tlingit people is not certain. It is generally accepted they came from the Eastern Hemisphere across the Bering Strait and down into Southeastern Alaska. Some believe the ancient imigration by-passed the glacier-choked panhandle and instead populated parts of California and the Lower 48, even as far south as South America, and then returned later when the ice had receded. Others believe some of these ancient travelers remained to settle this area. The ocean provided not only food, but also a transportation corridor. Highly skilled navigators with seaworthy canoes, the Tlingit thought nothing of paddling for days in any direction. The Chilkats and Chilkoots also had overland routes to the interior. A great trade empire was established from interior Alaska/Canada south to northern California. In the Americas, this trade empire was rivaled in size only by the Incas.” ref

“Somewhat similar to Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest, the Indigenous peoples of California, at least most tribes practiced forest gardening or permaculture and controlled burning to ensure the availability of food and medicinal plants as well as ecosystem balance.” ref

“The indigenous people practiced various forms of sophisticated forest gardening in the forests, grasslands, mixed woodlands, and wetlands to ensure availability of food and medicine plants. They controlled fire on a regional scale to create a low-intensity fire ecology; this prevented larger, catastrophic fires and sustained a low-density “wild” agriculture in loose rotation. By burning underbrush and grass, the natives revitalized patches of land and provided fresh shoots to attract food animals. A form of fire-stick farming was used to clear areas of old growth to encourage new in a repeated cycle; a permaculture.” ref

“Tribes in California lived in societies where men and women had different roles. Women were generally responsible for weaving, harvesting, processing, and preparing food, while men were generally responsible for hunting and other forms of labor. It was also noted by Juan Crespi and Pedro Fages of “men who dressed as women” being an integral part of native society. The Spanish generally detested these people, who they referred to as joyas in mission records. With colonialism “joyas were driven from their communities by tribal members at the instigation of priests and made homeless.” The joyas traditionally were responsible for death, burial, and mourning rituals and performed women’s roles.” ref

“Haplogroup Q1a3a is a Y chromosome haplogroup generally associated with the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Q-M3 mutation appeared on the Q lineage roughly 10 to 15 thousand years ago, as the migration throughout the Americas was underway by the early Paleo-Indians. The Na-Dené, Inuit, and Indigenous Alaskan populations exhibit haplogroup Q (Y-DNA) mutations, however, which are distinct from other indigenous Amerindians along with various mtDNA mutations. This suggests that the migrant ancestors of the current inhabitants of the northern extremes of North America and Greenland derived from later migrant populations. Genetic analyses of HLA I and HLA II genes as well as HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 gene frequencies links the Ainu people of Japan to some Indigenous peoples of the Americas, especially to populations on the Pacific Northwest Coast such as Tlingit. The scientists suggest that the main ancestor of the Ainu and of some Native American groups can be traced back to Paleolithic groups in Southern Siberia.” ref

“Populations carrying Q-M3 are widespread throughout the Americas. Since the discovery of Q-M3, several subclades of Q-M3 bearing populations have been discovered in the Americas as well. An example is in South America, where some populations have a high prevalence of SNP M19, which defines subclade Q-M19. M19 has been detected in 59% of Amazonian Ticuna men and in 10% of Wayuu men. Subclades Q-M19 and Q-M199 appear to be unique to South American populations and suggests that population isolation and perhaps even the establishment of tribes began soon after migration into the Americas. Q-M19 lineage is found among Indigenous South Americans, and is approximately 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. The Kennewick Man has a Y chromosome that belongs to the most common sub-clade Q1b1a1a-M3 while the Anzick’s Y chromosome belongs to the minor Q1b1a2-M971 lineage.” ref

NORTH AMERICAN OBSIDIAN

“Obsidian is restricted to volcanic regions, and in the United States, obsidian outcrops are widely distributed in the Mountain West, Southwest, California, Oregon, and Washington State.  Many of these sources are represented among Native American artifacts housed in the Museum’s North American collections.   The Field Museum Anthropology Department recently began building up a collection of obsidian source samples from the American West for use in identifying the sources from which these artifacts originated.  During survey work in the Fall of 2010, Field Museum researchers visited sources in northern Arizona and New Mexico.  Additional source samples, provided by archaeologists at Idaho State University, have been acquired from important sources in Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming.  At present, more than 30 chemically distinct sources are represented in our North American obsidian collections.” ref

Obsidian Sources from Southeast Alaska

“In this study archaeologists looked at stone implements–microblade cores–made of obsidian from prehistoric sites across Southeast Alaska that are dated to roughly 10,000 years ago. The suite of six sites (Groundhog Bay II, Hidden Falls, Irish Creek, Shuk‐Kaa Cave, Neck Lake Terrace, and Shaheen Falls) examined here mark the first archaeologically visible human occupation of the islands of Southeast Alaska. Researchers used chemical analyses to recognize distinctive geochemical fingerprints of both artifacts and geological sources and, in turn, were able to reconstruct ancient paths of transport or trade.” ref

“Most of the tools were found to come from a local source of high-quality obsidian found at Obsidian Cove on Suemez Island, Alaska and these were transported over distances up to 220 miles. A few obsidian cores were derived from a slightly closer source in interior British Columbia, Mount Edziza, at roughly 180 miles in a straight line distance, but which would have required a circuitous riverine or overland route to access. Prehistoric use of a newly documented source of obsidian from Zim Creek on Kupreanof Island, Alaska is described here for the first time.” ref

“Glenrose Cannery Site: Old Cordilleran period, which is between 5,000 and 9,000 years old.” ref

 “Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock.” ref

An Overview of Alaskan’s Prehistoric Cultures: https://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/oha/publications/oha173overviewofalaskaprehistory.pdf

Early Peoples

“Lt. Whidbey was not the first to see Glacier Bay. His record includes mention of the natives who paddled out in their canoes from what is now Pt. Carolus to meet his boats and offer to trade. Were these descendents of the people who once lived in the Bay but were forced out by the advancing glacier? Tlingit oral history is corroborated by modern science — it appears that lower Glacier Bay was habitable for many centuries up until about 300 years ago, when a final glacial surge would have forced the human habitants to flee their homeland. A rich oral tradition and detailed place names speak volumes of the history of the area. How long they might have been there is unknown. There were people living over 9,000 years ago at nearby Groundhog Bay, but we may never know who they were. A site on Baranof Island shows that people with an unmistakable northwest coast culture have been in the region for at least the last 3,000 years.” ref

“Even as Glacier Bay itself lay encased in ice, native people carried on their activities in many places along the nearby coast, places that may have been free of ice for as long as 13,000 years. The oldest known site in Glacier Bay National Park, located in Dundas Bay, is about 800 years old. Natives were at Lituya Bay, on the park’s wild outer coast, to greet Lapérouse in 1786. Although a series of earthquake-triggered tidal waves, the latest in 1959, devastated most of the shoreline of Lituya Bay, a pocket of undisturbed forest still harbors archeological evidence of their life there. The Tlingit have traditionally occupied much of Southeast Alaska, from Yakutat in the North to Ketchikan in the South. Oral history and scientific findings corroborate that the ancestors of the Huna Tlingit occupied Glacier Bay long before the last glacier advance. This place was their home and was known as S’e Shuyee or “edge of the glacial silt.” ref

A Place Where Chitons are Cooked: The Bear Cove Fauna in the Context of the Origins of Northwest Coast Maritime Culture by Catherine Carlson

“Abstract: The Bear Cove site (EeSu 8) was excavated in 1978 on the northern end of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The 8,200 years ago stratigraphic sequence included shell midden and non-shell deposits, an early Pebble Tool Tradition artifact assemblage and later Developmental Northwest Coast artifact assemblages, radio-carbon dated samples (uncalibrated), and extensive faunal remains. This paper will present an overview of the hitherto unreported complete faunal assemblage from the early 8,020 years ago component, to the later post-4,000 years old shell midden components of the site. The faunal data indicate a record of a fully marine-adapted culture that has focused on the sea for subsistence since the early occupation.” ref

“Pacific Northwest, showing early Holocene sites: Northwest Coast : (1) Bear Cove EeSu-8, (2) Chuck Lake Crg-237, (3) Glenrose Cannery DgRr6, (4) Kilgii Gwaay (1325T), (5) Tahkenitch 35DO130; Plateau : (6) Bernard Creek Rockshelter 10IH483, (7) Bob’s Point 45KL219, (8) Kirkwood Bar 10IH699, (9) Lind Coulee 45GR97, (10) Marmes 45FR50 (includes Rockshelter and Floodplain localities), (11) Plew 45DO387, (12) The Dalles Roadcut 35WS8; and South-Central Northwest Coast (A) and Northern Columbia Plateau (B) subareas.” https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Pacific-Northwest-showing-early-Holocene-sites-Northwest-Coast-1-Bear-Cove-EeSu-8_fig1_226649913

Weaving and Mythology: Spider Grandmother/Woman (rarely Spider Grandfather/Man), often related with moon deities, and/or WISE/Intelligent Creator/Crafter, seen in Indigenous Beliefs in the Americas as well as around the World

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Pacific Northwest Roots of Formline Style

Pacific Period 4400 BCE – 1775 CE

• Early Pacific 4400 BCE – 1800 BCE
• Middle Pacific 1800 BCE – 200 CE
• Late Pacific CE 200/500 – 177″ ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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“90% of food comes from the water/sea. Shell mounds in the Pacific Northwest show signs of differing social status/stratified society. While some burials had burial goods, and yet other burials had none.” ref

Hunter-Gather’s Societal Complexity seems to have started 6,400 years ago. And group diversification, like the language of the Tlingit, emerged around 5,000 years ago.

Shell Middens and Midden Burials in Southern Strait of Georgia Prehistory

“Shell Middens/Shell Mounds are the predominant site type forming the archaeological record of the southern Strait of Georgia region for the last 5000 years and have provided much of the information used in the development of regional chronologies and archaeological reconstructions.” ref

RECYCLING THE SOUL: Death and the Continuity of Life in Coast Salish Burial Practices.

“ABSTRACT: The death rituals of a culture define the interaction between the world of the living and the land of the dead. This thesis examines how the Coast Salish depict this connection through an analysis of both archaeological and historical evidence and Coast Salish oral histories and interviews. I maintain that there are continuities that can be traced from the earliest midden burials of the “prehistoric” era through the time of contact and the missionary period into the present time. These practices illustrate that the perception of community extends beyond the grave in the Coast Salish culture. This connection is characterized by the practice of feeding the dead, which has been an important component of Coast Salish practice for thousands of years. This thesis also discusses some of the changes that have occurred over time and the forces that motivated the Coast Salish to modify their customs.” ref

Link to see Some Artefacts of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest

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“The Strait of Georgia lies between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland, with the Canada-US border running to its south.” ref

Shell Money

“Shell money is a medium of exchange similar to coin money and other forms of commodity money, and was once commonly used in many parts of the world. Shell money usually consisted of whole or partial sea shells, often worked into beads or otherwise shaped. The use of shells in trade began as direct commodity exchange, the shells having use-value as body ornamentation. The distinction between beads as commodities and beads as money has been the subject of debate among economic anthropologists.” ref

“Shell money has appeared in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia. The shell most widely used worldwide as currency was the shell of Cypraea moneta, the money cowry. This species is most abundant in the Indian Ocean, and was collected in the Maldive Islands, in Sri Lanka, along the Malabar coast, in Borneo and on other East Indian islands, and in various parts of the African coast from Ras Hafun to Mozambique. Cowry shell money was an important part of the trade networks of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia.” ref

“n the east coast of North America, Indigenous peoples of the Iroquois Confederacy and Algonquian tribes, such as the Shinnecock tribe, ground beads called wampum, which were cut from the purple part of the shell of the marine bivalve Mercenaria mercenaria, more commonly known as the hard clam or quahog. White beads were cut from the white part of the quahog or whelk shells. Iroquois peoples strung these shells on string in lengths, or wove them in belts. The shell most valued by the Native American tribes of the Pacific Coast from Alaska to northwest California was Dentalium, one of several species of tusk shell or scaphopod. The tusk shell is naturally open at both ends, and can easily be strung on a thread. This shell money was valued by its length rather than the exact number of shells; the “ligua”, the highest denomination in their currency, was a length of about 6 inches.” ref

“Farther south, in central California and southern California, the shell of the olive snail Olivella biplicata was used to make beads for at least 9,000 years. The small numbers recovered in older archaeological site components suggest that they were initially used as ornamentation, rather than as money. Beginning shortly before 1,000 years ago, Chumash specialists on the islands of California’s Santa Barbara Channel began chipping beads from olive shells in such quantities that they left meter-deep piles of manufacturing residue in their wake; the resulting circular beads were used as money throughout the area that is now southern California. Starting at about CE 1500, and continuing into the late nineteenth century, the Coast Miwok, Ohlone, Patwin, Pomo, and Wappo peoples of central California used the marine bivalve Saxidomus sp. to make shell money.” ref

Dentalia Shell & Bead Necklace

“This necklace is strung with dentalia shells and beads. Dentalium (Antalis pretiosum) are variously sized ocean mollusks that resemble miniature elephant tusks and may grow up to several inches in length.  They first appear in the archaeological record of  Pacific Northwest coastal communities around 4400 BCE, but in small numbers.  After 1800 BCE, dentalium becomes more commonly found—particularly among the graves of high-status individuals.  Archaeologists credit their increased appearance during that time to a corresponding intensification of Native economies—directly related to the stabilization of ocean levels following the end of the Pleistocene ice age.  As more complex trade relations developed along the Northwest Coast, dentalium—also known as hiixwa or haqua—became a highly prized mark of wealth and status, typically displayed as ornaments in clothing and headdresses, used as jewely, and even used in some places as a type of currency.” ref

“Most dentalium entering the indigenous trade network of the Pacific Northwest originated off the coast of Vancouver Island.  Chicklisaht, Kyuquot, and Ehattesaht communities of the Northern Nuu-chah-nulth, inhabitants of the west coast of the island, were the primary source of the shells.  However, the Kwakwaka’wakw of Quatsino Sound and Cape Scott, on the eastern coast, were also large producers.  Harvesters would work from their ocean-going canoes, extending specially-constructed long poles to the dentalium beds on the ocean floor.  At the end of the long poles were large brushes that were pushed into the mollusk beds, ensnaring dentalium in the process.” ref

“Those dentalium destined for the Columbia River trade network found their way south through the hands of the Makah, inhabiting the northwest region of the Olympic Peninsula, and then further south to the Chinookans on the lower Columbia River.  Chinookan traders, in turn, bartered with Sahaptin-speaking peoples from the Interior, and Kalapuyans of the Willamette River Valley.  Each summer, dentalium were also traded at The Dalles/Celilo trade-mart, the largest in the Pacific Northwest.  From there, dentalium made their way east as far as the Great Plains.” ref

Duwamish people

“The Duwamish are a Lushootseed-speaking Southern Coast Salish people in western Washington, and the Indigenous people of metropolitan Seattle. Prior to colonization, the center of Duwamish society was around the Black and Duwamish rivers in Washington. Western Washington has been permanently inhabited since at least 12,000 years ago, to the Pleistocene epoch and the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. Although it is possible that humans lived in the region before that time, the landscape was highly volcanic and unstable, leading to vast alteration of the coastline and rivers over time. Archaeological sites at the former village at West Point (Lushootseed: paq̓ac̓aɬčuʔ) date back at least 4,200 years. Villages at the mouth of the Duwamish River such as həʔapus and t̕uʔəlalʔtxʷ had been continuously inhabited since the 6th century CE.” ref

“In the first half of the 19th century, the Duwamish began facing extreme raiding from the Lekwiltok and Kwakwaka’wakw, who raided much of the Puget Sound area for slaves and loot. Food resources varied, and resources were not always sufficient to last through to spring. There is evidence that an extensive trade and potlatch network evolved to help distribute resources to areas in need that varied year to year, and was potent and effective until European diseases arriving in the 1770s and ravaged the region for more than a century.” ref

“By 1851, the Duwamish had 17 villages with at least 93 buildings, including longhouses, around the present-day Seattle area. There were four prominent villages on Elliott Bay and the lower Duwamish River. Before modern civil engineering, the area at the mouth of Elliot Bay had extensive tidelands which were abundantly rich in marine life and a plentiful source of food for the Duwamish. Duwamish contact with Europeans was sporadic until the 1850s. From the early 19th century, the maritime fur trade in the Puget Sound–Strait of Georgia regions greatly accelerated the pace of social and organizational change.” ref

“Like many other Coast Salish societies, traditional Duwamish society was dominated by the village. It was the basis of societal organization for the Puget Sound peoples and, in the pre-contact period, the village was the highest form of social organization. Each village had one or more cedar plank longhouses housing one or more extended families. Longhouses were often divided into sections by dividers made of cattail or cedar, with each family having their own section of the house with a fire pit in the center of the section. A single longhouse could support as few as tens of people, to as many as hundreds of people.” ref

“Although the village was the highest form of social cohesion, it was not centralized. There were no formal organs of government or authority which ruled over a village. Although members of the Duwamish have been historically called “chiefs,” the Duwamish (along with other Puget Sound peoples) did not have chiefs. Rather, that term was bestowed upon important individuals of local villages by members of the United States government and the general public. In reality, authority was entrusted to high-status individuals when called for, such as leading a war party, constructing a house, or gathering berries. The highest-status male of the highest-status family in a village was generally seen as the leader of the village for most purposes, and this position fluctuated often.” ref

“For most of their history, the Duwamish were not a unified tribe. Instead, villages were completely autonomous, linked by shared language, culture, location, and family. While some villages held higher status and had a certain influence over others, there was no official authority of one village over another. Duwamish villages, due to their geographical and familial closeness, were historically tightly allied within their drainage. Duwamish villages also were closely allied with their neighbors, such as the Hachuamish, the Sammamish, the Snoqualmie, the Stkamish, the Puyallup, the Homamish, Suquamish, and many more. As marrying distant peoples to get unique access to far-away resources was ideal, some Duwamish intermarried and allied with peoples as far away as the Stillaguamish. Good marriages gave prestige and could result in the gain of material wealth.” ref

“Intermarriage between villages created a large trade network stretching across much of the Pacific Northwest, extending up into what is now British Columbia and over the Cascade Range. The Puget Sound was the primary waterway connecting the Lushootseed-speaking peoples with the rest of the world, allowing swift water travel across great distances. Duwamish society was divided into an upper class, lower class, and slave class. Each of these classes were largely hereditary, although social movement did happen. Nobility was based on impeccable genealogy, inter-tribal kinship, wise use of resources, and possession of esoteric knowledge about the workings of spirits and the spirit world, making an effective marriage of class, secular, religious, and economic power. There were physical distinctions for high-status individuals: mothers carefully shaped the heads of their young babies, binding them with cradle boards just long enough to produce a steep sloping forehead.” ref

Traditional Jewelry of the Pacific Northwest (Common Aspects Across Tribes)

 Pacific Northwest, specifically Seattle, is the traditional land of the Duwamish People. 

“Dentalium, also referred to as hiqua or hiixwa, was a tubular mollusk predominately harvested off of the coast of Vancouver Island. The shell of the creature has held a place of significance to many coastal communities with archaeological finds dating pieces of dentalium back to 4400 BCE or around 6,400 years ago. Often strung into necklaces with other beads, or sewn onto clothing or hats, it often was a marker of wealth within the community. Dentalium acted as currency in certain situations, being traded out as far as the Northern Plains tribes.” ref

“Abalone was another shell that is used in jewelry to show status. The iridescent quality of the shell caught the light and gave a regal quality to whatever they adorned. Commonly its use was to decorate ceremonial regalia and totem poles. For the Kwakwaka’wakw, abalone earrings and painted spruce-root hats were worn by women of the highest status in the community.” ref

“Cedar holds great significance to coastal tribes being seen as having its own spirit. These trees hold the sentiment of strength and revitalization. Red and Yellow cedar was a part of every aspect of life, from housing to hunting to clothing. The woven fibers are used in aspects of dancers’ regalia such as head and neck rings, as well as wristlets.” ref

“Trade Beads were glass beads that were added to the repertoire of PNW indigenous post-contact with Western traders. The beads had origins in Italy and Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic). The blue color was coveted due to the lack of natural materials in the region that could produce a strong color like the Europeans were providing. It was noted that trading was difficult with the Pacific Coast indigenous without the presence of these blue beads.” ref

“Repousse Technique was a common metalworking technique where metal is shaped from the reverse side. Malleable metals such as copper, silver, and gold were hammered to create low-relief designs of family crests and other crest figures.” ref

Mid-Holocene culture and climate on the Northwest Coast of North America

“Abstract: This chapter reviews the cultural dynamics as a result of climatic changes in the Northwest Coast of North America. It reviews the paleoclimatic and archaeological records of this region to establish possible causal relationships between them. It suggests that on the Northwest Coast of North America, the middle Holocene was a time of changing climate and culture. The mid-Holocene climate of the Northwest Coast was cooler and wetter than the early Holocene, but warmer and somewhat drier than today. 5800 cal yr BP (5000 14C yr BP) is viewed as a major turning point in the prehistory of the Northwest Coast. Compared to the early Holocene, during the mid-Holocene the number of archaeological sites increased, their average size was larger, and shell middens became common, preserving bone and antler technologies as well as abundant faunal remains. To explain this, the study presents a synthesis of mid-Holocene environmental history based on records of pollen, plant macrofossil, charcoal, limnologic, glacial, and marine sediments. It indicates that the environmental changes during the transition from early Holocene to mid-Holocene and then late Holocene were registered throughout the Northwest Coast, and superimposed on these long-term shifts, were climate variations that took place more locally on annual-to-centennial time scales. Finally, it suggests a collaboration and frequent data sharing between paleoecologists and archaeologists as an obvious first step in approaching the effects of climate change on culture.” ref 

Ancient Shell Middens of The Pacific Northwest

“Indian Tribes have harvested shellfish in the Pacific Northwest for more than 4,000 years. The Japanese are credited with pioneering shellfish aquaculture techniques. The Olympia oyster, the only native Northwest oyster, is named after and helped bring the state capital to Olympia.” ref

The Chemicals Between Us: A Geoarchaeological Analysis of a Shell Midden and Patterns of Deposition at the Woodstock Farm Site, Chuckanut Bay, Washington

“Abstract Human settlement of the Gulf of Georgia region by hunter-forager peoples began nearly 5000 years ago, culminating in the familiar Developed Northwest Coast Pattern exhibited in many Marpole Phase archaeological sites beginning 2400 years BP throughout the Gulf of Georgia region. The physical remnants of the intensive shellfish collection and processing that took place on the Northwest Coast are in shell midden deposits: archaeological sites that contain an abundance of discarded shell, bones, lithic tools, and charcoal. The preceding Locarno Beach Phase (3500-2400 BP), particularly in the southern Gulf of Georgia region, is less well understood by archaeologists because of the past academic focus on northern Marpole Phase sites.” ref

“The Woodstock Farm site (45WH55) is a Locarno Beach Phase shell midden located in the southern Gulf of Georgia, adjacent to Chuckanut Bay in Whatcom County, Washington. Recorded in 1974, the site has been the subject of three Western Washington University archaeological field schools in 2005, 2007, and 2010, and the shell midden identified on the bluff has been the focus of study for past Anthropology graduate theses at WWU. This thesis applies a program of geoarchaeological analysis, including radiocarbon dating, grain size analysis, magnetic susceptibility, and phosphorous values, to twenty five matrix samples from the approximately 4-square meter exposed beach profile shell midden below the bluff of 45WH55. To date, there has been no geochemical or geophysical lab analysis to help interpret the depositional processes that created the complex stratigraphy that characterizes the exposed shell midden in the beach profile at 45WH55. The numerous ash lenses, layers of burnt shell, and charcoal in the shell midden indicates repeating task-specific activities that are more typical of postLocarno Beach phases. The purpose of these tests was to describe the human activities that created the distinct and repeating layers by combining macro-level observations of the stratigraphy with micromorphological analysis of the collected midden samples.” ref

“The goals were to distinguish between depositional processes present in the midden and identify archaeological features related to anthropogenic subsistence activities. The results of the laboratory tests supported the hypothesis that the shell midden is the result of in-situ anthropogenic deposition, and not contemporaneous with the Locarno Beach phase portion of 45WH55 on the upper bluff. The midden yielded later Phase dates between 508 BP and 933 BP, indicating over a thousand years of continued use of 45WH55 for intensive shellfish collection and processing. I detected evidence of hearth reuse, which aligns with the intensive, specialized subsistence activities that are expressed in later Phase archaeological sites throughout the Gulf of Georgia. This research will add to our knowledge about the history of occupation of the Woodstock Farm site.” ref

It seems apt that a clam shell would be part of an origin story in the coastal Pacific Northwest. Thousands of years of shell middens — old refuse deposits — are testament to shellfish’s role in sustaining people here.

“The receding of the glaciers left behind a pleasant homeland for shellfish. Clams were accessible on sandy beaches. On Haida Gwaii, the Haida’s island homeland, people were living sustainably on game and shellfish as early as nearly 11,000 years ago, not long after the ice retreated and Raven coaxed humanity into the daylight. Indigenous people throughout the Northwest coast dug for clams, carrying special clam baskets and using digger sticks to chase them down. Many middens were the result of processing large numbers of clams, which were often smoked and dried for later consumption or trade. Dried and smoked clams made their way over the mountains. People far from the sea could still enjoy some briny goodness.” ref

“The cultivation of clam beds by Indigenous people is one phenomenon that is being revived. Many Native peoples made “clam gardens.” Some argue the term is a misnomer because the gardens involved a variety of techniques and serious heavy lifting. Shorelines were re-engineered to expand sandy beaches. Rocks were removed to increase clam habitat. Walls and revetments were erected to improve cultivation. Aquaculture here is thousands of years old.” ref

Shell midden and tree health hypothesis confirmed in Pacific Northwest forests

“Indeed, it’s becoming clear that native people of North America knew how to grow big trees! In 2006 I published a peer-reviewed chapter titled “Ecological evidence of large-scale silviculture by California Indians” in the book Unlearning the Language of Conquest (Four Arrows, ed.). In that chapter I proposed the hypothesis that “the many types of refuse mounds and middens, including shell middens, bone middens, and rock middens originate not from the gradual accumulation of the waste products of daily living, but rather from the intentional stockpiling of gathered or recycled lime-rich materials for use as mineral fertilizers.” A careful review of the literature at the time indicated to me that this hypothesis was novel to modern science, though not at all novel to traditional ecological knowledge. Furthermore, I provided evidence for the fertilization effect of midden materials on trees that I collected from a giant sequoia grove in central California and from a grove of western hemlock and Sitka spruce trees in southeastern Alaska, which I attributed to intentional tending by native people.” ref

“Now, ten years later, comes a study published in Nature Communications detailing the positive effects of shell middens on the growth and health of western redcedar trees in coastal British Columbia. The paper, “Intertidal resource use over millennia enhances forest productivity” (by A.J. Trant et al. 2016. Nature Communications 7:12491) makes several key points that are relevant to my original hypothesis. These include: “Pockets of enhanced forest productivity are associated with increased phosphorous availability resulting from higher soil pH from the slow leaching of calcium from shell middens along with the nutrient amendments of past fires.” “Western redcedar (Thuja plicata) trees growing on the middens were found to be taller, have higher wood calcium, greater radial growth, and exhibit less top die-back.” ref

“Coastal British Columbia is the first known example of long-term intertidal resource use enhancing forest productivity and we expect this pattern to occur at archaeological sites along coastlines globally.” This last point I take some exception to, as Trant et al. fail to recognize that examples of the same phenomenon were reported ten years earlier in my peer-reviewed publication noted above. I might have given them a pass for unintentionally overlooking my work, except that when I do a google search on “shell middens and tree health” my 2006 publication shows up on the first page of results. Perhaps the authors were careless in their searches, or viewed the evidence I reported as somewhat scant, which I agree it was. But any peer-reviewed hypothesis with supportive evidence, scant or not, deserves to be cited and recognized as taking precedent to any later work.” ref

Shell Midden Archaeology: Current Trends and Future Directions

ref

“Approximate locations for localities, key sites, complexes, or regions discussed in the text. Open circles denote key underwater/intertidal sites. 1. Aleutian Islands (eastern), 2. Kodiak/Chirikof, 3. Port Houghton/southeast Alaska, 4. Kilgii Gwaay/Haida Gwaii, 5. Quadra Island, BC, 6. Seaside, Oregon, 7. Northern California, 8. San Francisco Bay, 9. Central California, 10. California Channel Islands, 11. Escorpiones site, 12. San Felipe region/Totoaba, 13. Isla Cedros, 14. Espirtu Santo, 15. Coquile, 16. Yazoo River, 17. Green River, 18 Maine, 19. Ninigret Pond, 20. Connecticut/Pequot, 21. Chesapeake Bay, 22. Sea Pines, SC, 23. Georgia Coast Mounds, 24. St. Johns River, 25. Econfina, 26. Shell Mound/Crystal River, 27. Mound Key, 28. Florida Keys, 29. Chantuto, 30. Maya submerged site, 31. Puerto Rico, 32. Costa Rica, 33. Sitio Drago, 34. Pearl Islands, 35. Cariacou, 36. Huaca Prieta, 37. La Yerba 2, 38 Quebrada Jaguay, 39. Ring site, 40. Zapatero, 41. El Teniete Bay, 42 Punta Ñagué, 43. Beagle Channel, 44. Isla Grande, 45. Minas sites, 46. Saco de Pedra, 47. Lannos de Moxos, 48. Saquarema region sambaquis, 49. Babitanga Bay sambaquis, 50. Santa Marta/Camacho sambaquis, 51. Orkney, 52. Denmark, 53. Hjarnø, 54. Brittany, 55. Cantabria, 56. Figuria Brava and Muge, 57. Gibraltar, 58. Bajondillo Cave, 59. Grotta d’ Orienta, 60. Early Moroccan middens, 61. Canary Islands, 62. Saloum Delta, 63. Elands Bay (megamiddens), 64. Yserfontein/Pinnacle Point/Klasies River Mouth, 65. Eastern South Africa. 66. Velondriake, 67. Comoros Islands, 68. Mafia Archipelago, 69. Panga ya Saidi, 70. Jizan/Hodeidah, 71. Farasan Islands, 72. H3, Kuwait, 73. Khor, Qatar, 74. ar-Ramlah, 75. Oman, 76. Daun-1, Pakistan, 77. South Sri Lanka, 78. Andaman Islands, 79. Guar Kepah, 80. Vietnam caves, 81. Guangxi, 82. Ryuku Islands, 83. Higashimyo, 84. Awazu, 85. Nakazato, 86. South Korea sites, 87. Sakiyama, 88. Kitogane, 89. Kuril Islands, 90. Western Aleutians Islands, 91. Cagayan Valley, 92. Bubog 1 Rockshelter, 93. Palau, 94. Lene Hara, East Timor, 95. Matenbeck Cave, New Ireland, 96. Caution Bay, 97. Torres Strait, 98. Albatross Bay, 99. Blue Mud Bay, 100. Barrow Island, 101. Southwest Australia middens, 102. Moyjil, 103. Willandra Lakes/Murray/Darling, 104. Curtis coast middens, 105. Shag River, 106. Tata beach, 107. Aukland Isthmus, 108. Fiji, 109. Kiribati, 110. Hawaii” ref

Trends and strategies in shellfish gathering on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America

“Abstract: Analyses of shellfish remains from sites on the Pacific Northwest Coast show a mix of temporal and spatial trends, which have been variously attributed to human impacts on populations or to environmental changes. We review studies from a number of sites throughout the region and from an area on the central coast of British Columbia to show local and regional trends in species emphasis, which are generally consistent with opportunistic use of environmentally available resources. Against this backdrop, we present growth increment analysis of clam shell (Saxidomus gigantea and Tresus capax) from central coast sites that indicates a variety of specific patterns and longer term strategies in shellfish use. These include casual collection from the immediate vicinity of smaller campsites, intensive harvest at specialized locations, and selective gathering from base camps and villages. The results of this multi-site study point to the complex variety of patterns likely to be evident throughout the region, and highlight the value of new research strategies and methods. The archaeological history of shellfish use on the Northwest Coast has not generally been the subject of sustained systematic investigation, despite the ubiquity of shell in coastal sites. Research has not developed much beyond descriptions of site contents, trial seasonality studies, taphonomic analyses, and initial observations of trends in species representation or shell size, which are attributed to either human predation or environmental change. Any implications for variable and developing collection strategies over time have been difficult to evaluate with the available data. We briefly review current knowledge and investigations of shellfish use on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America, and present the initial results of a more extensive, multi-site investigation on the central coast of British Columbia. These results are beginning to reveal specific patterns of shellfish use, and indicate more general strategies of harvest and management extending to as early as 5000 years ago.” ref 

North America

• 4130 BCE: Toggling harpoons are invented somewhere in eastern Siberia, spreading south into via trade into Japan and east into North America, where they are ancestral to the sophisticated designs of the Inuit and later European whalers.
• 4000 – 2000 BCE: The Dene-Yeniseian languages split into Na-Dene in North America and Yeniseian languages in Siberia. The connection is commonly thought to have been the result of a back-migration of early American Indians in Beringia back into Siberia, forming the Yeniseian peoples that were once widespread throughout Eurasia.
• Across the Southeastern Woodlands, starting around 4000 BCE, people exploited wetland resources, creating large shell middens.
• Old Copper culture thrives in Oronto northeastern Wisconsin.
• Native Americans in the northern Great Lakes produce copper tools, ornaments, and utensils traded throughout the Great Plains and Ohio Valley representing a high level of social stratification.
• Emergence of the Shield Archaic tradition circa 4500 BCE.
• Around 5000 BCE, Holocene glacial runoff affects the Southwest and notably the Colorado Plateau with stronger storm patterns result in significant rates of soil erosion. Precursors to the migrations of the Ancestral Puebloans lived through this climatic shift in tribes and chiefdoms in the Archaic-Early Basketmaker Era, with cultural and trade connections to the early Cochise cultures. Despite nomadic lifestyles in hunting seasons continuing early on from the 6th millennium BC these cultures also had settlements with store houses. The Cochise culture begins circa 5000 BC alongside the San Dieguito cultures.
• Shell ornaments and copper items at Indian Knoll in Kentucky evidence an extensive trade system over several millennia across North America.
• During this millennium astronomical and theological work continues to develop. Such examples synonymous with the yearly cycle and gift of maize production is the origins of the Green Corn Ceremony.
• The Tehuacán culture (5000-2300 BCE) were likely Proto-Otomanguean speakers that inhabited the area of the Tehuacán valley during the 5th millennium BCE.
• Some estimates using the controversial method of glottochronology suggest an approximate splitting date of the Proto-Otomanguean languages at c. 4400 BCE. This makes the Oto-Manguean family the language family of the Americas with the deepest time depth, as well as the oldest language family with evidence of tonal contrast in the proto-language.
• Cultures of Mesoamerica advance their cultivation of maize further with an introduction of maize (corn) into the inter-Andean valleys of Colombia in this millennia sometimes via highways. Meanwhile, Peruvian cultures continue to advance cultivation of beans and squash circa 4000 BCE. Forest clearing is present especially on the Gulf Coast, with the cultures of Mesoamerica, with social stratification present, workshops, stone settlements, paved roads and an extensive obsidian trade, see Archaic period in Mesoamerica and Gheo-shih. Despite sedentary cultures present within Mexico, typically coastal, nomadic cultures also remain with seasonal occupation, but agriculture yearly and store pits for meats i.e., El Gigante, Honduras. ref

The Caribbean

• Trinidad continues from the 6th to 5th millennium onwards to hold the Ortoiroid archaeological tradition, being the first part of the Caribbean to be settled prior to 3500 BCE.
• Some of the earliest known villages appear along sea coasts, specifically the Chiapas and Caribbean coasts.It is likely that the abundant sea and lagoon resources could easily support long-term, via sea travel and year-round settlements, leading people to settle first in these areas.ref

“Shell mounds in these areas are highly visible, which likely aided in their identification by scholars. Examples like Cerro de las Conchas, which dates between 5500 and 3500 BCE appearing to have been a sea resource collection and processing site. While it seems Cerro de las Conchas was only occupied seasonally, it seems likely that inland base camps were occupied year-round.” ref

South America

• Significant occupation of the Colombian Caribbean coast by polities encompassing sedentary populations has been documented to have occurred by c. 4000 BC.
• The advanced Mexican agriculturalist culture and polities expanded and developed their agricultural practices for millennia now, alongside their Southern intensive trading networks and preistlt rites of fertility brought maize, an ingredient vital for urban civilization was brought to South America. Muisca origins circa 5000 BC in Soacha Tequendama Falls, and through their interrelated expansion Northwards, intensive maize production and permanent settlements are formed distinguishing them from tribes and other polities. Potentially they carried with them major constituent groups of the proto-Chibchan language. This is where legendary hero Bochica is said to have once lived.
• Alongside the Muisca, the Tairona, located in present-day Colombia also began to shift towards long term permanent settlements with agriculture. This shift for these two groups, gives them population advantages over other groups.
• The Amazon rainforest with earlier sourced agricultural polities, experiences migrations and colonization of these now more advanced agriculturalist chiefdoms with their permanent settlements. Conflicts with native tribes in more remote regions would have arose. Rather than being a pristine wilderness, has been shaped by man for at least 11,000 years through practices such as forest gardening, development of terra mulata soils for fertility, construction of highways, trade routes and large complex chiefdoms.
• ancient sites was a major trading hub in Peru (Paredones and Huaca Prieta) In connection to the trading networks to Mexico, maize was farmed here, as early as 4700 BCE, representing networks of trade and agricultural selective breeding, spanning over millennia. Peoples living in complex sedentary structures, along the coast of northern Peru were already eating corn by that time.
• Peruvian advances this side of the world, in domestication of llamas and alpacas since at least 6000 BCE. For the transportation of goods and dung for fertiliser, increases economic growth and agricultural yield when undertaken, thus making this process vital for civilization. This is representative of economic specialisation. Settlements grow all over Peru, significant technological advancements are achieved. Evidence of architectural classes, labour force and social stratification again is noticeable in the Zaña Valley where from 4700 BCE these canals drew and transported water from springs in the Andes mountains region for immense agriculture. Use of the canals ended circa 4500 BC, representing periodic social declines and conflict between polities.
• Clothing alongside social stratification is demonstrable in Peru. 6000-year-old dyed cotton fabric was discovered at the Preceramic site of Huaca Prieta. This marks the earliest recorded use of cotton worldwide. Gossypium barbadense and was domesticated by the cultures in the region. Indigo dye was used for selective clothes, representative of higher classes and economic specialisation. Priest-like roles dedicated to astronomical study and observational seasonal change in relation to Peruvian society’s reliance on agriculture were present.
• Las Vegas culture holds large scale sedentary structures and coastal adaptation with inheritance of agricultural practices from millennia before alongside newly maize production. Experiences a sudden collapse (circa 4600 BC) resulting in a 1000-year gap within the local archaeological record. Maize production originates from Mexico , but within this millennium continues to rapidly spread all over South America further South, reflecting strong trade routes, diffusions of ideas and culture and social networks.
• Lauricocha II: 6000 – 4200 BCE (Andean preceramic IV) ends. ref

“Lauricocha III: 4200 – 2500 BCE (Andean preceramic V) begins. Chiefdoms and fish gatherer-hunter societies dominate. Lauricocha was one of the important mountain encampments at the time. Neolithic period disappears in Argentina circa 4000 bc due to an extensive dry period which would go on to last 2000 years. This may account for racial distinctions between Patagonia whose hunter-gatherer populations remained in the South, and the rest of Argentina.” ref

Americas

• c. 3600 BC – In Colombia, first rupestrian art Chiribiquete (Caquetá).
• c. 3000 BC – First pottery in Colombia at Puerto Hormiga (Magdalena), considered one of the first attempts of pottery of the New World. First settlement at Puerto Badel (Bolívar).
• c. 3600 BC – Evidence of maize domestication appear in the Valley of Tehuacán.
• Norte Chico civilization in Northern Peru starts. ref

“Based on studies by glaciologist Lonnie Thompson, professor at Ohio State University and researcher with the Byrd Polar Research Center, a number of indicators shows there was a global change in climate 5,200 years ago, probably due to a drop in solar energy output.” ref

• The Older Perontransgression was a period identified in 1961 happening between 6,000 and 4,600 years ago when sea levels were 3 to 5 metres higher than today.
• Plants buried in the Quelccaya Ice Capin the Peruvian Andes demonstrate the climate had shifted suddenly and severely to capture the plants and preserve them until now.
• 3750 BC – The last North American mammoths, on Saint Paul Island, Alaska, go extinct. ref

Major changes in plant pollen uncovered from lakebed cores in South America.

• 3051 BCE – The oldest currently (2013) living non-clonal organism germinated in the present-day Grove of the Ancients, Inyo County, California..
• 3114 BCE– One version of the Mayan calendar, known as the Mesoamerican Long Count, uses the epoch of 11 or 13 August 3114 BCE. The Maya Long Count calendar was first used approximately 236 BCE (see Mesoamerican Long Count calendar#Earliest Long Counts. ref

“The 3rd millennium BCE spanned the years 3000 to 2001 BC. This period of time corresponds to the Early to Middle Bronze Age, characterized by the early empires in the Ancient Near East. World population growth relaxed after the burst due to the Neolithic Revolution. World population was largely stable, at roughly 60 million.” ref

Americas

• Mesoamerican Archaic period
• Old Copper Complex
• Caral/Norte Chico civilization
•  3700-1800 BCE: Caral-Supeflourished between the fourth and second millennia BCE, with the formation of the first city generally dated to around 3500 BCE, at Huaricanga, in the Fortaleza area. It is from 3100 BCE onward that large-scale human settlement and communal construction become clearly apparent, which lasted until a period of decline around 1800 BCE.
•  3500-3000 BCE Huaricangais the earliest city of the Norte Chico civilization, called Caral or Caral-Supe in Peru and Spanish language sources. “It existed around 3500 BCE and was the oldest city in the Americas and one of the earliest cities in the world.” It is located in the arid Fortaleza Valley on Peru’s north central coast and is 14 mi (23 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean. The site covers a total area of 100 hectares, and is the largest Late Archaic construction in the Norte Chico region. The three earthwork mounds on the large site are believed to be remains of pyramidal-shaped structures. Two standing stones, known as huancas, also survive. Excavation in 2007 revealed a structure believed to be a temple, of a design similar to, but predating, the Mito architectural tradition seen in the Peruvian highlands. In addition, later research in the Fortaleza and Pativilca valleys has found evidence of maize cultivation, as well as fourteen other domesticated species of fruits and vegetables. This suggests that agriculture may have been more important to the development of Caral-Supe civilization than previously thought, as it was for other independent civilizations of the world, such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and India.
• Pottery develops in Americas(30th century BC).
• Oldest known medicine wheelconstructed in the Americas.
• Era of Buena Vistapyramid/observatory in Peru. ref

ref

Prehistoric Coastal Mass Burials: Did Death Come in Waves?

“Abstract: Recent large tsunamis in the twenty-first century have provided graphic reminders of the catastrophic impacts such natural hazards can have upon coastal communities. Death tolls in the thousands give rise to the rapid adoption of coastal mass burials for the interment of the dead. While recognized as a necessary practice in the aftermath of such contemporary tragedies, the paucity of coastal mass burial sites related to earlier tsunamis reported in the archaeological record is unusual. We establish a suite of criteria for identifying the geological and archaeological evidence of inundation by past tsunamis and review case studies from two well-documented prehistoric coastal mass burial sites in the Southern Hemisphere (Solomon Islands and Vanuatu). To varying degrees, both sites possess numerous characteristics that suggest a direct correlation with previously reported catastrophic palaeotsunamis. In the Northern Hemisphere, we investigate palaeotsunami inundation as an alternative hypothesis for mass burial sites in Orkney and Shetland, a relatively tectonically inactive region where such an association is unlikely to have ever been considered. The nature, chronology and location of these mass burial sites fit well with the proposed archaeological evidence for palaeotsunami inundation, and they also appear to be contemporaneous with the as-yet poorly documented Garth tsunami (~ 5500 years ago). We suggest that a potentially key diagnostic criterion for determining a palaeotsunami linkage is the use of diatom testing on skeletal remains to establish whether death was caused by drowning in saltwater, a test which has never been applied in this context.” ref

Gender, Grave Goods, and Status in British Columbia Burials

“Abstract: A gender-based analysis of burials from the coast of British Columbia shows that there are no significant differences in the frequency of burial, or grave goods between male and female burials. A total of 1,130 burials were examined to identify any differences in age, sex, and grave good types. When examined regionally, within the south, central and north coasts, local patterns in mortuary treatment become apparent. Although the results for the north and south coasts show no difference in the overall frequency of grave goods between males and females, it does show that the south coast has more burials with grave goods and especially burials with ornamental inclusions. The regional differences in mortuary practices are explored through a discussion of descent systems, social structure, and the influence of conflict on mortuary ritual.” ref

“Ancient North Americans started using tobacco around 12,500 to 12,000 years ago, roughly 9,000 years before the oldest indications that they smoked the plant in pipes, a new study finds.” ref

“Ancient pipes and pipe fragments found at five archaeological sites along the Snake and Columbia rivers in Washington contain evidence of tobacco use, new research shows. The finds suggest that indigenous people there smoked tobacco-filled pipes long before Europeans brought the plant west. Chemical traces of nicotine, tobacco’s key ingredient, on the artifacts date to around 1,200 years ago. That’s roughly 600 years before European fur traders were thought to have first introduced domesticated tobacco to Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest, researchers report online October 29 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Cultivated tobacco seeds from roughly 3,500 years ago have been found at archaeological sites in the southern United States, and evidence of the plant’s domestication in South America stretches back almost 8,000 years. But this is the earliest “biomolecular evidence of tobacco use anywhere in the Northwest,” says Shannon Tushingham, an anthropologist at Washington State University in Pullman.” ref

“Native American hunter-gatherers living more than a thousand years ago in what is now northwestern California ate salmon, acorns, and other foods, and now we know they also smoked tobacco — the earliest known usage in the Pacific Northwest, according to a new University of California, Davis, study.” ref

“The English word ‘tobacco’ originates from the Spanish word tabaco. The precise origin of this word is disputed, but it is generally thought to have derived, at least in part, from Taíno, the Arawakan language of the Caribbean. In Taíno, it was said to mean either a roll of tobacco leaves (according to Bartolomé de las Casas, 1552), or to tabago, a kind of L-shaped pipe used for sniffing tobacco smoke (according to Oviedo, with the leaves themselves being referred to as cohiba). However, perhaps coincidentally, similar words in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian were used from 1410 for certain medicinal herbs. These probably derived from the Arabic طُبّاق ṭubbāq (also طُباق ṭubāq), a word reportedly dating to the ninth century, referring to various herbs. According to Iroquois mythology, tobacco first grew out of Earth Woman’s head after she died giving birth to her twin sons, Sapling and Flint.” ref

“Tobacco has long been used in the Americas, with some cultivation sites in Mexico dating back to 1400–1000 BCE or around 3,400 to 3,000 years ago. Many Native American tribes traditionally grow and use tobacco. Historically, people from the Northeast Woodlands cultures have carried tobacco in pouches as a readily accepted trade item. It was smoked both socially and ceremonially, such as to seal a peace treaty or trade agreement. In some Native cultures, tobacco is seen as a gift from the Creator, with the ceremonial tobacco smoke carrying one’s thoughts and prayers to the Creator.” ref

“While the science on tobacco affirms its damaging effects on human health, ancestral views on the plant dissent. Shamanic views, as well as indigenous perspectives on the plant, insist on the sacrality of tobacco and its ritualistic usage as a spiritual and physical medicine. Some Native Americans consider tobacco to be a medicine and advocate for its respectful usage, rather than a commercial one. Indigenous communities have smoked tobacco leaves for thousands of years in order to heal diseases.” ref

“Tobacco smoke enemas were employed by the indigenous peoples of North America to stimulate respiration, injecting the smoke with a rectal tube. Later, in the 18th century, Europeans emulated the Americans. Tobacco resuscitation kits consisting of a pair of bellows and a tube were provided by the Royal Humane Society of London and placed at various points along the Thames.” ref

“There is an old story that says how some strange people came from the western ocean. Among them were two sisters. They landed on Dall Island in Southeastern Alaska. There the sisters met and married men whose people were coming down the rivers from interior North America. One sister went with her family to the Queen Charlotte Islands. Her children grew and multiplied into the Haida Nation. The other sister went with her family to Prince of Wales Island. She became the ancestress or Mother of the Tlingit Nation.” The Proud Chilkat by Brendan and Lauri Larson, 1977.” ref

“Even with today’s DNA testing, the origin of the Tlingit people is not certain. It is generally accepted they came from the Eastern Hemisphere across the Bering Strait and down into Southeastern Alaska. Some believe the ancient immigration bypassed the glacier-choked panhandle and instead populated parts of California and the Lower 48, even as far south as South America, and then returned later when the ice had receded. Others believe some of these ancient travelers remained to settle this area.” ref

“The pre-contact native population of the Pacific Northwest Coast is also difficult to determine. Successive epidemics of measles and smallpox took their toll on native villages, sometimes leaving only one or two survivors. There is no way to determine exactly how many lives were lost due to these new diseases, but it appears that there was a great decline in population in the first half of the nineteenth century.” ref

“Tlingit clan houses were rectangular in shape, longer than they were wide (ie: 50 feet wide, 55 feet long) with a post and beam construction.  The more important houses were partly subterranean with one or two step-like platforms descending to a central square enclosure from four to six feet below the surface of the ground. This photo of the Klukwan Whale House of the Gaanaxteidi (Raven) Clan shows many Clan and House treasures.” ref

“Klukwan is the only original village which remains an active community today. It is considered to be a citadel of Tlingit art and culture. The Tlingit people traditionally embellished their lives with art– even ordinary objects were decorated in highly sophisticated and stylized art forms. Skilled craftsmen, the Chilkat people developed the Chilkat Blanket weave, made spruce root baskets, and were beautiful carvers known for their highly-stylized animal designs. Their artwork is highly prized and sought after today.” ref

Tlingit language

“The Tlingit language (English: /ˈklɪŋkɪt/ ^ⓘ KLING-kit; Lingít Athapascan pronunciation: [ɬɪ̀nkɪ́tʰ]) is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada and is a branch of the Na-Dene language family. Extensive effort is being put into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to revive and preserve the Tlingit language and culture. Tlingit is currently classified as a distinct and separate branch of Na-Dene, an indigenous language family of North America. Sapir initially proposed a connection between Tlingit and Haida, but the debate over Na-Dene gradually excluded Haida from the discussion. Haida is now considered an isolate, with some borrowing from its long proximity with Tlingit.” ref

“Tlingit language may have split from the closely-related Athabaska language five thousand years ago.” ref

Haida language

“Haida is the language of the Haida people, spoken in the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of Canada and on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. Classification of the Haida language is a matter of controversy, with some linguists placing it in the Na-Dené language family and  others arguing that it is a language isolate. Haida itself is split between Northern and Southern dialects, which differ primarily in phonology. The Northern Haida dialects have developed pharyngeal consonants, typologically uncommon sounds which are also found in some of the nearby Salishan and Wakashan languages. Today, however, many linguists regard Haida as a language isolate. This theory is not universally accepted; for example, Enrico (2004) argues that Haida does in fact belong to the Na-Dené family, though early loanwords make the evidence problematic. A proposal linking Na-Dené to the Yeniseian family of central Siberia finds no evidence for including Haida.

“Haida has a major dialectal division between Northern and Southern dialects. Northern Haida is split into Alaskan (or Kaigani) Haida and Masset (or North Graham Island) Haida. Southern Haida was originally split into Skidegate Haida and Ninstints Haida, but Ninstints Haida is now extinct and is poorly documented. The dialects differ in phonology and to some extent vocabulary; however, they are grammatically mostly identical. Northern Haida is notable for its pharyngeal consonants. Pharyngeal consonants are rare among the world’s languages, even in North America. They are an areal feature of some languages in a small portion of Northwest America, in the Salishan and Wakashan languages as well as Haida. The pharyngeal consonants of Wakashan and Northern Haida are known to have developed recently.” ref

“Alaska is home to at least 20 Native languages belonging to four distinct language families. As the term implies, a language family is a group of languages descended from a common ancestor. Languages related in this way often share many resemblances, just as do people descended from a common ancestor. Of course, just as unrelated people may look alike, languages may be similar without being related through a common ancestor.” ref

“In Alaska, it is relatively easy to distinguish language families. The difference between Inuit-Aleut and Athabascan-Eyak-Tlingit is immediately obvious even to the casual listener. First, the sound systems are very different. For example, AET languages all contain ejective, or popping, consonants, while Inuit-Aleut languages do not. Furthermore, the rules of word formation are completely different in the two families. Inuit-Aleut languages build words by adding suffixes to the right end of a word root, while AET languages build words by adding prefixes to the left end of word root.” ref

“The Haida and Tsimshian languages are not related to either the Inuit-Aleut or AET families. Tsimshian is related to three other languages in Canada that together form the Tsimshianic family. Haida, though structurally quite similar to Tlingit, has not been demonstrably related to any other language family in the world. It is a language isolate. Distinguishing between individual languages within a family of related languages is a much more difficult task. The crucial problem is deciding just how much of a difference justifies calling two speech varieties different languages rather than different dialects.” ref

Tsimshianic languages

“The Tsimshian (/ˈsɪmʃiən/; Tsimshian: Ts’msyan or Tsm’syen, also once known as the Chemmesyans) are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace and Prince Rupert, and Metlakatla, Alaska on Annette Island.” ref

“The Tsimshianic languages are a family of languages spoken in northwestern British Columbia and in Southeast Alaska on Annette Island and Ketchikan. All Tsimshianic languages are endangered, some with only around 400 speakers. Only around 2,170 people of the ethnic Tsimshian /ˈsɪmʃiən/ population in Canada still speak a Tsimshian language; about 50 of the 1,300 Tsimshian people living in Alaska still speak Coast Tsimshian. Tsimshianic languages are considered by most linguists to be an independent language family, with four main languages: Coast Tsimshian, Southern Tsimshian, Nisg̱a’a, and Gitksan. The Tsimshianic languages were included by Edward Sapir in his Penutian hypothesis, which is currently not widely accepted, at least in its full form. The Penutian connections of Tsimshianic have been reevaluated by Marie-Lucie Tarpent, who finds the idea probable, though others hold that the Tsimshianic family is not closely related to any other North American language.” ref

Heiltsuk dialect

“The Heiltsuk or Haíɫzaqv /ˈheɪltsək/, sometimes historically referred to as Bella Bella, are an Indigenous people of the Central Coast region in British Columbia, centered on the island community of Bella Bella. Ancestors of the Heiltsuk (Haíɫzaqv) have been in the Central Coast region of British Columbia since at least 7190 BCE or possibly even up to 12,000 BCE as evidenced by a 2017 archaeological study of their traditional home on Triquet Island. The Heiltsuk (Haíɫzaqv) practiced a set of cultural expressions that have been grouped together with other, similar groups under the term “Northwest Coast“. These expressions include organization into extended family groups, linkage to origin stories, ranking and differentiation in status, ownership of non-physical prerogatives, seasonal movement to harvest resources centred on large permanent “winter villages”, sophisticated use of wood, stone and other items, complex ceremonies and elaborate social interactions culminating in the “potlatch“. The Heiltsuk were (and are) renowned for their ceremonies, arts, and spiritual power. The two dimensional style of design – called formline art – or Northwest Coast art – extends along the north coast, the central coast and down to Vancouver Island.” ref

“Skull imagery is usually associated with the Tánis (Hamatsa) ceremony practised by the Heiltsuk and Kwakwakaʼwakw people. Hamatsa is a secret society that is involved ceremonial cannibalism and rituals to return to humanity. Young males are initiated into the community during a four-part ritual in which they are symbolically transformed from flesh-eating cannibals, a state equated with death, into well-behaved members of society. The skull thus symbolizes the rebirth of initiates as they come back from the dead. Skull items are used during the final stages of the ceremony: ritual feeding of the skull, possibly using special ceremonial spoons, precedes a ceremonial meal for the initiates, and the officiating medicine man might wear a skull headdress.” ref

“Heiltsuk /ˈheɪltsək/, Haíłzaqvḷa, also known as Bella Bella and Haihais, is a dialect of the North Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language Heiltsuk-Oowekyala that is spoken by the Haihai (Xai’xais) and Bella Bella First Nations peoples of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, around the communities of Bella Bella and Klemtu, British Columbia. Heiltsuk is considered to be a dialect of Heiltsuk-Oowekyala, which, like neighbouring Haisla and Kwak’wala, are part of the Northern Wakashan language group. Heiltsuk has both conversational and ceremonial forms.” ref

Kwak’wala language

“The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw (IPA: [ˈkʷakʷəkʲəʔwakʷ]), also known as the Kwakiutl (/ˈkwɑːkjʊtəl/; “Kwakʼwala-speaking peoples”), are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw oral history says their ancestors (ʼnaʼmima) came in the forms of animals by way of land, sea, or underground. When one of these ancestral animals arrived at a given spot, it discarded its animal appearance and became human. Animals that figure in these origin myths include the Thunderbird, his brother Kolas, the seagull, orca, grizzly bear, or chief ghost. Some ancestors have human origins and are said to come from distant places. The Kwakʼwala language is a part of the Wakashan language group.” ref

“Historically, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw economy was based primarily on fishing, with the men also engaging in some hunting, and the women gathering wild fruits and berries. Ornate weaving and woodwork were important crafts, and wealth, defined by slaves and material goods, was prominently displayed and traded at potlatch ceremonies. These customs were the subject of extensive study by the anthropologist Franz Boas. In contrast to most non-native societies, wealth and status were not determined by how much you had, but by how much you had to give away. This act of giving away your wealth was one of the main acts in a potlatch.” ref

“Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. As is typical of the Northwest Coast, Wakashan languages have large consonant inventories—the consonants often occurring in complex clusters. Besides the Kwak’wala language being part of the Wakashan language, the Heiltsuk dialect (also known as Bella Bella) and Nuu-chah-nulth is a part. In the 1960s, Swadesh also suggested a connection of the Wakashan languages with the Eskimo–Aleut languages. This was picked up and expanded by Holst (2005). Sergei Nikolaev has argued in two papers for a systematic relationship between the Nivkh language of Sakhalin island and the Amur river basin and the Algic languages, and a secondary relationship between these two together and the Wakashan languages.” ref

Nuu-chah-nulth language 

“The Nuu-chah-nulth are related to the Kwakwaka’wakw, the Haisla, and the Ditidaht First Nation. The Nuu-chah-nulth language belongs to the Wakashan family. The Nuu-chah-nulth were one of the few Indigenous peoples on the Pacific Coast who hunted whales. Whaling is essential to Nuu-chah-nulth culture and spirituality. It is reflected in stories, songs, names, family lines, and numerous place names throughout their territories. Carbon dating shows that the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples hunted whales over 4000 years ago for both blubber and meat. The Nuu-chah-nulth peoples hunted whales of different species due to the range of territory that they reside in and the migration pattern of the whales. Those most often caught would be either grey or humpback whales due to their more docile nature and how close they would come to the shore.” ref

“Nuu-chah-nulth nations also used the wood and bark of red and yellow cedar trees as both a building material and to produce many different objects. Artists and wood workers within a nation would carve full logs into totem poles and ocean going canoes, and the bark would be torn into strips and softened in water until malleable enough to be woven into baskets, clothing, and ceremonial regalia. Due to the abundance of resources throughout the territories of the Nuu-chah-nulth nations, social life became more structured and a visible hierarchy formed within the communities. These consisted of the commoner class, and the chiefs that controlled the region. While members of the commoner class had autonomy they still required the consent of the chief to fish, hunt, and forage within the communities’ territory.” ref

“While being in control of ceremonial and territorial rights, chiefs were also responsible for the redistribution of wealth within their communities. This redistribution of wealth was a key societal factor for the Nuu-chah-nulth nations. A chief’s status is realized and maintained by their ability to provide for the members of their nation. By dictating the use of resources, chiefs could maintain social structure, and ensure the continued viability and strength of those resources. The Nuu-chah-nulth and other Pacific Northwest cultures are famous for their potlatch ceremonies, in which the host honours guests with generous gifts. The term ‘potlatch’ is ultimately a word of Nuu-chah-nulth origin. The purpose of the potlatch is manifold: redistribution of wealth, maintenance and recognition of social status, cementing alliances, the celebration and solemnization of marriage, and commemoration of important events.” ref

“A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States, among whom it is traditionally the primary governmental institution, legislative body, and economic system. This includes the Heiltsuk, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw, and Coast Salish cultures. Potlatches are also a common feature of the peoples of the Interior and of the Subarctic adjoining the Northwest Coast, although mostly without the elaborate ritual and gift-giving economy of the coastal peoples (see Athabaskan potlatch).” ref

“A potlatch involves giving away or destroying wealth or valuable items in order to demonstrate a leader’s wealth and power. Potlatches are also focused on the reaffirmation of family, clan, and international connections, and the human connection with the supernatural world. Potlatch also serves as a strict resource management regime, where coastal peoples discuss, negotiate, and affirm rights to and uses of specific territories and resources. Potlatches often involve music, dancing, singing, storytelling, making speeches, and often joking and games. The honouring of the supernatural and the recitation of oral histories are a central part of many potlatches.” ref

“From 1885 to 1951, the Government of Canada criminalized potlatches. However, the practice persisted underground despite the risk of government reprisals including mandatory jail sentences of at least two months; the practice has also been studied by many anthropologists. Since the practice was decriminalized in 1951, the potlatch has re-emerged in some communities. In many it is still the bedrock of Indigenous governance, as in the Haida Nation, which has rooted its democracy in potlatch law.” ref

“The word comes from the Chinook Jargon, meaning “to give away” or “a gift”; originally from the Nuu-chah-nulth word paɬaˑč, to make a ceremonial gift in a potlatch. A potlatch was held on the occasion of births, deaths, adoptions, weddings, and other major events. Typically the potlatch was practiced more in the winter seasons as historically the warmer months were for procuring wealth for the family, clan, or village, then coming home and sharing that with neighbors and friends. The event was hosted by a numaym, or ‘House‘, in Kwakwaka’wakw culture.” ref

“A numaym was a complex cognatic kin group usually headed by aristocrats, but including commoners and occasional slaves. It had about one hundred members, and several would be grouped together into a nation. The House drew its identity from its ancestral founder, usually a mythical animal who descended to earth and removed his animal mask, thus becoming human. The mask became a family heirloom passed from father to son along with the name of the ancestor himself. This made him the leader of the numaym, considered the living incarnation of the founder.” ref

“Only rich people could host a potlatch. Tribal slaves were not allowed to attend a potlatch as a host or a guest. In some instances, it was possible to have multiple hosts at one potlatch ceremony (although when this occurred, the hosts generally tended to be from the same family). If a member of a nation had suffered an injury or indignity, hosting a potlatch could help to heal their tarnished reputation (or “cover his shame,” as anthropologist H. G. Barnett worded it). The potlatch was the occasion on which titles associated with masks and other objects were “fastened on” to a new office holder. Two kinds of titles were transferred on these occasions.” ref

“Firstly, each numaym had a number of named positions of ranked “seats” (which gave them a seat at potlatches) transferred within itself. These ranked titles granted rights to hunting, fishing and berrying territories. Secondly, there were a number of titles that would be passed between numayma, usually to in-laws, which included feast names that gave one a role in the Winter Ceremonial. Aristocrats felt safe giving these titles to their out-marrying daughter’s children because this daughter and her children would later be rejoined with her natal numaym and the titles returned with them.” ref 

“Any one individual might have several “seats” which allowed them to sit, in rank order, according to their title, as the host displayed and distributed wealth and made speeches. Besides the transfer of titles at a potlatch, the event was given “weight” by the distribution of other less important objects such as Chilkat blankets, animal skins (later Hudson Bay blankets) and ornamental “coppers”. It is the distribution of large numbers of Hudson Bay blankets, and the destruction of valued coppers that first drew government attention (and censure) to the potlatch. On occasion, preserved food was also given as a gift during a potlatch ceremony. Gifts known as sta-bigs consisted of preserved food that was wrapped in a mat or contained in a storage basket.” ref

“Dorothy Johansen describes the dynamic: “In the potlatch, the host in effect challenged a guest chieftain to exceed him in his ‘power’ to give away or to destroy goods. If the guest did not return 100 percent on the gifts received and destroy even more wealth in a bigger and better bonfire, he and his people lost face and so his ‘power’ was diminished.” Hierarchical relations within and between clans, villages, and nations, were observed and reinforced through the distribution or sometimes destruction of wealth, dance performances, and other ceremonies. The status of any given family is raised not by who has the most resources, but by who distributes the most resources. The hosts demonstrate their wealth and prominence through giving away goods.” ref

“Potlatch ceremonies were also used as coming-of-age rituals. When children were born, they would be given their first name at the time of their birth (which was usually associated with the location of their birthplace). About a year later, the child’s family would hold a potlatch and give gifts to the guests in attendance on behalf of the child. During this potlatch, the family would give the child their second name. Once the child reached about 12 years of age, they were expected to hold a potlatch of their own by giving out small gifts that they had collected to their family and people, at which point they would be able to receive their third name. For some cultures, such as Kwakwaka’wakw, elaborate and theatrical dances are performed reflecting the hosts’ genealogy and cultural wealth. Many of these dances are also sacred ceremonies of secret societies like the hamatsa, or display of family origin from supernatural creatures such as the dzunukwa.” ref

Salishan languages

“The Salishan (also Salish /ˈseɪlɪʃ/) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana). Edward Sapir suggested that the Salishan languages might be related to the Wakashan and Chimakuan languages in a hypothetical Mosan family. This proposal persists primarily through Sapir’s stature: with little evidence for such a family, no progress has been made in reconstructing it. The Salishan languages, principally Chehalis, contributed greatly to the vocabulary of the Chinook Jargon.” ref

“Some cultural elements are more resilient to language change, namely, religion and folklore. Salishan language communities that have demonstrated change in technology and environmental vocabulary have often remained more consistent with their religious terminology. Religion and heavily ingrained cultural traditions are often regarded as sacred, and so are less likely to undergo any sort of change. Indeed, cognate lists between various Salishan languages show more similarities in religious terminology than they do in technology and environment vocabulary. Other categories with noticeable similarities include words for body parts, colors, and numbers. There would be little need to change such vocabulary, so it’s more likely to remain the same despite other changes between languages. The Coast Salishan languages are less similar to each other than are the Interior Salishan languages, probably because the Coast communities have more access to outside influences.” ref

“Another example of language change in the Salishan language family is word taboo, which is a cultural expression of the belief in the power of words. Among the Coast languages, a person’s name becomes a taboo word immediately following their death. This taboo is lifted when the name of the deceased is given to a new member of their lineage. In the meantime, the deceased person’s name and words that are phonetically similar to the name are considered taboo and can only be expressed via descriptive phrases. In some cases, these taboo words are permanently replaced by their chosen descriptive phrases, resulting in language change.” ref

Chinookan languages

“The Chinookan languages are a small family of extinct languages spoken in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples. Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE Chinookan peoples have resided along the upper and Middle Columbia River (Wimahl) (“Great River”) from the river’s gorge (near the present town of The Dalles, Oregon) downstream (west) to the river’s mouth, and along adjacent portions of the coasts, from Tillamook Head of present-day Oregon in the south, north to Willapa Bay in southwest Washington.” ref, ref

“The Chinookan peoples were relatively settled and occupied traditional tribal geographic areas, where they hunted and fished; salmon was a mainstay of their diet. The women also gathered and processed many nuts, seeds, roots and other foods. They had a society marked by social stratification, consisting of a number of distinct social castes of greater or lesser status. Upper castes included shamans, warriors, and successful traders. They composed a minority of the community population compared to common members. Members of the superior castes are said to have practiced social discrimination, limiting contact with commoners and forbidding play between the children of the different social groups.” ref

“Some Chinookan peoples practiced slavery, a practice borrowed from the northernmost tribes of the Pacific Northwest. They took slaves as captives in warfare, and used them to practice thievery on behalf of their masters. The latter refrained from such practices as unworthy of high status. The elite of some tribes had the practice of head binding, flattening their children’s forehead and top of the skull as a mark of social status. They bound the infant’s head under pressure between boards when the infant was about 3 months old and continued until the child was about one year of age. This custom was a means of marking social hierarchy; flat-headed community members had a rank above those with round heads. Those with flattened skulls refused to enslave other persons who were similarly marked, thereby reinforcing the association of a round head with servility. The Chinook were known colloquially by early white explorers in the region as “Flathead Indians.” ref

Penutian languages

“Penutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. The existence of a Penutian stock or phylum has been the subject of debate among specialists. Even the unity of some of its component families has been disputed. Some of the problems in the comparative study of languages within the phylum are the result of their early extinction and limited documentation.” ref

“Some of the more recently proposed subgroupings of Penutian have been convincingly demonstrated. The Miwokan and the Costanoan languages have been grouped into a Utian language family by Catherine Callaghan. Callaghan has more recently provided evidence supporting a grouping of Utian and Yokutsan into a Yok-Utian family. There also seems to be convincing evidence for the Plateau Penutian grouping (originally named Shahapwailutan by J. N. B. Hewitt and John Wesley Powell in 1894) which would consist of Klamath–Modoc, Molala, and the Sahaptian languages (Nez Percé and Sahaptin).” ref

“Penutian languages, proposed major grouping (phylum or superstock) of American Indian languages spoken along the west coast of North America from British Columbia to central California and central New Mexico. The phylum consists of 15 language families with about 20 languages; the families are Wintun (two languages), Miwok-Costanoan (perhaps five Miwokan languages, plus three extinct Costanoan languages), Sahaptin (two languages), Yakonan (two extinct languages), Yokutsan (three languages), and Maiduan (four languages)—plus Klamath-Modoc, Cayuse (extinct), Molale (extinct), Coos, Takelma (extinct), Kalapuya, Chinook (not to be confused with Chinook Jargon, a trade language or lingua franca), Tsimshian, and Zuni, each a family consisting of a single language.” ref

“Major languages in the phylum are Zuni, spoken in New Mexico; Tsimshian, spoken in British Columbia; and the Sahaptin dialects (Klikitat, Umatilla, Wallawalla, Warm Springs, and Yakima), spoken in north-central Oregon. The Penutian languages are sometimes grouped into a yet larger stock, called either Penutian or Macro-Penutian, that includes several Mesoamerican Indian languages. The Totonacan, Huave, and Mixe-Zoquean language families are often included, and some scholars suggest the inclusion of the large Mayan language family. The American linguist Benjamin L. Whorf proposed to include not only Mixe-Zoquean, Huave, Totonacan, and Mayan (including Huastec) but also Uto-Aztecan, another major North and Mesoamerican language family. This grouping has not been generally accepted.” ref

Athabaskan languages

“Athabaskan (/ˌæθəˈbæskən/ ATH-ə-BASK-ən; also spelled Athabascan, Athapaskan or Athapascan, and also known as Dene) is a large family of Indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific Coast and Southern (or Apachean). Kari and Potter place the total territory of the 53 Athabaskan languages at 4,022,000 square kilometers (1,553,000 sq mi). Chipewyan is spoken over the largest area of any North American native language, while Navajo is spoken by the largest number of people of any native language north of Mexico.” ref

“Na-Dene (/ˌnɑːdɪˈneɪ/ NAH-dih-NAY; also Nadene, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit, Tlina–Dene) is a family of Native American languages that includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. Haida was formerly included, but is now considered doubtful. By far the most widely spoken Na-Dene language today is Navajo. In February 2008, a proposal connecting Na-Dene (excluding Haida) to the Yeniseian languages of central Siberia into a Dené–Yeniseian family was published and well-received by a number of linguists. It was proposed in a 2014 paper that the Na-Dene languages of North America and the Yeniseian languages of Siberia had a common origin in a language spoken in Beringia, between the two continents.” ref

“In its uncontroversial core, Na-Dene consists of two branches, Tlingit and Athabaskan–Eyak:

• Na-Dene
• Tlingit:
• Athabaskan–Eyak
• Eyak: the last native speaker died in 2008, and revitalization efforts are underway.
• Athabaskan
• Northern
• Pacific Coast
• Southern” ref

“The Tlingit language (English: /ˈklɪŋkɪt/ ^ⓘ KLING-kit; Lingít Athapascan pronunciation: [ɬɪ̀nkɪ́tʰ]) is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada and is a branch of the Na-Dene language family. Extensive effort is being put into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to revive and preserve the Tlingit language and culture.” ref

Tlingit is divided into roughly five major dialects, all of which are essentially mutually intelligible:

• The Northern dialect is also called the Yakutat (Yakhwdaat) dialect, after its principal town and is spoken in an area south from Lituya Bay (Litu.aa) to Frederick Sound.
• The Transitional dialect, a two-tone dialect like the Northern dialect but has phonological features of the Southern, is historically spoken in the villages of Petersburg (Gántiyaakw Séedi “Steamboat Canyon”), Kake (Khéixh’ “Daylight”), and Wrangell (Khaachxhana.áak’w “Khaachxhan’s Little Lake”), and in the surrounding regions although it has almost disappeared.
• The similarly-moribund Southern dialects of Sanya and Heinya are spoken from Sumner Strait south to the Alaska-Canada border, excepting Annette Island, which is the reservation of the Tsimshian, and the southern end of Prince of Wales Island, which is the land of the Kaigani Haida (K’aayk’aani).
• The Inland Tlingit dialect is spoken in Canada around Atlin Lake and Teslin Lake.
• The Tongass Tlingit dialect was once spoken in the Cape Fox area south of Ketchikan but recently died with its last speakers in the 1990s.” ref

“Tlingit history has been one of movement and mixing of peoples. Archeological evidence indicates occupation of the islands and mainland of southeastern Alaska for many centuries, even millennia. According to linguists, the Tlingit language may have split from common roots with Athapaskan about 5,000 years ago.” ref

Columbia Plateau

“The Columbia Plateau is a geologic and geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, cut through by the Columbia River.” ref

Columbia Plateau: Likely origin of Proto-Algic about 7,000 years ago

“Proto-Algic (sometimes abbreviated PAc) is the proto-language from which the Algic languages (Wiyot language, Yurok language, and Proto-Algonquian) are descended. It is estimated to have been spoken about 7,000 years ago somewhere in the American Northwest, possibly around the Columbia Plateau. It is an example of a second-level proto-language (a proto-language whose reconstruction depends on data from another proto-language, namely its descendant language Proto-Algonquian) which is widely agreed to have existed.” ref 

“Wiyot (also Wishosk) or Soulatluk (lit. ‘your jaw’) is an Algic language spoken by the Wiyot people of Humboldt Bay, California. Wiyot, along with its geographical neighbor, the Yurok language, were first identified as relatives of the Algonquian languages by Edward Sapir in 1913, though this classification was disputed for decades in what came to be known as the Ritwan controversy. Due to the enormous geographical separation of Wiyot and Yurok from all other Algonquian languages, the validity of their genetic link was hotly contested by leading Americanist linguists; as Ives Goddard put it, the issue “has profound implications for the prehistory of North America”. However, by the 1950s, the genetic relationship between the Algonquian languages and Wiyot and Yurok had been established to the satisfaction of most, if not all, researchers, giving rise to the term Algic to refer to the Algonquian languages together with Wiyot and Yurok.” ref

“Yurok (also Chillula, Mita, Pekwan, Rikwa, Sugon, Weitspek, Weitspekan) is an Algic language. It is the traditional language of the Yurok people of Del Norte County and Humboldt County on the far north coast of California.” ref

“The Algonquian languages (/ælˈɡɒŋk(w)iən/ al-GONG-k(w)ee-ən; also Algonkian) are a subfamily of the Indigenous languages of the Americas and most of the languages in the Algic language family are included in the group. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Indigenous Ojibwe language (Chippewa), which is a senior member of the Algonquian language family. The term Algonquin has been suggested to derive from the Maliseet word elakómkwik (pronounced [ɛlæˈɡomoɡwik]), “they are our relatives/allies.” Speakers of Algonquian languages stretch from the east coast of North America to the Rocky Mountains. The proto-language from which all of the languages of the family descend, Proto-Algonquian, was spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago. There is no scholarly consensus about where this language was spoken.” ref 

“Proto-Algonquian (commonly abbreviated PA) is the proto-language from which the various Algonquian languages are descended. It is generally estimated to have been spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, but there is less agreement on where it was spoken. The Algonquian family, which is a branch of the larger Algic language family, is usually divided into three subgroups: Eastern Algonquian, which is a genetic subgroup, and Central Algonquian and Plains Algonquian, both of which are areal groupings. In the historical linguistics of North America, Proto-Algonquian is one of the best studied, most thoroughly reconstructed proto-languages. It is descended from Proto-Algic. Research a generation later suggests that in fact it was spoken farther west than this, perhaps “somewhere immediately west of Lake Superior” or on the Columbia Plateau.” ref

Algonquian peoples

“The Algonquians are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups. They historically were prominent along the Atlantic Coast and in the interior regions along Saint Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes. This grouping consists of the peoples who speak Algonquian languages. Before Europeans came into contact, most Algonquian settlements lived by hunting and fishing, although many of them supplemented their diet by cultivating corn, beans, and squash (the “Three Sisters”). The Ojibwe cultivated wild rice.” ref

“At the time of the first European settlements in North America, Algonquian peoples resided in present-day Canada east of the Rocky Mountains, New England, New Jersey, southeastern New York, Delaware, and down the Atlantic Coast to the Upper South, and around the Great Lakes in present-day Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The precise homeland of the Algonquian peoples is not known. At the time of the European arrival, the hegemonic Iroquois Confederacy, based in present-day New York and Pennsylvania, was regularly at war with their Algonquian neighbors.” ref

Upper west related Algonquians 

“Ojibwe/Chippewa, Odawa, Potawatomi, and a variety of Cree groups lived in Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Western Ontario, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Canadian Prairies. The Arapaho, Blackfoot, and Cheyenne developed as indigenous to the Great Plains.” ref

“A totem (from Ojibwe: ᑑᑌᒼ or ᑑᑌᒻ doodem) is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While the word totem itself is an anglicisation of the Ojibwe term (and both the word and beliefs associated with it are part of the Ojibwe language and culture), belief in tutelary spirits and deities is not limited to the Ojibwe people. Similar concepts, under differing names and with variations in beliefs and practices, may be found in a number of cultures worldwide. The term has also been adopted, and at times redefined, by anthropologists and philosophers of different cultures.” ref

“The Anishinaabe peoples are divided into a number of doodeman (in syllabics: ᑑᑌᒪᐣ or ᑑᑌᒪᓐ), or clans, (singular: doodem) named mainly for animal totems (or doodem, as an Ojibwe person would say this word). In Anishinaabemowin, ᐅᑌᐦ ode’ means heart. Doodem or clan literally would translate as ‘the expression of, or having to do with one’s heart’, with doodem referring to the extended family. In the Anishinaabe oral tradition, in prehistory the Anishinaabe were living along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean when the great Miigis beings appeared from the sea. These beings taught the Mide way of life to the Waabanakiing peoples. Six of the seven great Miigis beings that remained to teach established the odoodeman for the peoples in the east. The five original Anishinaabe totems were Wawaazisii (bullhead), Baswenaazhi (echo-maker, i.e., crane), Aan’aawenh (pintail duck), Nooke (tender, i.e., bear) and Moozwaanowe (“little” moose-tail).” ref

“The Ojibwe (syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: Ojibweg ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (Ojibwewaki ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and throughout the northeastern woodlands. Ojibweg, being Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands and of the subarctic, are known by several names, including Ojibway or Chippewa. As a large ethnic group, several distinct nations also understand themselves to be Ojibwe as well, including the Saulteaux, Nipissings, and Oji-Cree. The Ojibwe language is Anishinaabemowin, a branch of the Algonquian language family.” ref

“The Ojibwe have traditionally organized themselves into groups known as bands. Most Ojibwe, except for the Great Plains bands, have historically lived a settled (as opposed to nomadic) lifestyle, relying on fishing and hunting to supplement the cultivation of numerous varieties of maize and squash, and the harvesting of manoomin (wild rice) for food. Historically their typical dwelling has been the wiigiwaam (wigwam), built either as a waginogaan (domed-lodge) or as a nasawa’ogaan (pointed-lodge), made of birch bark, juniper bark and willow saplings. In the contemporary era, most of the people live in modern housing, but traditional structures are still used for special sites and events.” ref

“They have a culturally-specific form of pictorial writing, used in the religious rites of the Midewiwin and recorded on birch bark scrolls and possibly on rock. The many complex pictures on the sacred scrolls communicate much historical, geometrical, and mathematical knowledge, as well as images from their spiritual pantheon. The use of petroforms, petroglyphs, and pictographs has been common throughout the Ojibwe traditional territories. Petroforms and medicine wheels have been used to teach important spiritual concepts, record astronomical events, and to use as a mnemonic device for certain stories and beliefs. The script is still in use, among traditional people as well as among youth on social media.” ref

“Some ceremonies use the miigis shell (cowry shell), which is found naturally in distant coastal areas. Their use of such shells demonstrates there is a vast, longstanding trade network across the continent. The use and trade of copper across the continent has also been proof of a large trading network that took place for thousands of years, as far back as the Hopewell tradition. Certain types of rock used for spear and arrow heads have also been traded over large distances precontact. The Ojibwe bury their dead in burial mounds. Many erect a jiibegamig or a “spirit-house” over each mound. An historical burial mound would typically have a wooden marker, inscribed with the deceased’s doodem (clan sign). Because of the distinct features of these burials, Ojibwe graves have been often looted by grave robbers. In the United States, many Ojibwe communities safe-guard their burial mounds through the enforcement of the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.” ref

“During the summer months, the people attend jiingotamog for the spiritual and niimi’idimaa for a social gathering (powwows) at various reservations in the Anishinaabe-Aki (Anishinaabe Country). Many people still follow the traditional ways of harvesting wild rice, picking berries, hunting, making medicines, and making maple sugar. The jingle dress that is typically worn by female pow wow dancers originated from the Ojibwe. Both Plains and Woodlands Ojibwe claim the earliest form of dark cloth dresses decorated with rows of tin cones – often made from the lids of tobacco cans- that make a jingling sound when worn by the dancer. This style of dress is now popular with all tribes and is a distinctly Ojibwe contribution to Pan-Indianism.” ref

Ojibwe Kinship and clan system

“Traditionally, the Ojibwe had a patrilineal system, in which children were considered born to the father’s clan. For this reason, children with French or English fathers were considered outside the clan and Ojibwe society unless adopted by an Ojibwe male. They were sometimes referred to as “white” because of their fathers, regardless if their mothers were Ojibwe, as they had no official place in the Ojibwe society. The people would shelter the woman and her children, but they did not have the same place in the culture as children born to Ojibwe fathers.” ref

“The Ojibwe understanding of kinship is complex and includes the immediate family as well as extended family. It is considered a modified bifurcate merging kinship system. As with any bifurcate-merging kinship system, siblings generally share the same kinship term with parallel cousins because they are all part of the same clan. The modified system allows for younger siblings to share the same kinship term with younger cross-cousins. Complexity wanes further from the person’s immediate generation, but some complexity is retained with female relatives. For example, ninooshenh is “my mother’s sister” or “my father’s sister-in-law”—i.e., my parallel-aunt, but also “my parent’s female cross-cousin”. Great-grandparents and older generations, as well as great-grandchildren and younger generations, are collectively called aanikoobijigan. This system of kinship reflects the Anishinaabe philosophy of interconnectedness and balance among all living generations, as well as of all generations of the past and of the future.” ref

“The Ojibwe people were divided into a number of doodemag (clans; singular: doodem) named primarily for animals and birds totems (pronounced doodem). The word in the Ojibwe language means “my fellow clansman.” The five original totems were Wawaazisii (Bullhead), Baswenaazhi/”Ajiijaak” (“Echo-maker”, i.e., Crane), Aan’aawenh (Pintail Duck), Nooke (“Tender”, i.e., Bear) and Moozwaanowe (“Little” Moose-tail). The Crane totem was the most vocal among the Ojibwe, and the Bear was the largest – so large, that it was sub-divided into body parts such as the head, the ribs and the feet. Each clan had certain responsibilities among the people. People had to marry a spouse from a different clan.” ref

“Traditionally, each band had a self-regulating council consisting of leaders of the communities’ clans, or odoodemaan. The band was often identified by the principal doodem. In meeting others, the traditional greeting among the Ojibwe people is, “What is your ‘doodem’?” (“Aaniin gidoodem?” or “Awanen gidoodem?“) The response allows the parties to establish social conduct by identifying as family, friends or enemies. Today, the greeting has been shortened to “Aanii“ (pronounced “Ah-nee”).” ref

“The Ojibwe have spiritual beliefs that have been passed down by oral tradition under the Midewiwin teachings. These include a creation story and a recounting of the origins of ceremonies and rituals. Spiritual beliefs and rituals were very important to the Ojibwe because spirits guided them through life. Birch bark scrolls and petroforms were used to pass along knowledge and information, as well as for ceremonies. Pictographs were also used for ceremonies. The sweatlodge is still used during important ceremonies about the four directions, when oral history is recounted. Teaching lodges are common today to teach the next generations about the language and ancient ways of the past. The traditional ways, ideas, and teachings are preserved and practiced in such living ceremonies.” ref

“The modern dreamcatcher, adopted by the Pan-Indian Movement and New Age groups, originated in the Ojibwe “spider web charm,” a hoop with woven string or sinew meant to replicate a spider’s web, used as a protective charm for infants. According to Ojibwe legend, the protective charms originate with the Spider Woman, known as Asibikaashi; who takes care of the children and the people on the land; as the Ojibwe Nation spread to the corners of North America it became difficult for Asibikaashi to reach all the children, so the mothers and grandmothers wove webs for the children, which had an apotropaic purpose and were not explicitly connected with dreams.” ref

“In Ojibwe tradition, the main task after a death is to bury the body as soon as possible, the very next day or even on the day of death. This was important because it allowed the spirit of the dead to journey to its place of joy and happiness. The land of happiness, where the dead reside, is called Gaagige Minawaanigozigiwining. This was a journey that took four days. If burial preparations could not be completed the day of the death, guests and medicine men were required to stay with the deceased and the family in order to help mourn, while also singing songs and dancing throughout the night. Once preparations were complete, the body would be placed in an inflexed position with their knees towards their chest.” ref 

“Over the course of the four days it takes the spirit to journey to its place of joy, it is customary to have food kept alongside the grave at all times. A fire is set when the sun sets and is kept going throughout the night. The food is to help feed the spirit over the course of the journey, while the smoke from the fire is a directional guide. Once the four–day journey is over, a feast is held, which is led by the chief medicine man. At the feast, it is the chief medicine man’s duty to give away certain belongings of the deceased. Those who were chosen to receive items from the deceased are required to trade in a new piece of clothing, all of which would be turned into a bundle. The bundle of new cloths and a dish is then given to the closest relative. The recipient of the bundle must then find individuals that he or she believes to be worthy, and pass on one of the new pieces of clothing.” ref

“3,500 years of shellfish farming “Aquaculture” by Indigenous peoples on the Northwest coast.” ref

“The Indigenous Peoples of British Columbia have been harvesting shellfish from specially-constructed clam gardens for at least 3500 years, according to a study released February 27, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Nicole Smith of the Hakai Institute, Dana Lepofsky of Simon Fraser University, and colleagues. This research offers new methods for tracking the history and development of mariculture. Clam gardens are traditional mariculture structures consisting of a rock wall and flat terrace that serve as a sheltered habitat for clams in intertidal zones of beaches. It is known that these gardens increase clam productivity and abundance and have long been important food sources for coastal Indigenous cultures.” ref

“At each site, they identified suitable samples for constraining the age of construction of the gardens, focusing on shell samples from within or beneath the garden walls and beneath the terraces. In total, they collected 35 radiocarbon dates on the shells of clams, snails, and barnacles ranging from at least 3,500 years ago to the 20th Century. The authors add: “By documenting that clam gardens are at least 3,500 years old, this study supports what coastal First Nations of the Pacific Northwest have always known: managing clams, in the form of clam gardens, is an age old practice and fundamental to long-term food security.” ref

Aquaculture Holds Connection and Resilience Opportunities for Skokomish Tribal Communities

“For the Skokomish Tribe, the river has always been the key for their subsistence lifestyle. Since time immemorial, it has provided transportation, fishing, and access to shellfish. Modern tribal aquaculture activity in the area includes:

• Enhancing and managing beaches and marine resources
• Producing hatchery fish for harvest
• Farming shellfish on tribally controlled beaches” ref

Tribal Salmon Culture

“Salmon have long been the symbol and lifeblood of the people who call the Pacific Northwest home. Columbia Basin salmon play an important role in the ecosystem of the region, returning ocean nutrients to the rivers and streams where they were born, feeding wildlife, and even the forests with their bodies. For thousands of years, salmon also shaped the lives of the people who have lived here since time immemorial. The cultures, intertribal interactions, fishing technologies, and very religions of the Pacific Northwest tribes were all impacted and influenced by salmon. These fish have been an important part of the economies of the region for thousands of years, from the ancient Indian trade routes to modern commercial fishing.” ref

“The importance of the first salmon ceremony has to do with the celebration of life, of the salmon as subsistence, meaning that the Indians depend upon the salmon for their living. And the annual celebration is just that – it’s an appreciation that the salmon are coming back. It is again the natural law; the cycle of life. It’s the way things are and if there was no water, there would be no salmon, there would be no cycle, no food. And the Indian people respect it accordingly.
—Antone Minthorn, Umatilla

My strength is from the fish; my blood is from the fish, from the roots and berries. The fish and game are the essence of my life. I was not brought from a foreign country and did not come here. I was put here by the Creator.
—Chief Meninock, Yakama, 1915″ ref

Native Americans in Ancient Florida Developed Pre-electricity Fish Storage

“Archaeologists deduce the purpose of huge walled fish ponds on an artificial island built by the powerful Calusa kingdom over 1,000 years ago. Fish farming of a sort goes back to the beginnings of human civilization, and much like the advent of agriculture itself, it seems to have developed independently in different places around the world. Now, evidence of early aquaculture of a sort has been discovered in ancient Florida.” ref

Stories and Ceremonies: The Cultural Context of Native Fisheries

“In a story traditionally told by Wishram Indians, who lived on the north banks of the mid-Columbia River, the Swallow Sisters built a dam that trapped all of the river’s salmon, leaving none for human communities upriver. Coyote infiltrated the Swallow Sisters’ camp by pretending to be a baby, who they found adorable. When the sisters left their camp to pick huckleberries, Coyote turned himself into a powerful animal and broke their dam apart, releasing the salmon so they could travel upstream. Upriver communities celebrated the return of the salmon runs and learned an important lesson about hoarding food.” ref

“Native Americans harvested fish from Pacific Northwest rivers, streams, lakes, and coastal waters within a cultural context in which salmon and other fish were much more than simply food or economic resources. Native ceremonies and stories suggest a reciprocal relationship between people and salmon. Salmon sacrificed their lives to human beings to ensure the survival of human communities. In return, humans were obligated to care for and honor salmon and adhere to various regulations that governed the fishery. This relationship is reflected in oral tradition and in rituals such as the First Foods ceremonies practiced throughout the region.” ref

“Columbia Plateau and Pacific Coast Native people held First Foods ceremonies to herald the harvest of roots and berries, celebrate the hunt, and mark the return of the salmon runs. They practiced variations of the First Salmon Ceremony, but key elements remained largely consistent: celebrants cooked and ate the first spring salmon that had been caught ceremonially, after which the bones and sometimes the blood of the fish were returned to the river.” ref

“Wherever salmon could be harvested, people practiced a form of the First Salmon Ceremony. Although the geographic range of the custom has diminished as a result of reduced salmon runs, it persists within many modern Indian communities. Contemporary residents of the Pacific Northwest participate in First Salmon ceremonies at universities, powwows, and other cultural gatherings. Celilo Village, about twelve miles east of The Dalles, holds a First Salmon Ceremony each April that is open to the public. Stories articulated the cultural context of the indigenous fishery, ceremonies honored the reciprocal relationship between humans and their foods, and regulations ensured that human communities could harvest the foods they required for survival into the future.” ref

The Anthropology of Aquaculture

“Aquaculture is nothing new. It has a long, fascinating history that stretches from antiquity at least 8,000 years ago. What is new is the evolution of aquaculture in modern times into highly intensive monocultures which arose in the 1970–1980’s. Modern aquaculture production has grown worldwide but remains concentrated in Asia due to the: (1) increased demands for aquatic foods as explosive population growth occurred in coastal cities with increasing affluence, (2) expansion of scientific and engineering breakthroughs, (3) high export values of aquatic foods, and (4) sharp decline of costs of global to local transport/shipping. The pioneering anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss brought the idea of “structuralism” to anthropology: the concept that societies throughout history followed universal patterns of behavior. A qualitative document analysis of the key anthropological literature to assess aquaculture developments from antiquity to the beginning of the modern era was conducted to evaluate if there was adequate evidence to support a theory of anthropological “structuralism” for aquaculture in human history. Seven case studies of the cultural/environmental history of aquaculture were reviewed in diverse parts of the world (China, Australia, Egypt, Europe, South America, Canada/USA, Hawai’i).” ref

“Analysis supports the structural theory that whenever the demands of aquatic/seafood-eating peoples exceeded the abilities of their indigenous fishery ecosystems to provide for them, they developed aquaculture. Modern aquaculture concepts and new communities of practice in “restoration aquaculture” have beginnings in Indigenous anthropology and archeology in aquaculture and point the way for Indigenous nations to engage as leaders of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) ecosystem approach to aquaculture worldwide. Bringing ancient knowledge of Indigenous aquaculture into the modern context is an essential part of an alternative, “radical transformation” of modern aquaculture. There is an urgent need to develop and promote locally designed and culturally appropriate aquaculture systems that fit into the livelihoods of communities as part of a larger, diverse portfolio of food security.” ref

“Cultures practicing aquaculture in antiquity have been little examined comprehensively in the anthropological literature. As a result, no unifying theories exist to explain how aquaculture develops, evolves, and fits into human development. Cross cultural analysis tools such as the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS) of Murdock and White (1969) and the EthnoAtlas (Gray, 1998) examine over 180 societies anthropologically using many variables but do not classify societies as aquaculture or mariculture-centric rather focus on hunting, gathering, fishing, and animal husbandry, reinforcing this lack of examination.” ref

“As aquaculture has grown to be one of the most important protein systems in the world (FAO, 2020) it is vital to examine its ancient environmental/cultural history. Understanding the ancient past will allow a modern appreciation of aquaculture as nothing “new” but as an important part of historical food production. Connections to the ancient past will allow a better appreciation of the diversity of development pathways possible for the future of aquaculture and the divergence of intensive aquaculture in modern times, especially to aquaculture development in the post-World War II era that is believed to be the beginning of the Anthropocene (Waters, 2016).” ref

“Modern, industrial, export-driven aquaculture is technologically complex as are its interactions with modern societies (Indigenous, urban, rural, rich, poor, etc.). Communities can either embrace change, develop new values, ceremonies and rituals, and accommodate social transformations, or reject these and continue their social, cultural, and economic evolutions without such disruptive interventions in society such as the rise of aquaculture. Nahuelhual et al. (2019) point to the recent feature of aquaculture in discussions of a “Blue Transition” especially how aquaculture has featured in policy discussions as relieving pressure on wild capture fisheries and contributing to food security and employment of the world’s poor. International discussions incorporating aquaculture development as a “blue revolution” place aquaculture into foundational documents on the very nature of the future of food.” ref

“In these reports aquaculture is connected strongly to the blue economy, blue growth, and blue carbon (Gentry et al., 2017; Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2019; Willett et al., 2019; Costello et al., 2020). Nahuelhual et al. (2019) point out that a “Blue Transition” is akin to other environmental transitions and emphasize the need for such a transition to include social-ecological feedbacks citing Berkes and Folke (1998) who state that “a social-ecological feedback refers to a situation in which the ecological and the social systems (or components of the two) are connected together such that each system influences the other and their dynamics are thus strongly coupled.” In the case of aquaculture, Krause et al. (2015) point to cases of aquaculture development that are a “blue revolution without people.” ref

“Many cultures that have relied historically on aquatic foods as their primary source of proteins. Recovering trajectories of Indigenous aquaculture development from antiquity and making connections to modernity opens the full social-ecological panoply of traditional knowledge to evolve alternative developmental pathways for aquaculture. Indigenous communities recovering their pasts are evolving new aquaculture communities of practice that have clear connections from ancestors to modernity. No matter the sources of knowledge used to chart alternative developmental pathways for aquaculture, whether traditional knowledge, scientific, corporate, or some blend, well-planned, transparent, participatory processes are required. Such development alternatives may drag out for longer than both Indigenous and other decision-makers want but, in the end, will lead to shared visions of more sustainable futures.” ref

“Since the Cultural Revolution China is recognized as the world’s aquaculture leader in production for all forms of aquaculture from ocean to freshwater aquaculture, integrated and non-integrated systems, and for all fed to non-fed typologies (FAO, 2020). China is one of the only nations today where aquaculture production exceeds production from capture fisheries at a scale that is transformative of protein foods on Earth (Naylor et al., 2021). The evolution of aquaculture in China has occurred over thousands of years. China’s historical scientific/cultural knowledge systems have contributed directly not only to its modern ascendancy in industrial and scientific areas but also more fundamentally to the adoption of aquaculture as culture.” ref

“Too many proposals for modern aquaculture developments post WWII, especially in the “new geographies for aquaculture” outside its traditional places in Asia (Costa-Pierce and Chopin, 2021) have been marketed to societies neglecting their anthropological and environmental histories and without considerations of their allied, cultural, and spiritual backgrounds. The modern case study of industrial aquaculture in Chile by Nahuelhual et al. (2019) demonstrates clearly that the promised blue transition in that country has not occurred as planned and advertised.” ref

“Without such knowledge of past cultural advances, societies worldwide will lose one of their greatest opportunities for more socially and environmentally sound forms of food production. The aquaculture profession will continue to limp along, especially in areas with great potential outside of Asia, losing opportunities for aggregating and delivering teachable moments due to the tiresome constraints repeated over and over about a lack of “social license” for aquaculture (Costa-Pierce, 2010; Zajicek et al., 2021). Cultural studies and historical backgrounds can serve as local, place-based ecological and social baselines to evolve the “blue revolution.” A “culture of aquaculture” needs to be built on historical foundations so that informed politicians, investors, and communities can make better decisions based upon complete information and timelines of this historically important food innovation that has arisen multiple times in antiquity.” ref

Historical Evolution of Aquatic Species Management

“It is widely accepted that aquaculture arose multiple times in societies as an evolution from capturing and trapping fish (Atlas et al., 2020), to holding and keeping fish, to reproducing, growing, and domesticating fish (Balon, 1995; Beveridge and Little, 2002; Nash, 2011). There are numerous anthropological and archeological studies of capture fisheries from antiquity (O’Connor et al., 2011). Hu et al. (2009) found freshwater fish were a part of the diet of ancient people near Beijing China 40,000 years ago. Steneck and Pauly (2019) describe the “kelp highway hypothesis” for colonizing the Americas from Northeast Asia. The hypothesis states that “saltwater people” (as defined by McNiven, 2003) from east Asia advanced north along western Pacific coasts then east across the sea to rapidly colonize the entire eastern Pacific coast. Archeological findings in Monte Verde in the south of Chile date to 14,500 years ago are “more consistent with the idea of a coastal rather than a land-based migration” (Steneck and Pauly, 2019).” ref

“The kelp highway hypothesis adds an ocean food systems component to accepted archeological findings on the importance of the “maritime highway” for human migrations in antiquity in Asia/Pacific. The oldest accepted evidence for open ocean crossings by modern humans is the migration to “Sahul,” the combined continent of Australia and New Guinea, 47,000 years B.P. (Davidson, 2013; Clarkson et al., 2017; O’Connell et al., 2018). Coastal cultures in the north Pacific relied primarily on the abundant marine resources of kelp ecosystems for their primary sustenance. In the south, Steneck and Pauly (2019) theorized that rich mangrove ecosystems could have sustained similar large-scale coastal colonization’s in the Tropics. Erlandson and Braje (2015) assessed if mangrove ecosystems could have facilitated a larger scale maritime colonization of people from East Africa to Oceania.” ref

“These hypotheses are intriguing from an evolutionary perspective of ancient aquaculture development from wild capture fisheries, to fish trapping and holding, and onwards to “proto-aquaculture” (Beveridge and Little, 2002). Archeological and anthropological evidence of complex Indigenous knowledge of extensive fish traps, fish holding and onwards to “proto-aquaculture” exists from Taiwan, Japan, and the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 35,000–17,000 years B.P. (Kaifu, 2015; Fujita et al., 2016). Kaifu et al. (2020) reported evidence that difficult maritime crossings from the north (via Kyushu) and south (via Taiwan) to the Ryukyu Islands of southwestern Japan occurred some 35,000–30,000 years B.P. They state that “migration to the Ryukyus is difficult because it requires navigation across one of the world’s strongest currents, the Kuroshio, toward an island that lay invisible beyond the horizon.” Furthermore, “this suggests that the Paleolithic Island colonization occurred in a wide area of the western Pacific was a result of human’s active and continued exploration, backed up by technological advancement.” ref

“Capture fisheries are the capture and harvest of wild aquatic organisms where no interventions are made to manage or otherwise influence captured organisms by containment, feeding, or application of any aquaculture techniques. Historical fish trapping is the capture of wild aquatic organisms for direct harvest using sedentary, non-mobile gears. Beveridge and Little (2002) defined “proto-aquaculture” as “activities designed to extract more food from aquatic environments, such as: the transplantation of fertilized eggs, entrapment of fish in areas where they could thrive and be harvested as required, environmental enhancements, such as development of spawning areas, enhancement of food, exclusion of competitors or predators, etc., and the holding of fish and shellfish in systems (ponds, cages, pens) until they had increased in biomass or until their value had improved.” They distinguished “proto-aquaculture” from aquaculture due to the small degree of control over the life cycle of an aquatic species and the low impact of the intervention on aquatic production.” ref

“One example cited is the “bundhs” of West Bengal India which are seasonal ponds that fill with water in during the Indian Ocean monsoon first rains and were used to stimulate spawning of Indian major carps over a 100 years ago (Sharma and Rana, 1986). Klinger et al. (2013) pointed out that even in the modern context it is difficult to separate fisheries and aquaculture or to define the various typologies noting there are ancient and modern practices of capture-based aquaculture (Lovatelli and Holthus, 2008). They state that “Numerous seafood species are produced for the global marketplace using a spectrum of methods and cannot be cleanly ascribed as either fisheries or aquaculture.” ref

“Aquaculture is defined as the farming of aquatic species in water. Farming implies intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as the regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators, etc., plus the individual, community, organization, or corporate ownership of the stock being farmed (Rana, 1998). Modern aquaculture systems are remarkably diverse and comprise the farming of hundreds of species in fed or unfed systems growing domesticated and non-domesticated species with hatcheries having little to no connections to wild genetics. Domestication of plants and animals dates from the Neolithic about 14,000 years B.P. (Zeuner, 1963). Domestication of aquatic species to the level of their separation from wild ancestors, with selection and breeding to create “synthetic species” similar to those produced throughout millennia on land, and in closed aquaculture production networks, is “true” aquaculture (Costa-Pierce, 2003).” ref

“Live capture of aquatic organisms in traps for direct harvest is present throughout the ancient and modern world. Nelson (2017) describes the extensive knowledge of tides and fish behavior used to design sophisticated fish traps and weirs over large portion of coastal Taiwan. Traps incorporated curves to incorporate knowledge of the tendency of fish to turn when they hit a curve. At high tides, trap walls were submerged allowing fish to swim over them. At low tides fish were trapped and gathered and people scooped out thousands of anchovies, herrings and other species using simple gears. Hawaiian fish traps (loko ‘umeiki) are good historical examples as similar designs are present throughout Oceania. They are stone structures built into the sea with low, semi-circular walls that were partially or wholly submerged at high tide and contained numerous openings (lanes) leading into or out of the trap (Kikuchi, 1973, 1976).” ref

“Siting of fish traps was done by knowledge of longshore currents that transported fish along the shore. The Hawaiian island of Moloka’i had many fish traps owing to the favorable orientation of the island with regard to longshore currents. Lanes in the walls of traps connecting to the sea were used to catch fish migrating down the coastline who were attracted to the surge of water at the lane entrances. Nets laid facing the sea across the opening of the lane captured fish flowing into the trap on an incoming tide. When the tide reversed fishermen faced their nets toward the traps capturing fish as they swam out to sea. It was reported that the right to fish during different portions of the tidal cycle was divided among family groups. Timoteo Keaweiwi in 1853 stated, “Such was the case of Mikiawa Pond at Ka’amola, Moloka’i. When the tide was coming in, the people of Keawanui could set the lanes. When the sea ebbed, the fish belong to Ka’amola” (Summers, 1964).” ref

“The next evolution in aquatic species management involved short- to long-term live storage of catches as a form of food storage/banking. Social drivers of development were the provision of sufficient aquatic foods for consumption, ceremonies, increase reliability of supplies, and/or trade to markets which are common strategies found throughout antiquity and are common strategies today. Trapping and holding to ensure fish supplies dates to the Neolithic about 6,000 years B.P. in Europe (European Commission, 2018). Modified fish traps connected to excavated ponds, netted off or channelized shallow areas of lakes, bamboo cages in rivers and irrigation ditches (Costa-Pierce and Effendi, 1988) and traditional floating cages as used in Tonal Sap, Cambodia (Beveridge, 1996) remain worldwide. Detailed traditional knowledge of fish behaviors and tides to trap fish in cages and weirs is preserved in the knowledge systems and literatures of Indigenous cultures and island communities worldwide from the Americas (for salmon, Atlas et al., 2020), Europe to East Africa and throughout Oceania. In modern times, a capture fishery that live harvests wild organisms at early stages in their life cycle, then transports them to aquaculture systems for growout under confinement and management to mature, harvestable adults is referred to as “capture-based aquaculture” (Lovatelli and Holthus, 2008). FAO (2016) estimated that 20% of global aquaculture production today is CBA.” ref

Tlingit cuisine

“The food of the Tlingit people, an indigenous group of people from Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon, is a central part of Tlingit culture, and the land is an abundant provider. A saying amongst the Tlingit is that “When the tide goes out the table is set.” This refers to the richness of intertidal life found on the beaches of Southeast Alaska, most of which can  be harvested for food. Another saying is that “in Lingít Aaní you have to be an idiot to starve”. Since food is so easy to gather from the beaches, a person who cannot feed himself at least enough to stay alive is considered a fool, perhaps mentally incompetent or suffering from very bad luck. Though eating off the beach could provide a fairly healthy and varied diet, eating nothing but “beach food” is considered contemptible among the Tlingit, and a sign of poverty. Shamans and their families were required to abstain from all food gathered from the beach, and men might avoid eating beach food before battles or strenuous activities in the belief that it would weaken them spiritually and perhaps physically as well. Thus for both spiritual reasons as well as to add some variety to the diet, the Tlingit harvest many other resources for food besides what they easily find outside their front doors. No other food resource receives as much emphasis as salmon; however, seal and game are both close seconds.” ref

“The Tlingit gather razor clams, clams, oysters, mussels, crabs, seaweed, limpets and other sea plants on the beach and they are normally cooked over an open fire or boiled. The primary staple of the Tlingit diet, salmon was traditionally caught using a variety of methods. The most common was the fishing weir or trap to restrict movement upstream. These traps allowed hunters to easily spear a good amount of fish with little effort. It did, however, required extensive cooperation between the men fishing and the women on the shore doing the cleaning. Tlingit constructed fish traps in a few ways, depending on the type of river or stream. At the mouth of a smaller stream, they drove rows of wooden stakes into the mud in the tidal zone. The stakes supported a weir of flexible branches. Outside the harvest, the weir was removed but the stakes left. Archaeological work has uncovered a number of sites where long rows of sharpened stakes were hammered into the gravel and mud.” ref

“Another trap for smaller streams was made using rocks piled to form long, low walls. These walls submerged at high tide, and the salmon swam over them. Adults and children threw rocks beyond the wall when the tide began receding, scaring the fish into staying inside the wall. Once the tide went down enough to expose the wall, men walked out on the wall to spear the schooling salmon. The remnants of these walls are still visible at the mouths of many streams; although none are in use today. Elders recall them being used in the early twentieth century. On larger rivers, Tlingit built a weir that either spanned the entire river or merely crossed a channel known for salmon. These weirs followed the pattern above, but instead of depending on the tide to fill them, they had small gaps in the weir with platforms above them. Since salmon were restricted to passage through these small gaps they were easy targets for the spearmen who plucked them from their platforms above the gaps.” ref

“Fishwheels, though not traditional, came into use in the late nineteenth century. The mechanism was based on a floating platform tied to a tree on the bank of a river. The wheel consisted of two or four large baskets arranged around an axle. The force of the river’s current rotated the baskets as with a conventional waterwheel, and salmon resting in the current were caught in the basket. The basket spilled its contents as it came over the top of the wheel, and the fish dropped into a large pen or container. Fishwheels are still used in some locations, particularly the Copper and Chilkat Rivers.” ref

“They have the particular advantage of working without constant attendance, and harvesters can come by a few times a day to remove the caught fish and process them. Their disadvantage is that they are slow, and depend largely on luck to catch salmon being pushed downstream by the current; placement in well-known channels increases the recovery, but still does not compare to more active means of harvest. None of the traditional means of trapping salmon severely decreased the salmon population, and once the Tlingit harvested enough fish in a particular area they moved to other locations. This left the remaining run to spawn and guarantee future harvests. This is in contrast to commercial fish traps used in Alaska in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which devastated runs, and in some cases completely destroyed spawning populations.” ref

“With the advent of gasoline motors, winter trolling has become a common practice, and provides fresh fish in the cold months that traditionally depended on stored fish. Trolling poles are similar to those used in sport fishing, but are much heavier and stronger with correspondingly heavier tackle and longer lines. They are set in the stern and along the side gunwales of a boat, baited or strung with flashing spoons or spinners. The boat then slowly motors around areas where salmon, usually kings, are known to school during the winter, aided by ultrasonic fish-finders.” ref

“Periodically the lines are checked and brought in to remove fish. The same techniques are used for halibut as well. The harvest by this method is fairly small as it depends more on luck; salmon are not guaranteed to bite at lures and bait, unlike the certainty in catching them while spawning. Because of this limited take, trolling is usually avoided during spawning season and only used to bring home fresh fish in the winter. Trolling is often a family event done on the weekends, and often includes overnights on board. Because of the relative inactivity in trolling, the poles are not always well-minded. This occasionally results in seals or sea lions snatching hooked fish still on the line and making off with them.” ref

Processing and storage

“Salmon are roasted fresh over a fire, frozen, or dried and smoked for preservation. All species of salmon are harvested, and the Tlingit language clearly differentiates them. Certain species are considered more suited for a particular use, such as for hard smoking, canning, or baking. The most common storage methods today are vacuum-sealed freezing of raw fish, and either hard or soft smoking, the latter often followed by canning. Canning may be professionally done at local canneries or at home in mason jars. Smoking itself is done over alder wood either in small modern smoke houses near the family’s dwelling or in larger ones at the harvesting sites maintained by particular families. For the former the fish are kept on ice after harvest and until they are brought home, however for the latter the processing is all performed on site.” ref

“Tlingit still practice traditional methods of harvesting and processing salmon to some extent, though often alongside more modern methods that require less effort. Salmon are cleaned as soon as they are harvested from the stream or river, and split along the back and left to hang dry on large racks for a few days. This allows the fish’s slime to evaporate and makes the flesh easier to work. Some claim it is best to let the salmon soak in salt water overnight before drying, to further reduce the slime and soften the flesh. Drying racks must be watched continuously due to the threat of bears and birds poaching. Once dry, the fish are further cut apart from head to tail and belly to back, then placed in a smokehouse for some period of time. When the fish are taken down, the fillets are further split and slashed or crosshatched to allow more surface area for smoking. Once fully cured, the fish are cut into strips and are ready to eat or store. Traditionally, they were stored in bentwood boxes filled with seal oil. The oil protected the fish from mold and bacteria, and provided a secure method of long-term storage for not only fish, but most other foodstuffs as well. Though some Tlingit can identify the preparer of smoked salmon by the knife patterns in it, this skill is dying out and specific cutting patterns are dispensed with in favor of the simplest slashing or crosshatching.” ref

“During the summer harvesting season most people lived in their smokehouses, transporting the walls and floors from their winter houses to their summer locations, where the frame for the house stood. Besides living in smokehouses, other summer residences were little more than hovels built from blankets and bark set up near the smokehouse. In the years following the introduction of European trade, canvas tents with wood stoves came into fashion. Since this was merely a temporary location, and since the primary purpose of the residence was not for living but for smoking fish, the Tlingit cared little for the summer house’s habitability, as noted by early European explorers, and in stark contrast to the remarkable cleanliness maintained in winter houses.” ref

Commercial and subsistence fishing

“Many Tlingit are involved in the Alaskan commercial salmon fisheries. Alaskan law provides for commercial fishermen to set aside a portion of their commercial salmon catch for subsistence or personal use, and today many families no longer fish extensively but depend on a few relatives in the commercial fishery to provide the bulk of their salmon store. Despite this, subsistence fishing is still widely practiced, particularly during weekend family outings.” ref 

“Herring (Clupea pallasii) and hooligan (Thaleichthys pacificus) both provide important foods in the Tlingit diet. They are small fish that return in enormous schools to spawn near the mouths of freshwater rivers and streams. Herring are traditionally harvested with herring rakes, long poles with spikes that are swirled around in the schooling fish. An experienced herring raker can bring up ten or more fish with each swing, and deftly flick the fish from the rake into the bottom of the boat. Raking can be enhanced with pens, weirs, and other techniques of condensing the large schools. More modern methods usually involve small aperture nets and purse seining. Herring are usually processed like salmon, dried and smoked whole. Cleaning and removal of the viscera is optional, and if being frozen whole many do not bother due to the diminutive size of the fish. They are traditionally stored by submerging in seal oil (the “Tlingit refrigerator”), but in modern times may be canned, salted, or frozen, the latter usually in vacuum sealed bags.” ref

“Herring eggs are also harvested, and are considered a delicacy, sometimes called “Tlingit caviar”. Either ribbon kelp or (preferably) hemlock branches are submerged in an area where herring are known to spawn, and are marked with a buoy. They may be unattended during spawning, or the herring may be herded into the area and penned with nets to force them to spawn on the kelp or hemlock. Once enough eggs are deposited the herring are released from the pen to spawn further, thus ensuring future harvests. The branches or kelp are removed and boiled in large cauldrons or fifty-five gallon drums on the beach, often as part of a family or community event. Children are often tasked with stirring the water with large paddles, and this provides many fond memories for adults. The cooked eggs may be salted, frozen, dried in cakes, or submerged in seal oil to preserve them for use throughout the year. Bringing herring eggs to a gathering always results in oohs and aahs as people sample them, and frequently induces an elder to relate herring stories. Some Tlingit are connoisseurs, knowing certain regions by their flavor or texture, and good harvest grounds are often jealously guarded secrets.” ref

“Hooligans are harvested by similar means as herring; however, they are valued more for their oil than for their flesh. Instead of smoking, they are usually tried for their oil by boiling and mashing in large cauldrons or drums (traditionally old canoes and hot rocks were used), the oil skimmed off the surface with spoons and then strained and stored in bentwood boxes (today in commercial containers, e.g., glass jars). Hooligan oil was a valuable trade commodity, and enriched khwáan such as the Chilkat who saw regular hooligan runs every year in their territory. Today hooligan are, when not tried for their oil, most often vacuum-sealed and frozen, kept in large freezers found outside many Tlingit households.” ref

“When cooked, both herring and hooligan are usually served whole with heads still attached. Some people eat the entire fish, others strip the meat and viscera off with their teeth and leave the skeleton; eating of the viscera is very common, in contrast with the universal disposal of salmon viscera. Methods of preparation often involve deep-frying or pan frying, although baking is also common and is more traditional. As with salmon, they may be pierced with a stick and set over a fire to roast; this is a particularly common practice during the harvest when overnighting at a remote location, or at a beach party or picnic.” ref

“Halibut, cod, bullhead, flounder, shark, salmon, etc. Halibut were eaten frequently, as were herring and lingcod. Halibut were killed by spear or by club depending on size and weight, or caught with specialized halibut hooks. Unlike almost all other north Pacific coast peoples, the Tlingit do not hunt whale. Various explanations have been offered, but the most common reason given is that since a significant portion of the society relates itself with either the killer whale or other whale species via clan crest and hence as a spiritual member of the family, eating whale was tantamount to cannibalism. A more practical explanation follows from the tendency of the Tlingit to harvest and eat in moderation despite the surrounding abundance of foodstuffs.” ref

“Thus whale is treated similarly to shellfish—as a second class food, only eaten when other food sources have failed, and whose consumption indicates poverty. A whale provides a large amount of food that spoils easily, and distribution of food outside the household requires elaborate and expensive potlatching. Whale hunting is also a large cooperative endeavor, and requires extensive interaction between clans for success. Such interactions can produce obligations that are difficult to repay. Thus the Tlingit avoided the whale harvest for sociopolitical and socioeconomic reasons. The Gulf Coast Tlingit around Yakutat are the exception to the rule, hunting whale occasionally.” ref

“Many Tlingit explain the Gulf Coast whale hunt as an areal influence of the Eyak and the Alutiiq Eskimos of Prince William Sound further north. However, all Tlingit eat beached whales, considering this a gift that should not be wasted. A story in the Raven Cycle relates how Raven was swallowed by a whale and then ate it from inside out, eventually killing and beaching it; this is considered to justify Tlingit harvests of beached whales. However, beached whales are fairly uncommon in Southeast Alaska since the beaches are very rocky and often nearly nonexistent, thus whale forms only a very small part of the Tlingit diet. Game forms a sizable component of the traditional Tlingit diet, and the majority of food that is not derived from the sea. Major game animals hunted for food are Sitka deer, rabbit, mountain goat in mountainous regions, black bear and brown bear, beaver, and, on the mainland, moose.” ref

Foods of Northwest Tribes

“Those living along the Northwest coast such as the Bella Bella, Bella Coola, Chinook, Coosans, Haida, Kwakiutls, Makah, Nootkans, Quileutes, Salish, Tillamook, Tlingit, and Upper Umpqua were supported by a vast amount of foods from the ocean and the lush land. Salmon was a major source of food, along with other fish such as trout, halibut, and herring, followed by acorns, hundreds of different plants, marine mammals (whales, otters, seals), bears, beavers, lynx, deer, and small game like rabbits and hares.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Chinookan peoples

“Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE or around 6,000 years ago, Chinookan peoples have resided along the upper and Middle Columbia River (Wimahl) (“Great River”) from the river’s gorge (near the present town of The Dalles, Oregon) downstream (west) to the river’s mouth, and along adjacent portions of the coasts, from Tillamook Head of present-day Oregon in the south, north to Willapa Bay in southwest Washington.” ref

“The Chinookan peoples were relatively settled and occupied traditional tribal geographic areas, where they hunted and fished; salmon was a mainstay of their diet. The women also gathered and processed many nuts, seeds, roots and other foods. They had a society marked by social stratification, consisting of a number of distinct social castes of greater or lesser status. Upper castes included shamans, warriors, and successful traders. They composed a minority of the community population compared to common members. Members of the superior castes are said to have practiced social discrimination, limiting contact with commoners and forbidding play between the children of the different social groups. Some Chinookan peoples practiced slavery, a practice borrowed from the northernmost tribes of the Pacific Northwest.” ref

“They took slaves as captives in warfare, and used them to practice thievery on behalf of their masters. The latter refrained from such practices as unworthy of high status. The elite of some tribes had the practice of head binding, flattening their children’s forehead and top of the skull as a mark of social status. They bound the infant’s head under pressure between boards when the infant was about 3 months old and continued until the child was about one year of age. This custom was a means of marking social hierarchy; flat-headed community members had a rank above those with round heads. Those with flattened skulls refused to enslave other persons who were similarly marked, thereby reinforcing the association of a round head with servility. The Chinook were known colloquially by early white explorers in the region as “Flathead Indians.” ref

“Living near the coast of the Pacific Ocean, the Chinook were skilled elk hunters and fishermen. The most popular fish was salmon. Owing partly to their settled living patterns, the Chinook and other coastal tribes had relatively little conflict over land, as they did not migrate through each other’s territories and they had rich resources in the natural environment. In the manner of numerous settled tribes, the Chinook resided in longhouses. More than fifty people, related through extended kinship, often resided in one longhouse. Their longhouses were made of planks made from red cedar trees. The houses were about 20–60 feet wide and 50–150 feet long.” ref

Kwalhioqua–Clatskanie people

“The Willapa or Willoopah, also known as Kwalhioqua / Kwalhiokwa, were a Northern Athapaskan-speaking people in southwestern Washington, United States. Their territory was the valley of the Willapa River and the prairie between the headwaters of the Chehalis and Cowlitz Rivers. Together with the Clatskanie people (also: Tlatskanai / Klatskanai, according to tradition originally part of the “Suwal/Swaal” subgroup) in the upper Nehalem River Valley and along the headwaters of the Klaskanine and Clatskanie River in northwestern Oregon they spoke dialects of the now extinct Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie (Kwalhioqua–Tlatskanai) language, the Willapa dialect was the most divergent. The Kwalhioqua lived north of the lower Columbia River, the Clatskanie (Tlatskanai) to the south, separated by the territory of the Lower Chinook-speaking Shoalwater Bay Chinook (or Willapa Chinook) or Clatsop and the Kathlamet (Cathlamet), who spoke another Chinookan variant.” ref

Tillamook people

“The Tillamook are a Native American tribe from coastal Oregon of the Salish linguistic group. The name “Tillamook” is a Chinook language term meaning “people of [the village] Nekelim (or Nehalem)”, sometimes it is given as a Coast Salish term, meaning “Land of Many Waters”. The Tillamook initially spoke Tillamook, a Salishan language. The name Tillamook was derived from Chinook people’s references to them, referring to their place of settlement. It meant the people of Nekelim (pronounced Ne-elim). The latter name means the place Elim, or, in the Cathlamet dialect, the place Kelim. This dialect differed from the northern dialects in its peculiar phonetics. Boas noted that the culture of the Tillamook seemed to have differed quite considerably from that of the northern Coast Salish, and has evidently been influenced by the culture of the tribes of northern California.” ref

“According to the work of Franz Boas, the culture of the Tillamook tribe was significantly different from that of their Salish neighbors, evidently influenced by the tribes of northern California. The Tillamook were skilled basket-weavers, and had a detailed mythology with links to existing events; the Story of the Thunderbird and Whale, for example, reflects the large earthquake in that region in 1700. The Tillamook divided their mythology into three categories; the earliest was the Myth Age, followed by the Age of Transformation, when the “South Wind” remade the land. The third age is the “period of true happenings”, or events that happened in what the Tillamook considered recent history. Despite this, stories from the third age were considered just as much of a myth as those from the first or second.” ref

“The Tillamook exercised gender roles in numerous ways. During infancy, children were named at an ear-piercing ceremony where boys had their nasal septa pierced. If the infant had older siblings, they were required to stay away for at least a week for fear that their presence would swell the ear of the infant and cause its death. Throughout childhood, boys and girls were rarely punished. Certain activities were emphasized depending on the person’s sex. A boy’s first food kill and a girl’s first gathered food were reserved for the elderly. At the onset of puberty, girls were secluded and underwent a series of ritual behaviors and food taboos. One such ritual was an all-night guardian spirit vigil in the woods, during which the girl repeatedly bathed in a cold stream in an attempt to gain guardian spirits.” ref

“For boys, fasting and guardian spirit quests that included bathing became important. A boy’s power and adult occupation were equated with the spirit he obtained through the quest. Boys and girls activated spirit powers acquired from their guardian only at middle age. Tillamook adults distinguished themselves further with fashion as both sexes painted their central hair part red, but men wore their hair in a single braid, while women would have two braids. Men and women also had tattoos and wore ear pendants according to their preference. Marriages among the Tillamook were arranged with services being exchanged between the two families according to their status. Initial residence was in the groom’s parents’ village. If men acquired high status, they might have sought more than one wife. Illegitimate births were a common result of the arranged marriage process and led to a high occurrence of infanticide.” ref

Salish peoples

“The Salish peoples are indigenous peoples of the American and Canadian Pacific Northwest, identified by their use of the Salish languages which diversified out of Proto-Salish between 3,000 and 6,000 years ago. The Salish (or Salishan) people are in four major groups: Bella Coola (Nuxalk), Coast Salish, Interior Salish, and Tsamosan, who each speak one of the Salishan languages. The Tsamosan group is usually considered a subset of the broader Coast Salish peoples. Salish peoples located in the Pacific Northwest and parts of Southern Alaska were known to build totem poles that were meant to symbolize a tribe member’s spirit animal or family crest. They continue on this legacy today by selling hand carved totem poles formed in the same fashion.” ref

“Plentiful in the Pacific Northwest, the Western Red Cedar was a vital resource in Coast Salish peoples’ lives. Canoes, longhouses, totem poles, baskets, mats, clothing, and more were all made using cedar. Totem poles were less common in Coast Salish culture than with neighboring non-Salish Pacific Northwest Coast peoples such as the Haida, Tsimshian, Tlingit, and Kwakiutl tribes. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that the totem pole tradition was adopted by the northern Coast Salish peoples including the Cowichan, Comox, Pentlatch, Musqueam, and Lummi tribes. These tribes created fewer free-standing totem poles, but are known for carving house posts in the interior and exterior of longhouses.” ref

“Traditional Salish religious beliefs focused chiefly on guardian spirits. In the years just prior to puberty, boys undertook isolated nightly vigils, hoping for visions that would reveal their spirit-guide; some girls did likewise. Flathead, North American Indian tribe of what is now western Montana, U.S., whose original territory extended from the crest of the Bitterroot Range to the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains and centred on the upper reaches of the Clark Fork of the Columbia River. Although early accounts referred to all Salish-speaking tribes as “Flathead,” the people now known by this name never engaged in head flattening. To further complicate the name issue, in the 21st century most individuals belonging to this tribe refer to themselves simply as Salish, though from a linguistic perspective “Salish” refers to a much larger grouping of peoples.” ref

“The Flathead were the easternmost of the Plateau Indians. Like other tribes that regularly traversed the Rocky Mountains, they shared many traits with nomadic Plains Indians. The Flathead acquired horses in great numbers and mounted annual fall expeditions to hunt bison on the Plains, often warring with tribes that were permanent residents of the area. Traditional Flathead culture also emphasized Plains-type warfare and its honours, including staging war dances, killing enemies, counting coups (touching enemies to shame or insult them), kidnapping women and children, and stealing horses. Before colonization, the Flathead usually lived in tepees; the A-framed mat-covered lodge, a typical Plateau structure, was also used. Western Flathead groups used bark canoes, while eastern groups preferred the round bison-skin vessels known as bullboats that were typical of the Plains. Fishing was important among the Flathead, as it was among other Plateau tribes.” ref

“On the fringes of the Plateau culture area, however, conditions were different. The westernmost Salish groups, such as the Lillooet and western Shuswap, traded with the Northwest Coast Indians and adopted some of their customs. The Lillooet, for instance, had a well-organized clan system similar to those used by Coast Salish peoples, and the western Shuswap had both clans and castes of nobles, commoners, and slaves, forms of social organization similar to those found on the coast. The easternmost Salish, such as the Flathead, who were horsemen, bison hunters, and warriors, had a relatively well-developed system of tribal chiefs and councils, much in the manner of the Plains Indians with whom they traded.” ref

“Although a typical Salish group had either dugout or bark canoes, the rivers were so full of rapids that traveling was more often accomplished on foot. The typical dwelling was an earth- or mat-covered lodge, sometimes semisubterranean. As with other customs, however, the Flathead used a Plains architectural form, the tepee, and the Lillooet built coastal-style houses of poles and planks. Most Salish wore clothing made of dressed skins: breechclouts (breechcloths) for men, tunics for women, and leggings and moccasins for all. Shamanism was also important, and shamans and medicine men and women could cure, and in some cases cause, disease or social strife. The winter guardian spirit dance, involving dances, feasts, and prayers in propitiation of guardian spirits, was the most important community ritual for the Salish.” ref

Coast Salish

“The Coast Salish are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coast Salish languages. The Nuxalk (Bella Coola) nation are usually included in the group, although their language is more closely related to Interior Salish languages. Coast Salish cultures differ considerably from those of their northern neighbours. They have a patrilineal and matrilineal kinship system, with inheritance and descent passed through the male and female line.” ref

“Evidence has been found from c. 3000 BCE or 5,000 years ago of an established settlement at X̱á:ytem (Hatzic Rock) near Mission, British Columbia. Early occupancy of c̓əsnaʔəm (Marpole Midden) is evident from c. 2000 BCE – 450 CE, and lasted at least until around the late 1800s, when smallpox and other diseases affected the inhabitants. Other notable early settlements that record has been found of include prominent villages along the Duwamish River estuary dating back to the 6th century CE, which remained continuously inhabited until sometime in the later 18th century.” ref

“Neighboring peoples, whether villages or adjacent tribes, were related by marriage, feasting, ceremonies, and common or shared territory. Ties were especially strong within the same waterway or watershed. There existed no breaks throughout the south Coast Salish culture area and beyond. There were no formal political institutions. External relations were extensive throughout most of the Puget Sound–Georgia Basin and east to the Sahaptin-speaking lands of Chelan, Kittitas and Yakama in what is now Eastern Washington. Similarly in Canada there were ties between the Squamish people and Sto:lo with Interior Salish neighbours, i.e. the Lil’wat/St’at’imc, Nlaka’pamux and Syilx.” ref

“There was little political organization. No formal political office existed. Warfare for the southern Coast Salish was primarily defensive, with occasional raiding into territory where there were no relatives. No institutions existed for mobilizing or maintaining a standing force. The common enemies of all the Coast Salish for most of the first half of the 19th century were the Lekwiltok aka Southern Kwakiutl, commonly known in historical writings as the Euclataws or Yucultas. Regular raids by northern tribes, particularly warriors of an alliance among the Haida, Tongass, and one group of Tsimshian, are also notable. Having gained superiority by earlier access to European guns through the fur trade, these warriors raided the southern Salish tribes for slaves and loot. Their victims organized retaliatory raids several times, attacking the Lekwiltok.” ref

“The highest-ranking male assumed the role of ceremonial leader but rank could vary and was determined by different standards. Villages were linked through intermarriage among members; the wife usually went to live at the husband’s village, in a patrilocal pattern. Society was divided into upper class, lower class and slaves, all largely hereditary. Nobility was based on genealogy, intertribal kinship, wise use of resources, and possession of esoteric knowledge about the workings of spirits and the world — making an effective marriage of class, secular, religious, and economic power. Many Coast Salish mothers altered the appearance of their free-born by carefully shaping the heads of their babies, binding them with cradle boards just long enough to produce a steep sloping forehead.” ref

Unlike hunter-gatherer societies widespread in North America, but similar to other Pacific Northwest coastal cultures, Coast Salish society was complex, hierarchical and oriented toward property and status. Slavery was practiced, although its extent is a matter of debate. The Coast Salish held slaves as simple property; they were not members of the tribe. The children of slaves were born into slavery. The staple of their diet was typically salmon, supplemented with a rich variety of other seafoods and forage. This was particularly the case for the southern Coast Salish, where the climate of their territories was even more temperate. The art of the Coast Salish has been interpreted and incorporated into contemporary art in British Columbia and the Puget Sound area.” ref

Bilateral kinship within the Skagit people is the most important system being defined as a carefully knit, and sacred bond within the society. When both adult siblings die, their children would be brought under the protection of surviving brothers and sisters, out of fear of mistreatment by stepparents. The Salish Sea region of the Northwest coast has produced ancient pieces of art appearing by 4500 years ago that feature various Salish styles recognizable in more recent historical works. A seated human feature bowl was used in a female puberty ritual in Secwépemc territory; it was believed to aid women in giving birth. Salish-made bowls in the Northwest have different artistic designs and features. Numerous bowls have basic designs with animal features on the surface. Similar bowls will have more decorations including a head, body, wings, and limbs.” ref

“A seated figure bowl is more complex in design, depicting humans being intertwined with animals. For thousands of years, Northwest coast Salish people demonstrated valuing material possessions. They believe that material wealth included land, food resources, household items, and adornments. Material wealth not only improved one’s life but it enhanced other qualities such as those needed to acquire high status. Wealth was required to enhance their status as elite born, or through practical skills, and ritual knowledge. An individual could not buy status or power, but wealth could be used to enhance them. Wealth was not meant to be hidden. It has been publicly displayed through ceremony. Games often involved gambling on a sleight-of-hand game known as slahal, as well as athletic contests. Games that are similar to modern day lacrosse, rugby, and forms of martial arts also existed.” ref

“Belief in guardian spirits and shapeshifting or transformation between human and animal spirits were widely shared in many forms. The relations of soul or souls, and conceptions of the lands of the living and the dead were complex and mutable. Vision quest journeys involving other states of consciousness were varied and widely practiced. The Duwamish had a soul recovery and journey ceremony. The Quileute Salish people near Port Townsend had their own beliefs about where souls of all living things go. The shamans of these people believed everything had five components to its spirit; the body, an inner and outer soul, its life force, and its ghost. They believed that an individual becomes ill when their soul is removed from their body, and this is followed by death when the soul reaches the underworld. It is the job of the shaman to travel to the underworld to save the individual by recovering the soul while it is traveling between the two worlds. ” ref

“The shamans believed that once an individual’s body was dead, it was able to connect with its soul and shade in the underworld. It is believed that the spirits are able to come back amongst the living and cause family members to die of sickness and join them in the afterlife. Living individuals were terrified of the intentions of spirits. who only appear at night, prompting Salish people to travel only during the day and stay close to others for protection. Coastal Salish beliefs describe the journey to the underworld as a two-day adventure. The individual must walk along a trail passing through bushes and a lake to reach a valley that is divided by a river where they will reside. Salish beliefs about the afterlife very closely resemble the past life they lived, and they often assign themselves to jobs to keep busy, hunt for animals and game, and live with their families.” ref

“Coastal Salish people believe that through dances, masks, or ceremonies, they express themselves the spiritual powers that they are given. Spirit powers define a community’s success through leadership, bravery, healing, or artistry. Spirit dancing ceremonies are common gatherings in the winter for members of the community to show their spirit powers through song, or dance. The powers they acquired were sought after individually after going through trials of isolation where their powers related to spirit animals such as a raven, woodpecker, bear, or seal. Oftentimes members of the community get together to show their powers on the longhouse floor, where the spiritual powers are for the individual alone for each member to share and display various songs.” ref

“Villages of the Coast Salish typically consisted of northwest coast longhouses made with western red cedar split planks and with an earthen floor. They provided habitation for forty or more people, usually a related extended family. Also used by many groups were pit-houses, known in the Chinook Jargon as kekuli (see quiggly holes). The villages were typically located near navigable water for easy transportation by dugout canoe. Houses that were part of the same village sometimes stretched for several miles along a river or watercourse.” ref

“The interior walls of longhouses were typically lined with sleeping platforms. Storage shelves above the platforms held baskets, tools, clothing, and other items. Firewood was stored below the platforms. Mattresses and cushions were constructed from woven reed mats and animals skins. Food was hung to dry from the ceiling. The larger houses included partitions to separate families, as well as interior fires with roof slats that functioned as chimneys. The wealthy built extraordinarily large longhouses. The Suquamish Oleman House (Old Man House) at what became the Port Madison Reservation was 152 x 12–18 m (500 x 40–60 ft), c. 1850. The gambrel roof was unique to Puget Sound Coast Salish.” ref

“The Salish later took to constructing rock walls at strategic points near the Fraser River Canyon, along the Fraser River. These Salish Defensive Sites are rock wall features constructed by Coast Salish peoples. One was excavated by Kisha Supernant in 2008 at Yale, British Columbia. The functions of these features may have included defense, fishing platforms, and creation of house terraces. House pits and stone tools have been found in association with certain sites. Methods used include use of a total station for mapping the sites as well as the creation of simple test pits to probe for stratigraphy and artifacts.” ref

“Native groups along the Northwest coast have been using plants for making wood and fiber artifacts for over 10,500 years. Anthropologists are searching for aquifer wet sites that would contain ancient Salish villages. These sites are created by a series of waters running through the archaeological deposits creating an environment with no oxygen that preserves wood and fiber The wet sites would typically contain perishable artifacts that were used as wedges, fishhooks, basketry, cordage, and nets. The Coast Salish use over 100 species of plants. Salal is the source of multiple tinctures and teas, and its berries are often eaten during feasts. They use the leaves of Carex to make baskets and twine.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Tlingit language

Haida language

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The hidden history of “Hand Talk” A North American lingua franca.

“Centuries before we had American Sign Language, Native sign languages, broadly known as “Hand Talk,” were thriving across North America. Hand Talk would be influential in the formation of American Sign Language, but it has largely been written out of history. One of these Hand Talk variations, Plains Indian Sign Language, was used so widely across the Great Plains that it became a lingua franca — a universal language used by both d/Deaf and hearing people to communicate among tribes that didn’t share a common spoken language.” ref

“At one point, tens of thousands of Indigenous people used Plains Indian Sign Language, or PISL, for everything from trade to hunting, conflict, storytelling, and rituals. But by the late 1800s, the federal government began to implement a policy that would change the course of Indigenous history forever: a boarding school program designed to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children into white American culture — a dark history that we’re still learning more about to this day.” ref

“Because of a forced “English-only” policy, the boarding school era is one of the main reasons the country lost so many Native signers — along with the eventual dominance of ASL in schools for the d/Deaf. Today, there are just a handful of fluent PISL signers left in the US. In the piece above, we hear from two of these signers, Melanie McKay-Cody and Lanny Real Bird, who have dedicated their lives to studying and revitalizing the language. They show us PISL in action and help us explore how this ancient language holds centuries of Indigenous history. This video is part of our award-winning series, Missing Chapter, now in its third season. You can watch more Missing Chapter episodes in this playlist.” ref

Native American Hand Talkers Fight to Keep Sign Language Alive

“In early September 1930, the Blackfeet Nation of Montana hosted a historic Indian Sign Language Grand Council, gathering leaders of a dozen North American Nations and language groups. The three-day council held was organized by Hugh L. Scott, a 77-year-old U.S. Army General who had spent a good portion of his career in the American West, where he observed and learned what users called Hand Talk, and what is today more broadly known as Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL). With $5,000 in federal funding, Scott filmed the proceedings and hoped to produce a film dictionary of more than 1,300 signs. He died before he could finish the project.” ref

“Scott’s films disappeared into the National Archives. Recently rediscovered, they are an important resource for those looking to revitalize PISL. Among them is Ron Garritson, who identifies himself as being of Choctaw and European heritage. He was raised in Billings, Montana, near the Crow Nation. “I learned how to speak Crow to a degree, and I was really interested in the sign language,” he said. “I saw it being used by the Elders, and I thought it was a beautiful form of communication. And so I started asking questions.” Garritson studied Scott’s films, along with works by other ethnographers and now has a vocabulary of about 1,700 signs. He conducts workshops and classes across Montana, in an effort to preserve and spread sign language and native history.” ref

Lingua franca

“Prior to contact with Europeans, North American Native peoples were not a unified culture, but hundreds of different cultures and tribes, each with its own political organization, belief system and language. When speakers of one language met those of another, whether in trade, councils or conflict, they communicated in the lingua franca of Hand Talk. Scholars dispute exactly when, in their 30,000-year history in North America, tribes developed sign language. It was observed among Florida tribes by 16th Century Spanish colonizers.” ref

“Coronado, as he documented in his journals in 1540, was in Texas and met the Comanche,” said Garritson. “He documented that the Comanches made themselves so well-understood with the use of sign talk that there was almost no need for an interpreter. It was that easy to use and easy to understand.” While each tribe had its own dialect, tribes were able to communicate easily. Though universal in North America, Hand Talk was more prominent among the nomadic Plains Nations.” ref

“There were fewer linguistic groups east of the Mississippi River,” said Garritson. “They were mostly woodland tribes, living in permanent villages and were familiar with each other’s languages. They still used sign language to an extent, but not like it was used out here.” Hand Talk was also the first language of deaf Natives. By the late 1800s, tens of thousands of Native Americans still used Hand Talk. That changed when the federal government instituted a policy designed to “civilize” tribal people.” ref

“Children were removed from their families and sent to government-run boarding schools, where they were forbidden to speak their own languages or practice their own spiritual beliefs. Native Deaf children were sent to deaf residential schools, where they were taught to use American Sign Language (ASL). Research has shown that Hand Talk is still being used by a small number of deaf and hearing descendants of the Plains Indian cultures.” ref

“Hand Talk is endangered and dying quickly,” said Melanie McKay-Cody, who identifies herself as Cherokee Deaf and is an expert in anthropological linguistics. McKay-Cody is the first deaf researcher to specialize in North American Hand Talk and today works with tribes to help them preserve their signed languages. She is pushing for PISL to be incorporated into mainstream education of the deaf.” ref

“Easier than hollering”

“Lanny Real Bird, who is Crow, Arikara and Hidatsa, grew up in a household where PISL was used. “My grandmother had hearing loss,” he said. “I’d see my father signing with her in the Plains Indian Sign Language. I picked up basic sign language, enough to say, ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ ‘I’m hungry.” As a boy, he played with a young relative who was deaf, who helped expand his signing vocabulary.” ref

“Real Bird, a former instructor at Montana’s Little Big Horn College, has worked for 20 years helping tribes preserve their languages, both spoken and signed, and has developed a 400 to 600-sign PISL course, which he teaches at community schools and workshops across the Plains states. “Right now we’re probably at the basic communications phase,” he said. “So in order to expand, we have to go to another level, from listening to understanding to rudimentary communicating to fluency and literacy.” ref

“Real Bird said it took nearly a decade to convince school systems to incorporate PISL into general language instruction. “Later this month, students of the of the Crow Reservation’s Wyola Elementary School will be showcased at the annual Montana Indian Education Conference,” he said. There, they will demonstrate their Crow language skills, both spoken and signed.” ref

Plains Indian Sign Language

“Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), also known as Hand Talk or Plains Sign Language, is an endangered language common to various Plains Nations across what is now central Canada, the central and western United States and northern Mexico. This sign language was used historically as a lingua franca, notably for trading among tribes; it is still used for story-telling, oratory, various ceremonies, and by deaf people for ordinary daily use.” ref

“In 1885, it was estimated that there were over 110,000 “sign-talking Indians,” including Blackfoot Confederacy, Cheyenne, Sioux, Kiowa, and Arapaho. As a result of several factors, including the European colonization of the Americas, the number of sign talkers declined sharply from European colonization onward. However, growing interest and preservation work on Plains Sign Language has increased its use and visibility in the 21st century. Historically, some have likened its more formal register, used by men, to Church Latin in function. It is primarily used today by elders and deaf members of Native American tribes.” ref

“Some deaf Indigenous children attend schools for the deaf and learn American Sign Language (ASL) having already acquired Plains Sign Language. A group studied in 1998 were able to understand each other, though this was likely through the use of International Sign. Jeffrey E. Davis, a leading linguist in documentation efforts, hypothesizes that this contact, combined with potential contact with Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language (another potential antecedent to ASL) may suggest that ASL descends in part from Plains Sign Language.” ref

“Plains Sign Language’s antecedents, if any, are unknown due to a lack of written records. However, the earliest records of contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples of the Gulf Coast region in what is now Texas and northern Mexico note a fully formed sign language already in use by the time of the Europeans’ arrival there. These records include the accounts of Cabeza de Vaca in 1527 and Coronado in 1541.” ref

“Signing may have started in the south of North America, perhaps in northern Mexico or Texas, and only spread into the Plains in recent times, though this suspicion may be an artifact of European observation. Plains Sign Language spread to the Sauk, Fox, Potawatomi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Caddo after their removal to Oklahoma. Via the Crow, it replaced the divergent Plateau Sign Language among the eastern nations that used it, the Coeur d’Alene, Sanpoil, Okanagan, Thompson, Lakes, Shuswap, and Colville in British Columbia, Washington, and Idaho, with western nations shifting instead to Chinook Jargon.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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5 things you didn’t know about Alaska’s totem poles

Forest-dependent people

“The term forest-dependent people is used to describe any of a wide variety of livelihoods that are dependent on access to forests, products harvested from forests, or ecosystem services provided by forests, including those of Indigenous peoples dependent on forests. In India, approximately 22 percent of the population belongs to forest-dependent communities, which live in close proximity to forests and practice agroforestry as a principal part of their livelihood. People of Ghana who rely on timber and bushmeat harvested from forests and Indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest are also examples of forest-dependent people. Though forest-dependence by more common definitions is statistically associated with poverty and rural livelihoods, elements of forest-dependence exist in communities with a wide range of characteristics. Generally, richer households derive more cash value from forest resources, whereas among poorer households, forest resources are more important for home consumption and increase community resilience.” ref

“Forests are fundamental to the culture and livelihood of indigenous people groups that live in and depend on forests, many of which have been removed from and denied access to the lands on which they lived as part of global colonialism. Indigenous lands contain 36% or more of intact forest worldwide, host more biodiversity, and experience less deforestation. Indigenous activists have argued that degradation of forests and indigenous peoples’ marginalization and land dispossession are interconnected. Other concerns among indigenous peoples include lack of Indigenous involvement in forest management and loss of knowledge related for the forest ecosystem. Since 2002, the amount of land that is legally owned by or designated for indigenous peoples has broadly increased, but land acquisition in lower-income countries by multinational corporations, often with little or no consultation of indigenous peoples, has also increased. Research in the Amazon rainforest suggests that indigenous methods of agroforestry form reservoirs of biodiversity. In the U.S. state of Wisconsin, forests managed by indigenous people have more plant diversity, fewer invasive species, higher tree regeneration rates, and higher volume of trees.” ref

“There are three types of afforestation:

1. Natural regeneration (where native trees are planted as seeds; this creates new ecosystems and increases carbon sequestration).
2. Agroforestry (this is essentially an agricultural activity carried out in order to grow harvestable crops such as fruits and nuts).
3. Tree plantations (carried out in order to produce wood and wood-pulp products; this can be seen as an alternative to cutting down naturally-occurring forests).” ref

Trees in mythology

“Trees are significant in many of the world’s mythologies, and have been given deep and sacred meanings throughout the ages. Human beings, observing the growth and death of trees, and the annual death and revival of their foliage, have often seen them as powerful symbols of growth, death and rebirth. Evergreen trees, which largely stay green throughout these cycles, are sometimes considered symbols of the eternal, immortality or fertility. The image of the Tree of life or world tree occurs in many mythologies. The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European, Siberian, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots, the underworld. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the tree of life, but it is the source of wisdom of the ages. “Examples include the banyan and the sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil of Judaism and Christianity. In folk religion and folklore, trees are often said to be the homes of tree spirits. Germanic mythology as well as Celtic polytheism both appear to have involved cultic practice in sacred groves, especially grove of oak. The term druid itself possibly derives from the Celtic word for oak. The Egyptian Book of the Dead mentions sycamores as part of the scenery where the soul of the deceased finds blissful repose. The presence of trees in myth sometimes occurs in connection to the concept of the sacred tree and the sacred grove. Trees are an attribute of the archetypical locus amoenus.” ref, ref

Inequality on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America measured by house-floor area and storage capacity

“Recent large-scale comparative archaeological studies of wealth differences have used Gini coefficients to assess inequality, employing house-floor area as a standardized, cross-cultural proxy for wealth. Two such studies have found that storage capacity produces higher Gini coefficients than floor area, suggesting that the latter measures household wealth, while the former reflects anticipated income. Here, the authors test these relationships using the floor area and storage capacity of excavated houses on the Lower Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. The results, which reflect those from previous studies, support the cross-cultural nature of the pattern, and show that storage capacity reflects food-surplus deployment strategies rather than anticipated household income.” ref

Culture of the Tlingit

“The culture of the Tlingit, an Indigenous people from Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon, is multifaceted, a characteristic of Northwest Coast peoples with access to easily exploited rich resources. In Tlingit culture a heavy emphasis is placed upon family and kinship, and on a rich tradition of oratory. Wealth and economic power are important indicators of status, but so is generosity and proper behavior, all signs of “good breeding” and ties to aristocracy. Art and spirituality are incorporated in nearly all areas of Tlingit culture, with even everyday objects such as spoons and storage boxes decorated and imbued with spiritual power and historical associations.” ref

“The Tlingit kinship system, like most Northwest Coast societies, is based on a matrilineal structure, and describes a family roughly according to Morgan’s Crow system of kinship. The society is wholly divided into two distinct moieties, termed Raven (Yéil) and Eagle/Wolf (Ch’aak’/Ghooch). The former identifies with the raven as its primary crest, but the latter is variously identified with the wolf, the eagle, or some other dominant animal crest depending on location; occasionally, this moiety is simply called the “not Raven” people. There is a general tendency among younger Tlingits of identifying all Eagle/Wolf clans with the eagle in preference to wolf or other crests, something deprecated by most elders but reinforced by modern associations between Tlingit and their Tsimshian and Haida neighbors. Members of one moiety traditionally may only marry a person of the opposite moiety.” ref

Descent groups

“A descent group is a social group whose members talk about common ancestry. A unilineal society is one in which the descent of an individual is reckoned either from the mother’s or the father’s line of descent. Matrilineal descent is based on relationship to females of the family line. A child would not be recognized with their father’s family in these societies, but would be seen as a member of their mother’s family’s line. Simply put, individuals belong to their mother’s descent group. Matrilineal descent includes the mother’s brother, who in some societies may pass along inheritance to the sister’s children or succession to a sister’s son. Conversely, with patrilineal descent, individuals belong to their father’s descent group. Children are recognized as members of their father’s family, and descent is based on relationship to males of the family line. Societies with the Iroquois kinship system, are typically unilineal, while the Iroquois proper are specifically matrilineal.” ref

“In a society which reckons descent bilaterally (bilineal), descent is reckoned through both father and mother, without unilineal descent groups. Societies with the Eskimo kinship system, like the Inuit, Yupik, and most Western societies, are typically bilateral. The egocentric kindred group is also typical of bilateral societies. Additionally, the Batek people of Malaysia recognize kinship ties through both parents’ family lines, and kinship terms indicate that neither parent nor their families are of more or less importance than the other. Some societies reckon descent patrilineally for some purposes, and matrilineally for others. This arrangement is sometimes called double descent. For instance, certain property and titles may be inherited through the male line, and others through the female line. Societies can also consider descent to be ambilineal (such as Hawaiian kinship) where offspring determine their lineage through the matrilineal line or the patrilineal line.” ref

Lineages, Clans, Phratries, Moieties, and Matrimonial sides

“A lineage is a unilineal descent group that can demonstrate their common descent from a known apical ancestor. Unilineal lineages can be matrilineal or patrilineal, depending on whether they are traced through mothers or fathers, respectively. Whether matrilineal or patrilineal descent is considered most significant differs from culture to culture. A clan is generally a descent group claiming common descent from an apical ancestor. Often, the details of parentage are not important elements of the clan tradition. Non-human apical ancestors are called totems. Examples of clans are found in Chechen, Chinese, Irish, Japanese, Polish, Scottish, Tlingit, and Somali societies. A phratry is a descent group composed of three or more clans, each of whose apical ancestors are descended from a further common ancestor.” ref

“If a society is divided into exactly two descent groups, each is called a moiety, after the French word for half. If the two halves are each obliged to marry out, and into the other, these are called matrimonial moieties. Houseman and White (1998b, bibliography) have discovered numerous societies where kinship network analysis shows that two halves marry one another, similar to matrimonial moieties, except that the two halves—which they call matrimonial sides—are neither named nor descent groups, although the egocentric kinship terms may be consistent with the pattern of sidedness, whereas the sidedness is culturally evident but imperfect. The word deme refers to an endogamous local population that does not have unilineal descent. Thus, a deme is a local endogamous community without internal segmentation into clans.” ref

“In the last century, this system began to break down (as a result of violent suppression of Tlingit culture and traditions), and today, so-called “double-eagle” and “double-raven” marriages are common, as well as marriages with non-Tlingit people. No word in Tlingit refers to moiety, since referring to a particular person by their clan membership (see below) is enough to determine their moiety affiliation. In colloquial English the term “side” is often used among the Tlingit since “moiety” is a specialized term unfamiliar to most. Moiety means “half” in the French language, denoting that half of the clans are Eagle and half are Raven.” ref

“The moieties provide the primary dividing line across Tlingit society, but identification is rarely made with the moiety. Instead, individuals identify with their matrilineal clan (naa), a large group of people related by shared genealogy, history, and possessory rights. Clan sizes vary widely, and some clans are found throughout all the Tlingit lands whereas others are found only in one small cluster of villages. The Tlingit clan functions as the main property owner in the culture, thus almost all formal property amongst the Tlingit belongs to clans, not to individuals. Due to the decline in traditional knowledge among the younger generations (as a result of violent suppression of Tlingit culture and traditions), many young urban Tlingit people are uncertain of their exact clan affiliation, and may simply refer to themselves by one or the other moiety. If they become more familiar with traditional cultural practices, they either discover and research their clan or are formally adopted into an appropriate clan in the area.” ref

“Because of the heavy emphasis on clan and matrilineal descent, the father played a relatively minor role in the lives of his children. Instead, what Europeans would consider the father’s primary role was filled by the mother’s brother, the children’s maternal uncle, who was of the same clan as the children. This man served as caretaker, teacher, and disciplinarian. The father had a more peripheral relationship with the children, and as such many Tlingit children have very pleasant memories of their fathers as generous and playful, while they maintain a distinct fear and awe of their maternal uncles who exposed them to hard training and discipline.” ref

“Beneath the clans are houses (hít), smaller groups of people closely related by family, and who in earlier times lived together in the same large communal house. The physical house itself would be first and foremost property of the clan, but the householders would be keepers of the house and all material and non-material goods associated with it. Each house was led by a “chief,” in Tlingit hít s’aatí “house master”, an elder male (or less often a female) of high stature within the family. Hít s’aatí who were recognized as being of particularly high stature in the community, to the point of being major community leaders, were called aan s’aatí or more often aankháawu, “village master” or “village leader”. The term aan s’aatí is now used to refer to an elected city mayor in Tlingit, although the traditional position was not elected and did not imply some coercive authority over the residents.” ref

“The existence of a “chief” for every house lineage in a village confused many early European explorers and traders who expected a single autocratic “chief” in a given village or region. This led to numerous confrontations and skirmishes among the Europeans and Tlingit in early history, since a particular “chief” could only hold sway over members of his own household and not over others in the village. A high stature hít s’aatí could convince unrelated villagers to behave a certain way, but if he lost significant status the community would begin to ignore him, much to the dismay of Europeans who were depending on his authority.” ref

“The hít s’aatí is usually the caretaker and administrator of house property, as well as some or most clan property in his region. He may often refer to himself as the “slave” of clan and house valuables and regalia because his position is not one of true ownership. Instead the position is more like that of a museum curator, one who has some say in whether or not a particular item is to be used or displayed, but who does not truly own that item and who may not dispense with it, sell it, or destroy it without the consultation of other family members. The hít s’aatí is also responsible for seeing the clan regalia brought out regularly at potlatches where the value and history of these items may be reconfirmed through ceremonial use and payments to the opposite clans. The funds for these potlatches may come primarily from the hít s’aatí, and as such the regalia that represent his ancestors can be seen as spending his money for him.” ref

“Historically, marriages among Tlingits, and occasionally between Tlingits and other tribes were arranged. The man moved into the woman’s house and became a member of that household. He contributed to communal food gathering and had access to his wife’s clan’s resources. Because the children were of the mother’s clan, marriages were often arranged such that the man married a woman of the same clan as his father, though not a close relation. This constituted an ideal marriage in traditional Tlingit society, where the children were of the same clan as their paternal grandfather and could thus inherit his wealth, prestige, names, occupation, and personal possessions.” ref

“Because often the grandparents, particularly grandfathers, had a minimal role in the upbringing of their own children, they took an active interest in the upbringing of their grandchildren, and are noted for doting upon them beyond reason. This is usually exemplified by the story of Raven stealing daylight from his putative grandfather, who gave him the moon and the stars, and despite losing both of them to Raven’s treachery, gave him the sun as well simply because he was a favored grandchild.” ref

“Any Tlingit is a member of a clan, be it by birth or adoption. Many Tlingits are children of another clan, the clan of their fathers. The relationship between father and child is warm and loving, and this relationship has a strong influence on the relation between the two clans. During times of grief or trouble the Tlingit can call on his father’s clan for support at least as much as he can call on his own. His father’s clan is not obliged to help him, but the familial connection can be strong enough to alienate two clans in the same moiety. This situation is well documented in oral history, where two clans of opposite moieties are opposed in war—one clan may call upon a related clan of the same moiety for assistance only to be refused because of a father’s child among its enemies.” ref

“The opposition of clans is also a motivator for the reciprocal payments and services provided through potlatches. Indeed, the institution of the potlatch is largely founded on the reciprocal relationship between clans and their support during mortuary rituals. When a respected Tlingit dies the clan of his father is sought out to care for the body and manage the funeral. His own clan is incapable of these tasks due to grief and spiritual pollution. The subsequent potlatches are occasions where the clan honors its ancestors and compensates the opposite clans for their assistance and support during trying times. This reciprocal relationship between two clans is vital for the emotional, economic, and spiritual health of a Tlingit community.” ref

“In Tlingit society, many things are considered property that in other societies would not be. This includes names, stories, speeches, songs, dances, landscape features (e.g., mountains), and artistic designs. These notions of property are similar to those described by modern intellectual property law. More familiar property objects are buildings, rivers, totem poles, berry patches, canoes, and works of art. The Tlingit have long felt powerless to defend their cultural properties against depredation by opportunists, but have in recent years become aware of the power of American and Canadian law in defending their property rights and have begun to prosecute people for willful theft of such things as clan designs.” ref

It is important to note that in modern Tlingit society two forms of property are extant. The first and foremost is unavoidably that of the American and Canadian cultures, and is rooted in European law. The other is the Tlingit concept of property as described here. The two are contradictory in terms of rightful ownership, inheritance, permanence, and even in the very idea of what can be owned. This is the cause of many disagreements both within the Tlingit and with outsiders, as both concepts can seem to be valid at the same time. The Tlingit apply the indigenous concept of property mostly in ceremonial circumstances, such as after the death of an individual, the construction of clan houses, erection of totem poles, etc.” ref 

“The situation of death can be problematic however since Tlingit law dictates that any personal property reverts to clan ownership in the absence of any clan descendants who can serve as caretakers. This, of course, contradicts European legal interpretation, under which property reverts to the state in the absence of legal heirs. However, the two may be considered to be consistent, in that the clan serves as the essence of a Tlingit concept of state. Obviously, such matters require careful consideration by both Tlingit, familiar with the traditional laws, and by the governments involved.” ref

“Myriad art forms are considered property in Tlingit culture. The idea of copyright applied to Tlingit art is inappropriate, since copyright is generally restrictive to particular works or designs. In Tlingit culture, the ideas behind artistic designs are themselves property, and their representation in art by someone who cannot prove ownership is an infringement upon the property rights of the proprietor. Stories are considered property of particular clans. Some stories are shared freely but are felt to belong to a particular clan, other stories are clearly felt to be restricted property and may not be shared without a clan member’s permission. Certain stories are however essentially felt to be in the public domain, such as many of the humorous tales in the Raven cycle. The artistic representation of characters or situations from stories that are known property of certain clans is an infringement on the clan’s property rights to that story.” ref

“Songs are also considered to be property of clans, however since songs are more frequently composed than stories, a clear connection to individuals is felt until that individual dies, at which point the ownership tends to revert to the clan. A number of children’s songs or songs sung to children, commonly called ‘lullabies’, are considered to be in the public domain. However, any song written with a serious intent, be it a love song or a song of mourning, is considered to be the sole property of the owner and may not be sung, recorded, or performed without that clan’s permission. Dances are also considered to be clan property, along the same lines as songs. Since people from different clans are often involved in the performance of a dance, it is considered essential that before the dance is performed or the song sung that a disclaimer be made regarding who permission was obtained from, and with whom the original authorship or ownership rests.” ref

“Names are property of a different kind. Most names are inherited, that is they are taken from a deceased relative and applied to a living member of the same clan. However, children are not necessarily given an inherited name while young, instead being given one that seems appropriate to the child, recalls an interesting event in the child’s life, or is simply made up on the spot. These names, lacking a strong history, are not considered as important as those that have passed through many generations, so they are not as carefully defended. Also, some names are ‘stolen’ from a different clan to make good on an unpaid obligation or debt, and returned when the debt is paid or else passed down through the new clan until it can make a stable claim to ownership of the name.” ref

“Places and resources are also considered property, though in a much less clearly defined way than is found in the European legal tradition. Locations are not usually clearly bounded in the Tlingit world, and although sometimes certain landmarks serve as clear boundary markers, ownership of places is usually correlated with a valuable resource in that location rather than overt physical characteristics. Usually the resources in question are food sources, such as salmon streams, herring spawning grounds, berry patches, and fishing holes. However, they are not always immediately apparent, such as the ownership of mountain passes by some clans, which is due to exclusive trading relationships with Athabascans who live in lands accessible by those passes.” ref

“Although clan ownership of places is nearly complete in the Tlingit world, with the entirety of Southeast Alaska being divided up into a patchwork of bays, inlets, and rivers belonging to particular clans, this does not in practice provide much of an obstacle to food harvest and travel. Reciprocal relationships between clans guarantee permission for free harvest in most areas to nearly any individual. Since the level of inter-clan disagreements has declined, the attitude towards resource ownership is at a point where few persecute trespass into clan areas, as long as the individuals involved show respect and restraint in their harvest. Note that this only pertains to relations within Tlingit society, and not to relations with the American and Canadian governments or with non-Tlingit individuals. A hereditary form of slavery was practiced extensively among the Tlingit peoples. As many as one third of people in Tlingit society were enslaved.” ref

Potlatch

“Potlaches (Tl. koo.éex’ ) were held for deaths, births, naming, marriages, sharing of wealth, raising totems, special events, honoring the leaders or the departed. The memorial potlatch is a major feature of Tlingit culture. A year or two following a person’s death this potlatch was held to restore the balance of the community. Members of the deceased’s family were allowed to stop mourning. If the deceased was an important member of the community, like a chief or a shaman for example, at the memorial potlatch his successor would be chosen. Clan members from the opposite moiety took part in the ritual by receiving gifts and hearing and performing songs and stories. The function of the memorial potlatch was to remove the fear from death and the uncertainty of the afterlife. Burning food in potlaches was thought to “feed” new totem poles.” ref

“A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States, among whom it is traditionally the primary governmental institution, legislative body, and economic system. This includes the Heiltsuk, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw, and Coast Salish cultures. Potlatches are also a common feature of the peoples of the Interior and of the Subarctic adjoining the Northwest Coast, although mostly without the elaborate ritual and gift-giving economy of the coastal peoples (see Athabaskan potlatch).” ref

“A potlatch involves giving away or destroying wealth or valuable items in order to demonstrate a leader’s wealth and power. Potlatches are also focused on the reaffirmation of family, clan, and international connections, and the human connection with the supernatural world. Potlatch also serves as a strict resource management regime, where coastal peoples discuss, negotiate, and affirm rights to and uses of specific territories and resources. Potlatches often involve music, dancing, singing, storytelling, making speeches, and often joking and games. The honouring of the supernatural and the recitation of oral histories are a central part of many potlatches.” ref

“From 1885 to 1951, the Government of Canada criminalized potlatches. However, the practice persisted underground despite the risk of government reprisals including mandatory jail sentences of at least two months; the practice has also been studied by many anthropologists. Since the practice was decriminalized in 1951, the potlatch has re-emerged in some communities. In many it is still the bedrock of Indigenous governance, as in the Haida Nation, which has rooted its democracy in potlatch law. The word comes from the Chinook Jargon, meaning “to give away” or “a gift”; originally from the Nuu-chah-nulth word paɬaˑč, to make a ceremonial gift in a potlatch.” ref

“A potlatch was held on the occasion of births, deaths, adoptions, weddings, and other major events. Typically the potlatch was practiced more in the winter seasons as historically the warmer months were for procuring wealth for the family, clan, or village, then coming home and sharing that with neighbors and friends. The event was hosted by a numaym, or ‘House‘, in Kwakwaka’wakw culture. A numaym was a complex cognatic kin group usually headed by aristocrats, but including commoners and occasional slaves. It had about one hundred members and several would be grouped together into a nation. The House drew its identity from its ancestral founder, usually a mythical animal who descended to earth and removed his animal mask, thus becoming human. The mask became a family heirloom passed from father to son along with the name of the ancestor himself. This made him the leader of the numaym, considered the living incarnation of the founder.” ref

“Only rich people could host a potlatch. Tribal slaves were not allowed to attend a potlatch as a host or a guest. In some instances, it was possible to have multiple hosts at one potlatch ceremony (although when this occurred the hosts generally tended to be from the same family). If a member of a nation had suffered an injury or indignity, hosting a potlatch could help to heal their tarnished reputation (or “cover his shame”, as anthropologist H. G. Barnett worded it). The potlatch was the occasion on which titles associated with masks and other objects were “fastened on” to a new office holder. Two kinds of titles were transferred on these occasions. Firstly, each numaym had a number of named positions of ranked “seats” (which gave them a seat at potlatches) transferred within itself. These ranked titles granted rights to hunting, fishing and berrying territories. Secondly, there were a number of titles that would be passed between numayma, usually to in-laws, which included feast names that gave one a role in the Winter Ceremonial.” ref 

“Aristocrats felt safe giving these titles to their out-marrying daughter’s children because this daughter and her children would later be rejoined with her natal numaym and the titles returned with them. Any one individual might have several “seats” which allowed them to sit, in rank order, according to their title, as the host displayed and distributed wealth and made speeches. Besides the transfer of titles at a potlatch, the event was given “weight” by the distribution of other less important objects such as Chilkat blankets, animal skins (later Hudson Bay blankets) and ornamental “coppers”. It is the distribution of large numbers of Hudson Bay blankets, and the destruction of valued coppers that first drew government attention (and censure) to the potlatch. On occasion, preserved food was also given as a gift during a potlatch ceremony. Gifts known as sta-bigs consisted of preserved food that was wrapped in a mat or contained in a storage basket.” ref

“Dorothy Johansen describes the dynamic: “In the potlatch, the host in effect challenged a guest chieftain to exceed him in his ‘power’ to give away or to destroy goods. If the guest did not return 100 percent on the gifts received and destroy even more wealth in a bigger and better bonfire, he and his people lost face and so his ‘power’ was diminished.” Hierarchical relations within and between clans, villages, and nations, were observed and reinforced through the distribution or sometimes destruction of wealth, dance performances, and other ceremonies. The status of any given family is raised not by who has the most resources, but by who distributes the most resources. The hosts demonstrate their wealth and prominence through giving away goods.” ref

“Potlatch ceremonies were also used as coming-of-age rituals. When children were born, they would be given their first name at the time of their birth (which was usually associated with the location of their birthplace). About a year later, the child’s family would hold a potlatch and give gifts to the guests in attendance on behalf of the child. During this potlatch, the family would give the child their second name. Once the child reached about 12 years of age, they were expected to hold a potlatch of their own by giving out small gifts that they had collected to their family and people, at which point they would be able to receive their third name. For some cultures, such as Kwakwaka’wakw, elaborate and theatrical dances are performed reflecting the hosts’ genealogy and cultural wealth. Many of these dances are also sacred ceremonies of secret societies like the hamatsa, or display of family origin from supernatural creatures such as the dzunukwa.” ref

“Chief O’wax̱a̱laga̱lis of the Kwagu’ł describes the potlatch in his famous speech to anthropologist Franz Boas,

We will dance when our laws command us to dance, we will feast when our hearts desire to feast. Do we ask the white man, ‘Do as the Indian does’? No, we do not. Why, then, will you ask us, ‘Do as the white man does’? It is a strict law that bids us to dance. It is a strict law that bids us to distribute our property among our friends and neighbors. It is a good law. Let the white man observe his law; we shall observe ours. And now, if you are come to forbid us to dance, begone; if not, you will be welcome to us.” ref

“Among the various First Nations groups which inhabited the region along the coast, a variety of differences existed in regards to practises relating to the potlatch ceremony. Each nation, community, and sometimes clan maintained its own way of practicing the potlatch with diverse presentation and meaning. The Tlingit and Kwakiutl nations of the Pacific Northwest, for example, held potlatch ceremonies for different occasions. The Tlingit potlatches occurred for succession (the granting of tribal titles or land) and funerals. The Kwakiutl potlatches, on the other hand, occurred for marriages and incorporating new people into the nation (i.e., the birth of a new member of the nation.) The potlatch, as an overarching term, is quite general, since some cultures have many words in their language for various specific types of gatherings. It is important to keep this variation in mind as most of our detailed knowledge of the potlatch was acquired from the Kwakwaka’wakw around Fort Rupert on Vancouver Island in the period 1849 to 1925, a period of great social transition in which many aspects of the potlatch became exacerbated in reaction to efforts by the Canadian government to culturally assimilate First Nations communities into the dominant white culture.” ref

“Prior to European colonization, gifts included storable food (oolichan, or candlefish, oil or dried food), canoes, slaves, and ornamental “coppers” among aristocrats, but not resource-generating assets such as hunting, fishing and berrying territories. Coppers were sheets of beaten copper, shield-like in appearance; they were about two feet long, wider on top, cruciform frame and schematic face on the top half. None of the copper used was ever of Indigenous metal. A copper was considered the equivalent of a slave. They were only ever owned by individual aristocrats, and never by numaym, hence could circulate between groups. Coppers began to be produced in large numbers after the colonization of Vancouver Island in 1849 when war and slavery were ended.” ref

“In his 1925 book The Gift, the French ethnologist Marcel Mauss used the term potlatch to refer to a whole set of exchange practices in tribal societies characterized by “total prestations”, i.e., a system of gift giving with political, religious, kinship and economic implications. These societies’ economies are marked by the competitive exchange of gifts, in which gift-givers seek to out-give their competitors so as to capture important political, kinship and religious roles. Other examples of this “potlatch type” of gift economy include the Kula ring found in the Trobriand Islands.” ref

“The arrival of Europeans resulted in the introduction of numerous diseases against which Indigenous peoples had no immunity, resulting in a massive population decline. Competition for the fixed number of potlatch titles grew as commoners began to seek titles from which they had previously been excluded by making their own remote or dubious claims validated by a potlatch. Aristocrats increased the size of their gifts in order to retain their titles and maintain social hierarchy. This resulted in massive inflation in gifting made possible by the introduction of mass-produced trade goods in the late 18th and earlier 19th centuries. Archaeological evidence for the potlatching ceremony is suggested from the ~1,000 year-old Pickupsticks site in interior Alaska. Tlingit funerals conducted alongside potlatches usually had a celebratory element to them.” ref

“Potlatching was made illegal in Canada in 1884 in an amendment to the Indian Act, largely at the urging of missionaries and government agents who considered it “a worse than useless custom” that was seen as wasteful, unproductive, and contrary to ‘civilized values’ of accumulation. The potlatch was seen as a key target in assimilation policies and agendas. Missionary William Duncan wrote in 1875 that the potlatch was “by far the most formidable of all obstacles in the way of Indians becoming Christians, or even civilized”. Thus in 1884, the Indian Act was revised to include clauses banning the Potlatch and making it illegal to practice. Section 3 of the Act read,

Every Indian or other person who engages in or assists in celebrating the Indian festival known as the “Potlatch” or the Indian dance known as the “Tamanawas” is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not more than six nor less than two months in any gaol or other place of confinement; and, any Indian or other person who encourages, either directly or indirectly, an Indian or Indians to get up such a festival or dance, or to celebrate the same, or who shall assist in the celebration of same is guilty of a like offence, and shall be liable to the same punishment.” ref

“In 1888, the anthropologist Franz Boas described the potlatch ban as a failure:

The second reason for the discontent among the Indians is a law that was passed, some time ago, forbidding the celebrations of festivals. The so-called potlatch of all these tribes hinders the single families from accumulating wealth. It is the great desire of every chief and even of every man to collect a large amount of property, and then to give a great potlatch, a feast in which all is distributed among his friends, and, if possible, among the neighboring tribes. These feasts are so closely connected with the religious ideas of the natives, and regulate their mode of life to such an extent, that the Christian tribes near Victoria have not given them up. Every present received at a potlatch has to be returned at another potlatch, and a man who would not give his feast in due time would be considered as not paying his debts. Therefore the law is not a good one, and can not be enforced without causing general discontent. Besides, the Government is unable to enforce it. The settlements are so numerous, and the Indian agencies so large, that there is nobody to prevent the Indians doing whatsoever they like.” ref

“Eventually the potlatch law, as it became known, was amended to be more inclusive and address technicalities that had led to dismissals of prosecutions by the court. Legislation included guests who participated in the ceremony. The Indigenous people were too large to police and the law too difficult to enforce. Duncan Campbell Scott convinced Parliament to change the offence from criminal to summary, which meant “the agents, as justice of the peace, could try a case, convict, and sentence”. Even so, except in a few small areas, the law was generally perceived as harsh and untenable. Even the Indian agents employed to enforce the legislation considered it unnecessary to prosecute, convinced instead that the potlatch would diminish as younger, educated, and more “advanced” Indians took over from the older Indians, who clung tenaciously to the custom.” ref

“The potlatch ban was repealed in 1951. Sustaining the customs and culture of their ancestors, Indigenous people now openly hold potlatches to commit to the restoring of their ancestors’ ways. Potlatches now occur frequently and increasingly more over the years as families reclaim their birthright. Anthropologist Sergei Kan was invited by the Tlingit nation to attend several potlatch ceremonies between 1980 and 1987 and observed several similarities and differences between traditional and contemporary potlatch ceremonies. Kan notes that there was a language gap during the ceremonies between the older members of the nation and the younger members of the nation (age fifty and younger) due to the fact that most of the younger members of the nation do not speak the Tlingit language. Kan also notes that unlike traditional potlatches, contemporary Tlingit potlatches are no longer obligatory, resulting in only about 30% of the adult tribal members opting to participate in the ceremonies that Kan attended between 1980 and 1987. Despite these differences, Kan stated that he believed that many of the essential elements and spirit of the traditional potlatch were still present in the contemporary Tlingit ceremonies.” ref

The Art and Spirituality Connection in Traditional Tlingit Carving

“Steven Price returned home to Haines from the Southwest in 2016 to participate as an apprentice carver in Hoonah, AK. After many long months of careful labor, the 40-foot spruce canoe was hauled to the shoreline. Steven, his father, Wayne Price, and a group of apprentices paddled the 40-mile journey to Glacier Bay in one of the largest canoes built in recent memory. This particular journey was in celebration of the Huna Tlingit clan house dedication, which symbolized their ceremonial return to their homelands and the start of a new era of Tlingit art. Of carving, Price joked that he was in still diapers when he first participated in his father’s projects. “I helped carve totem poles, dugout canoes, paddles, and regalia masks,” he said.” ref

“Wayne Price, Tlingit master wood carver, will soon begin carving a healing totem for a women’s shelter in Juneau, AK. “I heal others through art,” he said. “Each wood chip we will offer to the totem symbolizes a name for a battered person. We designed a totem that tells a story of a broken trail.” The totem will feature a trail of healing, with a white dove at the top as a symbol of peace. “Ash offerings will be put inside the totem,” Price said. “I carve it so that even if you [don’t] know the story, you would feel a connection.” ref

“The Tlingit people of southeast Alaska, in spite of European colonization and forced assimilation, have been working to preserve their clan system, language, culture, and medicinal ways for decades. Alaska Native people who suffer from addiction, domestic violence, and suicidal ideations continue to experience socioeconomic disparities that may hinder their progression to wellness, sobriety, and stability, according to the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and Indian Health Service.” ref

“Price himself began his wellness journey through sweat lodge ceremony fifteen years ago. He experienced a vision to start healing others through his art. “I didn’t feel good about my work at first,” he said. Though he already knew how to carve, having done apprenticeships with other indigenous artists, he continued strengthening his craft. Today, he is one of a handful of Tlingit master wood carvers who can expertly carve dugout canoes, in addition to totem poles, drums, regalia, and masks. As project leader of North Tide Canoe Kwáan, he leads carving projects with people in recovery from violence, depression, or addiction. “We have to step away from the mind-changers,” Price said about alcohol and drugs. “We had no need for them in the past. That’s not who we are. A lie told a thousand times becomes believable. Colonization has taken everything.” ref

“The process of carving a Tlingit dugout canoe is a sacred tradition. Members from specific Tlingit clans meet in ceremony at the tree to bless it and give thanks for offering its’ life. After the carvers and the newly harvested log are blessed, only then can carving begin. “We thank the Stand Tall for giving its life,” Price said of trees selected for canoe journeys. “We make a pledge to give it a new life as a canoe.” “Each process of the canoe carving is painstakingly overseen by Price. “Lives depend on our dugout. When those lives go out on the water, they have to be safe. They also have the ability to sail.” He also has a firm set of rules: “You have to be of the right mind; you must carve your own paddle; you have to be without alcohol or drugs during the journey. It takes all of us working together to make it safely to the beach.” ref

“Price, along with other local Tlingit artists, has vocally challenged the authenticity of local Native artwork in Haines and southeast Alaska. Native-style art is being created by non-Native artists and sold for profit. Because many Tlingit designs are clan-owned, Tlingit-born artists claim that the right to create traditional art should rest solely with them instead of non-Native artists. Younger artists have also spoken out against unwelcome competition between their homemade art and mass-produced trinkets and décor sold at local shops. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act prohibits misrepresentation in the marketing of Indian arts and crafts. A relevant federal case involving counterfeit Indian jewelry and crafts is now unfolding in the Southwest. However, there are limitations: it is still legal to use indigenous art designs without attribution. There are no copyright laws that govern traditional indigenous designs and culture.” ref

“Alaska is known as the Last Frontier for its sprawling mountains, rugged forests and imposing glaciers.  The local culture and Alaska Natives traditions, like the artistic woodworking of the Tlingit people by master carver Wayne Price. The heart of Wayne’s art is the native cedar tree, which represents the backbone of Tlingit culture. He transforms them into totem poles, dugout canoes, headpieces, masks, paddles and several other creations. The Tlingit have a vibrant presence in Alaska, with their homes spanning the southern islands and coastal regions. Their art, known for its signature bold, black lines and swaths of reds and blues, beautifully depicts animals and mythology. It’s gained notoriety thanks in part to the customary totem poles prevalent around the region—like those found at Saxman Native Village and Totem Park.” ref

Totem poles

“The Tlingit carve crests on totem poles made of cedar trees. The totem poles carved normally tell a story, and Tlingit artists carve subjects like animals into the totem poles. These pictures are aligned in a column down the pole, in order from top to bottom. The poles are put on outside corners of “traditional dwellings”, used to structurally support their interiors, or placed on shores. The introduction of iron tools allowed for a greater proliferation of totem poles, with Tlingit villages reportedly having far more totem poles by the early 1800s, and numerous Tlingit families possessing large poles in front of their homes.” ref

“The totem pole could not be read like a book, knowledge of the stories and legends was required beforehand by the observer before they could understand the specific meaning of the assemblage of symbols and characters on the pole. Crests and totemic symbols provided context to the reader, and based upon the appearance and patterns of the characters, the reader could glean what the meaning of the totem was. In the totemic tradition, the two principal figures are the Raven and the Wolf, with the Raven appearing with great regularity among the Tlingit. In many Tlingit and other stories in the Northwest, the Raven is a central protagonist; having stolen the sun, the waters, and the fish in order to create and provide for the lands of the Tlingit.” ref

“Totem poles also fulfilled the role of showing off the power of a ruler or family and commemorating the dead. Some totem poles were a means for a family to store the ashes of a deceased family member, so that the remains of the deceased would remain on the property of family. The cremated remains would be placed inside of a carved wooden box which would then be deposited inside a totem pole or hollowed out tree, the totems used for the storing of human remains were referred to as “Mortuary Poles”. Tlingit chiefs would erect vividly designed and colored totem poles in order to commemorate their achievements as chief, as well as showing of his social status and wealth. In anticipation of great Potlatches, some being planned for years, wealthy Tlingit would commission craftsmen for the creation of some of the largest and most vivid totem poles in order to commemorate the event.” ref

“Totem poles (Haida: gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts, or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, by First Nations and Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast including northern Northwest Coast Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Kwakwaka’wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth communities in southern British Columbia, and the Coast Salish communities in Washington and British Columbia. There are six basic types of upright, pole carvings that are commonly referred to as “totem poles”; not all involve the carving of what may be considered “totem” figures: house frontal poles, interior house posts, mortuary poles, memorial poles, welcome poles, and the ridicule or shame pole.” ref

“The word totem derives from the Algonquian word odoodem [oˈtuːtɛm] meaning “(his) kinship group”. The carvings may symbolize or commemorate ancestors, cultural beliefs that recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events. The poles may also serve as functional architectural features, welcome signs for village visitors, mortuary vessels for the remains of deceased ancestors, or as a means to publicly ridicule someone. They may embody a historical narrative of significance to the people carving and installing the pole. Given the complexity and symbolic meanings of these various carvings, their placement, and importance lies in the observer’s knowledge and connection to the meanings of the figures and the culture in which they are embedded.” ref

“Totem poles serve as important illustrations of family lineage and the cultural heritage of the Indigenous peoples in the islands and coastal areas of North America’s Pacific Northwest, especially British Columbia, Canada, and coastal areas of Washington and southeastern Alaska in the United States. Families of traditional carvers come from the Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl), Nuxalk (Bella Coola), and Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), among others. The poles are typically carved from the highly rot-resistant trunks of Thuja plicata trees (popularly known as giant cedar or western red cedar), which eventually decay in the moist, rainy climate of the coastal Pacific Northwest. Because of the region’s climate and the nature of the materials used to make the poles, few examples carved before 1900 remain.” ref

“Noteworthy examples, some dating as far back as 1880, include those at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC in Vancouver, the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, and the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan, Alaska. Totem poles are the largest, but not the only, objects that coastal Pacific Northwest natives use to depict spiritual reverence, family legends, sacred beings, and culturally important animals, people, or historical events. The freestanding poles seen by the region’s first European explorers were likely preceded by a long history of decorative carving. Stylistic features of these poles were borrowed from earlier, smaller prototypes, or from the interior support posts of house beams.” ref

“Although 18th-century accounts of European explorers traveling along the coast indicate that decorated interior and exterior house posts existed prior to 1800, the posts were smaller and fewer in number than in subsequent decades. Prior to the 19th century, the lack of efficient carving tools, along with sufficient wealth and leisure time to devote to the craft, delayed the development of elaborately carved, freestanding poles. Before iron and steel arrived in the area, artists used tools made of stone, shells, or beaver teeth for carving. The process was slow and laborious; axes were unknown. By the late eighteenth century, the use of metal cutting tools enabled more complex carvings and increased production of totem poles. The tall monumental poles appearing in front of homes in coastal villages probably did not appear until after the beginning of the nineteenth century.” ref

“Eddie Malin has proposed that totem poles progressed from house posts, funerary containers, and memorial markers into symbols of clan and family wealth and prestige. He argues that the Haida people of the islands of Haida Gwaii originated carving of the poles, and that the practice spread outward to the Tsimshian and Tlingit, and then down the coast to the Indigenous people of British Columbia and northern Washington. Malin’s theory is supported by the photographic documentation of the Pacific Northwest coast’s cultural history and the more sophisticated designs of the Haida poles. Accounts from the 1700s describe and illustrate carved poles and timber homes along the coast of the Pacific Northwest. By the early nineteenth century, widespread importation of iron and steel tools from Great Britain, the United States, and elsewhere led to easier and more rapid production of carved wooden goods, including poles.” ref

“In the 19th century, American and European trade and settlement initially led to the growth of totem-pole carving, but United States and Canadian policies and practices of acculturation and assimilation caused a decline in the development of Alaska Native and First Nations cultures and their crafts, and sharply reduced totem-pole production by the end of the century. Between 1830 and 1880, the maritime fur trade, mining, and fisheries gave rise to an accumulation of wealth among the coastal peoples.” ref 

“Much of it was spent and distributed in lavish potlatch celebrations, frequently associated with the construction and erection of totem poles. The monumental poles commissioned by wealthy family leaders to represent their social status and the importance of their families and clans. In the 1880s and 1890s, tourists, collectors, scientists and naturalist interested in Indigenous culture collected and photographed totem poles and other artifacts, many of which were put on display at expositions such as the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the 1893 World’s Columbia Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.” ref

“In the 19th and early 20th centuries, before the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978, the practice of Indigenous religion was outlawed, and traditional Indigenous cultural practices were also strongly discouraged by Christian missionaries. This included the carving of totem poles. Missionaries urged converts to cease production and destroy existing poles. Nearly all totem-pole-making had ceased by 1901. Carving of monumental and mortuary poles continued in some, more remote villages as late as 1905; however, as the original sites were abandoned, the poles and timber homes were left to decay and vandalism.” ref

“Beginning in the late 1930s, a combination of cultural, linguistic, and artistic revivals, along with scholarly interest and the continuing fascination and support of an educated and empathetic public, led to a renewal and extension of this artistic tradition. In 1938 the United States Forest Service began a program to reconstruct and preserve the old poles, salvaging about 200, roughly one-third of those known to be standing at the end of the 19th century. With renewed interest in Indigenous arts and traditions in the 1960s and 1970s, freshly carved totem poles were erected up and down the coast, while related artistic production was introduced in many new and traditional media, ranging from tourist trinkets to masterful works in wood, stone, blown and etched glass, and other traditional and non-traditional media.” ref

“In June 2022 during the biennial Celebration festival in Juneau, Alaska, the Sealaska Heritage Institute unveiled the first 360-degree totem pole in Alaska: the 6.7-metre-tall (22 ft) Sealaska Cultural Values Totem Pole. The structure, carved out of a 600-year-old cedar tree, “represents all three tribes of Southeast Alaska — Lingít, Haida and Tsimshian.” ref

“Totem poles can symbolize characters and events in mythology, or convey the experiences of recent ancestors and living people. Some of these characters may appear as stylistic representations of objects in nature, while others are more realistically carved. Pole carvings may include animals, fish, plants, insects, and humans, or they may represent supernatural beings such as the Thunderbird. Some symbolize beings that can transform themselves into another form, appearing as combinations of animals or part-animal/part-human forms. Consistent use of a specific character over time, with some slight variations in carving style, helped develop similarities among these shared symbols that allowed people to recognize one from another. For example, the raven is symbolized by a long, straight beak, while the eagle’s beak is curved, and a beaver is depicted with two large front teeth, a piece of wood held in his front paws, and a paddle-shaped tail.” ref

“The meanings of the designs on totem poles are as varied as the cultures that make them. Some poles celebrate cultural beliefs that may recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events, while others are mostly artistic. Animals and other characters carved on the pole are typically used as symbols to represent characters or events in a story; however, some may reference the moiety of the pole’s owner, or simply fill up empty space on the pole. Depictions of thrusting tongues and linked tongues may symbolize socio-political power.” ref

“The carved figures interlock one above the other to create the overall design, which may rise to a height of 60 ft (18 m) or more. Smaller carvings may be positioned in vacant spaces, or they may be tucked inside the ears or hang out of the mouths of the pole’s larger figures.

Some of the figures on the poles constitute symbolic reminders of quarrels, murders, debts, and other unpleasant occurrences about which the Native Americans prefer to remain silent… The most widely known tales, like those of the exploits of Raven and of Kats who married the bear woman, are familiar to almost every native of the area. Carvings which symbolize these tales are sufficiently conventionalized to be readily recognizable even by persons whose lineage did not recount them as their own legendary history.” ref

“People from cultures that do not carve totem poles often assume that the linear representation of the figures places the most importance on the highest figure, an idea that became pervasive in the dominant culture after it entered into mainstream parlance by the 1930s with the phrase “low man on the totem pole” (and as the title of a bestselling 1941 humor book by H. Allen Smith). However, Native sources either reject the linear component altogether, or reverse the hierarchy, with the most important representations on the bottom, bearing the weight of all the other figures, or at eye-level with the viewer to heighten their significance. Many poles have no vertical arrangement at all, consisting of a lone figure atop an undecorated column.” ref

House frontal poles

This type of pole, usually 20 to 40 ft (6 to 12 m) tall is the most decorative. Its carvings tell the story of the family, clan or village who own them. These poles are also known as heraldic, crest, or family poles. Poles of this type are placed outside the clan house of the most important village leaders. Often, watchman figures are carved at the top of the pole to protect the pole owner’s family and the village. Another type of house frontal pole is the entrance or doorway pole, which is attached to the center front of the home and includes an oval-shaped opening through the base that serves as the entrance to the clan house.” ref

House posts

“These interior poles, typically 7 to 10 ft (2 to 3 m) in height, are usually shorter than exterior poles. The interior posts support the roof beam of a clan house and include a large notch at the top, where the beam can rest. A clan house may have two to four or more house posts, depending on the cultural group who built it. Carvings on these poles, like those of the house frontal poles, are often used as a storytelling device and help tell the story of the owners’ family history. House posts were carved by the Coast Salish and were more common than the free-standing totem poles seen in Northern cultural groups.” ref

Mortuary pole

“The rarest type of pole carving is a mortuary structure that incorporates grave boxes with carved supporting poles. It may include a recessed back to hold the grave box. These are among the tallest and most prominent poles, reaching 50 to 70 ft (15 to 21 m) in height. The Haida and Tlingit people erect mortuary poles at the death of important individuals in the community. These poles may have a single figure carved at the top, which may depict the clan’s crest, but carvings usually cover its entire length. Ashes or the body of the deceased person are placed in the upper portion of the pole.” ref

Memorial pole

“This type of pole, which usually stands in front of a clan house, is erected about a year after a person has died. The clan chief’s memorial pole may be raised at the center of the village. The pole’s purpose is to honor the deceased person and identify the relative who is taking over as his successor within the clan and the community. Traditionally, the memorial pole has one carved figure at the top, but an additional figure may also be added at the bottom of the pole.” ref

“Memorial poles may also commemorate an event. For example, several memorial totem poles were erected by the Tlingits in honor of Abraham Lincoln, one of which was relocated to Saxman, Alaska, in 1938. The Lincoln pole at Saxman commemorates the end of hostilities between two rival Tlingit clans and symbolizes the hope for peace and prosperity following the American occupation of the Alaskan territory. The story begins in 1868, when the United States government built a customs house and fort on Tongass Island and left the US revenue cutter Lincoln to patrol the area. After American soldiers at the fort and aboard the Lincoln provided protection to the Tongass group against its rival, the Kagwantans, the Tongass group commissioned the Lincoln pole to commemorate the event.” ref

Welcome pole

“Carved by the Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl), Salish and Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) people, most of the poles include large carvings of human figures, some as tall as 40 ft (12 m). Welcome poles are placed at the edge of a stream or saltwater beach to welcome guests to the community, or possibly to intimidate strangers.” ref

Shame/ridicule pole

“Poles used for public ridicule are usually called shame poles, and were created to embarrass individuals or groups for their unpaid debts or when they did something wrong. The poles are often placed in prominent locations and removed after the debt is paid or the wrong is corrected. Shame pole carvings represent the person being shamed.” ref

Tattoos and Body piercings

“Both sexes among adults and children above the age of 8 belonging to the higher classes wore some kind of earlobe ornament. Popular among the Tlingit were ornaments made of halitosis shells, copper, wood, and bone which were shaped to assume different geometrical forms. The earrings of men were known as “Dis Yar Kuku”, a half moon shaped earring that would represent a variety of different animals and patterns.  As the Tlingit became familiar with metal working and materials such as silver, they tended to use older ornaments of bone and wood with decreasing frequency. The Tlingit dead were properly dressed and given a nose ring called a “tunás.” ref

“The Tlingit traditionally painted their faces with colors of white, black, and red which with traditional methods can remain on the body for months on end. These body paints protected the body from the elements in the winter seasons, guarding against snow blindness, while additionally being used in the summer seasons to ward off gnats and mosquitoes. More complicated body-paints were created through the mixing of fungi, ash, roots, clays, and charcoal while for temporary purposes Tlingit would simply rely on charcoal. Black was commonly used as a marking of death, anger, sorrow, and war, and it was not uncommon for Tlingit to blacken the face with charcoal markings in the event of insult or conflict.” ref

“Tattooing, or Kuh Karlh “Mark” to the Tlingit, was largely developed by the Haida peoples who then introduced the practice to Tlingit that lived in closer proximity to them. French explorer La Perouse writes in 1799; “I saw no appearance of tattooing except on the arms of some women.” However, tattooing still held high cultural significance in Tlingit society and would be a marker of being a member of higher status families and households. Slaves were prohibited from being tattooed. The operation was also expensive, requiring the individual being tattooed to pay the artist, almost always a woman, in blankets and food. The process involved the passing of a needle, bone or metal, with blue-black stained sinew beneath the skin to create the necessary designs and motifs. The young girls of wealthy Tlingit households would often be tattooed at great potlatches.” ref

Knives and Daggers

“The metal daggers of the Tlingit fall under three primary categories; double bladed, hafted-pommel, and for sale blades. These daggers utilize materials such as copper, iron, and steel for the proper blades in addition to these metals the guards of such weapons could be fabricated from ivory, bone, wood, leather, and the other aforementioned metals. Daggers specifically used for warfare have a leather strip called the “thong” which extends from the upper back of the hilt, the fighting Tlingit warrior would then wrap the leather thong around the wrist to maintain control of the weapon. Blades of the Tlingit with ornate and non-bladed pommels would be “hafted-pommel” blades, which are often characterized by an artistic ornate pommel.” ref

“These ornate pommels depict artistic representations of animals such as ravens, bears, and other wildlife that are Tlingit cultural subjects. The artistic complexity of Tlingit daggers would reach its climax in the early 19th century, as Tlingit smiths began to increasingly add more designs to their blades using copper for additional artistic details such as crests and scenes. These daggers were symbols of status and authority in Tlingit society, a more ornate weapon would garner respect from one’s peers and would be a respectable heirloom passed through generations of Tlingit. The introduction of firearms phased out the importance of the Tlingit dagger as an implementation of war, though they remained as a striking symbol of status.” ref

“Prior to mercantile interactions with Europeans, copper was the primary metal used by Alaskan Indigenous peoples. Ahtna Athabascan peoples of the Alaskan copper river controlled much of the copper trade, forcing the Tlingit to develop long-standing trade relations with the Anthabascan. In Tlingit oral tradition, iron was first discovered as “drift iron” from a shipwreck, and was then used for in their metallurgical endeavors. When trade began in earnest with Europeans one English captain named George Dixon wrote on the high standards held by the Tlingit in regard to their metal, stating that they would deal only with iron pieces ranging from 8 to 14 inches. In 1786, Jean-Francois de Galoup the Comte de La Perouse, wrote that the Tlingit had; “No great desire for anything but iron… Everyone had a dagger of it (iron) suspended from the neck.” ref

Warfare in the Pacific Northwest

“The Tlingit, Haida, and Eastern Aleuts produced some of the best warriors in the Northwest, with these tribes often engaging in battle against one another in order to procure slaves and material resources. In the pursuit of resources and slaves, Tlingit would sometimes venture hundreds of miles across the Pacific Northwest. The Tlingit were often at odds with the Haida and Tshimians in the south, Chugach, and sometimes the Alutiiq in the North. In order to defend their families and local communities, as there did not exist any kind of central government that could levy protection, individual groups of Tlingit warriors would band together for defensive and offensive actions. The war season for the majority of the groups in the Northwest, including the Tlingit, was the month of July (Tlexa). July was a time of favorable weather, allowing for armed disputes to be settled and for Potlatches to be held.” ref

“The warrior of the Tlingit was protected by a dense wooden helmet, in addition to a neck protector and visor to protect the warrior’s face. Furthermore, the warrior wore linens and a leather jacket beneath wooden slat armor, which would be sometimes vividly painted with Tlingit aesthetic motifs. With the introduction of the musket into the Tlingit world, Tlingit armorers added a layer of leather over the armor in order to protect the wearer from musket balls. Wooden armor was nothing unique to the Tlingit in this region of North America, other tribes such as the Haida and the Gitxsan used wooden armor amongst their warriors. Warriors of the Tlingit carried with them their iconic knives which they wore over their shoulder, in addition to this they carried spears, bows, and beginning in the 18th and 19th century they carried European muskets as well.” ref

“When the Tlingit did battle against European foes, foreign observers noted that the Tlingit were quick to make use of European technologies in order to triumph over their foes, and that the military forces of the Tlingit were well organized in their campaigns. The Russian American Company was a recurring foe of the Tlingit which under the leadership of Alexander Baronov, utilized other indigenous tribes, such as the Unangax, that held grudges and grievances against the Tlingit, in order to augment the fighting capabilities of Russian colonial forces in the Sitka Wars. In 1802, a coalition of Tlingit tribes were able to overcome the Russian garrison at Sitka and take control of the region, building their own fortifications and armed with cannons. At the Battle of Sitka, Russian forces with great difficulty were able to drive the Tlingit from Sitka, with the Tlingit not returning to the region until 1824, yet the Tlingit were able to continue harassing Russian forces and proved to be a competent fighting force.” ref

Body Armour

“The Tlingits used a body armour made from Chinese cash coins, these coins were introduced by Russian traders from Qing China between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries who traded them for animal skins which were in turn traded with the Chinese for tea, silk, and porcelain by these European traders. The Tlingits believed that these cash coins would protect them from knife attacks and guns used by other indigenous American tribes and Russians. Some Tlingit body armours are completely covered in Qing dynasty era cash coins while others have them sewn in chevron patterns. One Russian account from a battle with the Tlingits in 1792 states “bullets were useless against the Tlingit armour”, however this would have more likely be attributed to the inaccuracy of contemporary Russian smoothbore muskets than the body armour and the Chinese coins might have played a more important role in psychological warfare than have any practical application on the battlefield. Other than on their armour the Tlingits also used Chinese cash coins on masks and ceremonial robes such as the Gitxsan dancing cape as these coins were used as a symbol of wealth representing a powerful far away country. The cash coins used by the Tlingit are all from the Qing dynasty are bear inscriptions of the Shunzhi, Kangxi, and Yongzheng Emperors.” ref

Shamans and Spirits in Warfare

“Shamans were very influential and important figures in Tlingit warfare, engaging in the direction of much of the necessary training, coordination, and preparation of the outgoing war party. The Shaman would direct engagements from a defensible or hidden position, one example being that the Tlingit Shaman would position themselves in a canoe during battle and cover the top of the canoe in heavily reinforced mats. Spirits were integral to these engagements, as the feuding warriors would give war calls relatin to their crest spirit by invoking actions that the spirits would allow the warrior to take or even actions that the spirit itself would take against the enemy of the warrior. This back and forth between the warring parties would continue in order to incite fear in either side, and could at times settle the engagement without blood being shed.  The goal of most of these conflicts was to procure resources and tribute, extremely bloody actions were often not in the best interests for any of the warring parties unless absolutely required.” ref

Tlingit Carving

“Most Tlingit objects were carved from wood, the most readily available and a highly usable substance. Other materials such as horn, copper and later silver were also decorated with carved and engraved figures. The unique design elements or patterns used by traditional Tlingit carvers belong to what has become known as the Northwest Coast form-line style. This style, quite easily recognizable, portrayed creatures from the natural world in varying degrees of realism. Often they were split or fragmented with eyes, joints, fins, feathers or some other easily recognizable feature delineated with broad black form-lines. Traditional colors were a green-blue and red. The form-line style design, present from Yakutat to Washington State has subtle stylistic differences in each region. Tlingit motifs may be classified as Northern Northwest coast Indian art, a distinct style seen from approximately Bella Coola to Yakutat Bay.” ref

Carving Tools and Materials

“Adzes came in a variety of sizes. Before the introduction of iron they were made of stone. The adze was used to hew out a form. Axes were used for splitting wood. Drills were used for making holes by rotating the point in a piece of wood. The holes were then used for sewing or tying parts of an object together. Before the introduction of metal, knives were made of stone, bone or shell. The many shapes and sizes were made to fit the purpose and the carver’s hand. Carving knives were used for different mediums including wood and metals. Both red and yellow cedar were highly prized for carving dugout canoes and totemic poles. It split along a straight grain and was thereby valuable for planks. Cottonwood was used for making small dugout canoes. Since it did not transfer taste to food, alder was the preferred wood for carving dishes and utensils. Local birch is used by many contemporary carvers for its lovely grain. Both goat and sheep horn were carved, usually into handsome feasting spoons. Gold and silver coins were hammered into shapes and engraved. Copper from the interior was also used for items such as knife blades and Tinnés.” ref

“Beautifully carved Raven Rattles, were used for ceremonial purposes by dancing chiefs and shamans. Tlingit carvers concentrated their most decorative efforts on ceremonial and shamanic art. Staffs, masks and rattles were decorated for potlatch songs and dances and for other rituals such as healing conducted by the shaman. The most lavishly carved eating utensils and bowls were saved for potlatches while those used for everyday meals were simply decorated. Carved bentwood boxes stored food supplies, ceremonial clothing, or were used for cooking by dropping hot stones into a box filled with water. Huge screens, used to divide the living quarters within a house, were ornately carved, often with a family or clan crest.” ref

“Traditional totem poles depict crest figures such as animals, people, natural forms, or supernatural beings that identify a family’s history or tell important stories.  They were raised for many reasons: to dedicate a new house, commemorate a marriage, honor the deceased, or celebrate a special event.  The person raising the pole told the carver which crests to use but the carver designed the pole and represented the crests as he wanted.  Raising a totem pole affirmed the status and wealth of the person and clan who commissioned the pole. Stories pertaining to the pole were told during a potlatch held to dedicate the pole.” ref

“As a result of increased wealth the peak of totem pole carving occurred in the 1860’s and then declined quickly, probably due in part to the banning of potlatches in 1884 (since repealed).  The carving of house posts was abandoned in the late 19th century when Western style houses replaced communal houses. Many of the poles from the 19th century were eventually felled, destroyed, sold or removed. For several decades the art of carving totem poles declined and appeared to be doomed. In the 1960’s an appreciation for totem poles was renewed and several Northwest Coast Native carvers revitalized the art.  Most of the poles seen today are under a century old.” ref

“Canoes were the major means of transportation for coastal Tlingits. Small canoes were made for both men and women, large ocean-going canoes were owned by family groups. Great skill was required to fashion a dugout canoe such as the one on exhibit at the museum (right). First an appropriate tree was selected, cottonwood for a small canoe and red or yellow cedar for a larger one. Red cedar was the favored wood, but it grows mainly in the land of the Haida Indians south of Tlingit territory. The Tlingits traded with the Haidas for the prized large cedar.” ref

“The log was first hollowed out with an adze then shaped by a process which involved filling it with water heated to a near boil with hot rocks. Hot steam penetrated the log making it soft and workable. At this point boards were forced between the sides, pushing them to the desired shape. The boat was then dried and smoked over a pitch fire that also blackened the wood. In the case of larger canoes, separate pieces were added to form the high prow and stern. Large canoes often had a carved figure on the prow and some were painted with crests and emblems. A waterproof, durable paint was made by mixing minerals, salmon eggs and chewed spruce gum and applied with a bear or porcupine hairbrush.” ref

Wood Box/Storage Chest | Tlingit – “social rank and wealth”

“There were elaborate cedar storage chests made by Tlingit artists from the southeast region of Alaska in the late 19th century. One such chest comprises three parts: a bent panel for the sides, a thin flat base, and a thick closing lid that fits securely over the exterior frame. The four vertical walls are made from a single plank of wood that has been scored, steamed, and bent into shape using a kerfing technique. The front- and back-facing designs of this chest were first carved in shallow relief and then painted; the lateral faces of the container feature painted designs with no carved relief. On the front of the chest, a broad, frontal face with bared teeth and tongue is indicated in black outline. The abstracted face has two double-eyes and elaborations of faces located in the inner eye sockets. Its tongue hangs from a gaping mouth, split into two rounded ovoids. Underneath the face, a human form emerges, positioned between two upright hands painted in red. Salmon-trout-head ovoids are placed as space fillers at each of the four corners. These small ovular forms and rounded ovoids are echoed throughout the copiously decorated surface. The lateral sides of the container are each embellished with a painted elongated figure with two upright hands. Select features of the figure are further emphasized by fine hatching.” ref

“This type of ornamented storage chest performed visual, social, and utilitarian functions within the Tlingit community, and served as symbols of economic and symbolic power. The creature on the front of the chest represents the shape-shifting sea monster Gonakadet, the Chief of Wealth, described in the oral traditions of the Tlingit. The act of painting and carving the creature’s image is believed to invoke the spirit to dwell within the chest and guard its valuable contents, as well as assign value to the container as a symbol of social rank and wealth. Highly embellished chests, such as this one, were used to house clan treasures and ceremonial regalia including dance robes, blankets, furs, masks, rattles, drums, copper items, and other paraphernalia. These cherished belongings were removed and used for special occasions such as dances, feasts, and other important communal celebrations. Storage boxes would also play an important role in the distribution of chiefly regalia.” ref

“Finely crafted containers functioned as a form of property traded during a potlach, a large ceremonial feast and gift-giving tradition hosted by a chief during the winter months to redistribute the wealth among community members and invited guests. On certain occasions, chests and their contents were set out on display to affirm the wealth and status of a household. The distribution of, and occasionally, destruction of, lavish gifts and possessions in ceremonial practice is meant to uphold the host’s social rank and prestige. Such ceremonial feasts highlight the importance of distribution and gift-exchange among the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast region, and the key role finely crafted works played in community identity and ritual practice.” ref

Bentwood Boxes of the Northwest Coast peoples

“The Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian cultures of the Pacific Northwest Coast have long created storage boxes from the wood of local cedar trees. These bentwood boxes require significant time and skill to construct and are considered precious to the families that create, use, and preserve them across generations. The boxes can vary in size, but are consistently made from three pieces of wood that fit snugly together: the bottom, sides, and lid. The boxes are meant to be mobile and can hold food or clan items, such as regalia, blankets, or at.óowu (something special to the clan). Designs on the boxes may include the matrilineal family’s clan crest and complement other types of embellishments such as abalone shells or copper.” ref

Spinning Cedar: Tlingit (Tree source) Weaving

“Chilkat dancing blankets are part of the textile exhibits at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada; a wide sweep of woven textiles in Chilkat dancing blankets can take one’s breath away—seeing the shapes and colors along with the inclusion of cedar strips in some of the woven textiles. Tlingit weavers such as Lily Hope boil yellow cedar and then add strips while spinning the singles for two-ply yarn. Using her Merino thigh-spun yarns (with and without cedar) for weaving Chilkat and Ravenstail textiles. Lily is based in Juneau, Alaska, and apprenticed in both of these Northwest Coast weaving traditions that use finger-twining techniques. Watching Lily’s hands twining weft and warp as the weaving slowly grows is fascinating!” ref

“Originating in the Pacific Northwest, Chilkat weaving is a complex finger-twined weaving style requiring a great deal of expertise, time, and dedication. A single Chilkat ceremonial robe—also called a dancing blanket—can take one to four years to weave. These magnificent dancing blankets are worn for ceremonial occasions by dignitaries and high-ranking tribal members of the Haida, Tsimshian, Tlingit, and other Northwest Coast indigenous peoples of Alaska and western Canada. They are symbols of wealth and endow clan leaders with great prestige. Chilkat blankets are sought by museums, art collectors, and cultural leaders alike. Growing up in Juneau, Lily Hope learned to weave in the traditional way, watching and learning from her mother, the late renowned weaver Clarissa Rizal (1956–2016). Lily is Tlingit Indian, of the Raven moiety. Her mother’s mother’s clan, the T’akdeintaan, originated from the Snail House in Hoonah, Alaska.” ref 

“Chilkat dancing blankets are woven on an upright wooden frame with no tools other than a tapestry needle to tuck in braids, and small design templates traditionally made of cedar bark and now printed on transparent papers. The warp is fastened only to the top of the vertical frame so that the bottom of the warp hangs free. The weaving proceeds by finger-twining small vertical sections, as opposed to moving horizontally from side to side as with a floor loom. This gives Chilkat weaving its unique personality. For example, it is the only textile tradition in the world in which a perfect circle can be woven. This construction allows for the beautiful representation of clan crests and animals of the area including whales, eagles, ravens, wolves, and frogs. Chilkat robes feature long fringe of thigh-spun wool and cedar that sways when the wearer dances. The woven fringe rows are vital to the life of a robe as they bind the long warps to keep them from tangling. Dance handles of soft spun leather are often sewn inside, so the fringe moves magically when the robe is danced.” ref

“Weaving a Chilkat blanket includes the gathering and preparation of traditional materials. Traditionally the division of labor was very clear in these weavings. Men provided the materials for the weavings and carved the pattern boards that were placed to one side of the weaving frame. Only the black color was shown on the pattern boards, as experienced weavers had artistic control for where to place the yellow and blue. Women prepared the materials, spinning mountain-goat hair and yellow cedar against their thighs to create the warp fiber. Merino wool replaces mountain-goat hair in many contemporary robes, as it takes upward of five fleeces to create a full-sized robe.” ref

Northwest Coast Weaving & Basketry

“Chilkat weaving, narrowly, the robes, or blankets, woven by the Chilkat, northernmost of the Pacific Coast Indians of North America. The Chilkat comprise a family within the Tlingit language group on the Alaskan coast between Cape Fox and Yakutat Bay. More generally, the term “Chilkat weaving” applies to any garment woven by these peoples. Although the Chilkat are not the only Native Americans who make this type of robe, they have woven the majority of robes in the period since European contact and have created the finest quality and design. The Chilkat robe is roughly rectangular in shape, except for a V-shaped bottom side; fringe decorates the bottom and sides. Twine made from cedar bark forms the warp (vertical threads), and mountain goat or mountain sheep wool forms the weft (horizontal interlacing threads), a weave probably borrowed from the Tsimshian Indians. The colors—usually white, yellow, black, and blue or green—come from natural dyes.” ref

“The designs on the earliest Chilkat robes were painted, but for the last two centuries they have been woven into the fabric by Chilkat women, following designs painted on boards by the men. As in many Native American groups, only men are permitted to create designs depicting living creatures. Women typically add abstract symbols that represent animals or spirits associated with the tribe to which the owner of the robe belongs. As in almost all of their art, the Indians of the Northwest Coast attempt to portray a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional surface by presenting all of the different perspectives of the object. For example, progressing from left to right on a Chilkat robe would be a panel depicting the left profile of a whale, then a panel containing a head-on view, and finally a panel showing the right profile. Above this tripartite representation there might be an X-ray-like depiction of the inside of the whale. The artist indicates which animal he has woven into the robe by using key features, such as a long snout for a wolf or a short snout for a bear. The Chilkat also weave knee-length shirts that are similar in design to the robe, leggings, and dance aprons.” ref

“The Tlingit of southeast Alaska have produced some of the finest examples of two-strand twining; their spruce root baskets exhibit bold geometric designs in warm hues of red, orange, yellow, and brown. In spring and fall, women collected the young roots of the Sitka Spruce, a tradition shared by both men and women today. The bark is peeled from the roots, which are left to cure over the summer. Then they are split and ready for weaving. The baskets are decorated in false embroidery, in which bleached, and often dyed grass is wrapped around the weft; the pattern is visible only on the outside of the basket. Natural dyes were obtained from local materials such as huckleberry, sulphuric mud, moss, hemlock bark, and alder bark steeped in urine. Commercial aniline dyes were popular as early as 1890, marking the beginning of the tourist trade era.” ref

“Utilitarian baskets were used to collect berries, roots, and shellfish for storage and for food preparation and serving. The flat-bottomed cylindrical berry basket is an older form. Large berry, or carrying baskets were worn on the back, and the smaller berry picking baskets emptied into them. Spruce root baskets are flexible and non-rigid; large berry baskets were often stored folded flat. Other forms include open-work strainers, plaques, cups, bowls, and rattle-top round boxes in which pebbles or lead shot were placed inside the lid. As the demand for made-for-sale baskets increased, Tlingit wove new forms, such as trays, teacups, and covered glass bottles. Abstract designs often depict patterns observed in nature, such as the butterfly wing, whale’s teeth, path of the woodworm, tail of the raven, fern frond, and flying goose pattern. Realistic designs often portray animals. Other motifs represent aspects of Tlingit culture, such as tattoos and labrets.” ref

“Tlingit people are indigenous to the northwestern coast of the United States and the western coast of Canada or the southeastern corner of Alaska. Tlingit basketry is all based on twined weaving, and a few different variations of it have been developed. The most common of the styles was “Close-together-work” for its watertight weave, which made it a very utilitarian style.” ref

Music of the Pacific Northwest

“Song and dance were notable elements of pre-Contact Northwest culture. The abundant food supply for coastal tribes like the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimishan, Kwakiutl, Makah, Quinault and Coast Salish peoples, and other Puget Sound Salish peoples, is credited for allowing a settled lifestyle with elaborate artistic expression including woven clothing and basketry, communal longhouses, and dance and music. Some dances, songs and stories were owned by a particular culture and used in association with potlatches and other important community events. Cultural preservation efforts in the 21st century include Makah and Yakama music.” ref

Music Helped Connect Hunter-Gatherer Groups in Central Africa

“How did music shape language? For hunter-gatherers in Central Africa, music may have worked as a social network. Now, a study in Nature Human Behaviour demonstrates that music played an important role in connecting different hunter-gatherer groups in Central Africa. Central Africa provides a rich trove of history for anthropologists to plumb. Hunter-gatherers have lived there for hundreds of thousands of years. But finding the cultural connectivity that has developed between communities over that time period is challenging, in part because modernization sometimes squelches older ties.” ref

“For instance, scientists suspect that hunter-gathers in the Congo Basin absorbed languages from their farming neighbors, the Bantu. As a result, it’s difficult to tease apart aspects of culture formed from those fairly recent agricultural interactions versus ties from long-term meetings among communities spread throughout the region. To do just that, a team led by Andrea Migliano from the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Zurich (UZH), gathered genetic data from 10 Central African hunter-gatherer groups. Then they divided that DNA into segments based on genetic time signatures. Those segments included the periods before, during, and after they encountered the Bantu.” ref

“The team gathered a list of names each group used for musical instruments and foraging tools. They then compared how those names matched up between different groups over time. That’s how they learned that the language of music has deeper historical ties among communities than does words associated with foraging. “This suggests that genetic and cultural exchanges between hunter-gatherer groups are ancient and have remained mostly unaffected after recent farming expansions, pointing to a deep history of hunter-gatherer networks and uninterrupted cultural interconnectivity across the Congo Basin,” the paper says.” ref

“The authors were surprised at the strength of those musical ties over time. “Although the different Central African hunter-gatherer groups speak languages from very different families, they share a disproportionate number of words related to music,” Migliano said in a press release. “Therefore, these words can be traced back to a time before the hunter-gatherer populations adopted the languages of their Bantu neighbors.” The words for foraging tools didn’t have a strong cultural connection. Instead, their names were shared among people from similar environments. In contrast, names for some musical instruments were similar even though they came from people separated by hundreds of miles.” ref

Northwest Coast Indians Musical Instruments

“The music of the indigenous people of the Northwest Coast is largely associated with ceremony and feast-giveaways, known as potlatches. Potlatches serve as opportunities to aid in maintaining social order by regulating the ownership of land, title, ancestral names, and music, as well as to observe life cycle changes—birth, puberty, marriage, and death. The transmission of honor associated with these events is traditionally marked by ceremonial dances accompanied by songs. Proprietary songs and dances are punctuated by extra-musical effects provided by whistles, rattles, and specific vocal utterances (89.4.2243). Typically, the sound of whistles is associated with the presence of spirit beings. Cultural taboos surrounding the ownership of songs and dances have remained intact into the twenty-first century, albeit with some leniency to accommodate for varying degrees of observance of traditional lifeways.” ref

“A customary element to the music of the Northwest Coast is the beat of the drum; however, unlike the use of drums on the Great Plains, the concept of communal drumming on a single large instrument is not typical in the Pacific Northwest. Rather, drummers are known to congregate and play individual hand drums together. The use of a single drum was traditionally isolated to a few groups, such as the Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl), who are known to have used a single wooden plank struck by multiple players. As in other regions, the drum is used to begin and to mark certain points within a song. Some indigenous people of the Northwest Coast utilize the drum to indicate the presence of spirits. For example, a tremolo created by rapidly striking the drumhead can be perceived as an audible manifestation of a spirit being’s presence. Aside from use within the potlatch setting, drums are employed by shamans—powerful individuals who have the ability to move in the liminal space between this world and others, communicating with spirit guides. Many of the musical instruments used on the Northwest Coast can be associated with shamanic practice. Often, a physical representation of a shaman’s spirit guide is carved in the form of a rattle or whistle, as an effigy used to invoke the spirit’s power.” ref

“Traditional three-dimensional art of the indigenous people of the Northwest Coast can be characterized as highly sculptural, including relief and sculpture in the round, with geometrically stylized totemic—memorial—symbols integrated into the composition of the piece (89.4.1963). Similar principles govern two- and three-dimensional art of the Northwest Coast. Elements common to both include “ovoid,” “U-form,” and “form-line” figures that constitute the majority of a given work. These three specific design elements are combined to define anatomical features, as well as ornament the outlying space. When applied to three-dimensional artwork, the aforementioned elements are aligned with the surface contours of a given object. Often, pigmentation defines, or in some cases embellishes, sculptural figuration. A typical palette includes red, black, and some variant of green or blue.” ref

“Until the eighteenth century, European presence in the Pacific Northwest was erratic at best. The resources and trade that were available throughout the continent made it less pressing to reach the west coast, albeit a perceived destination for many explorers. The presence of foreigners on the Northwest Coast, primarily Russian, in the eighteenth century contributed greatly to the traditional use of color and dyeing methods. These newly introduced innovations affected textile preparation, as well as pigments used for adornment on carved, three-dimensional objects—of particular interest is the raven rattle illustrated here (89.4.611). Raven rattles, ritual clan objects employed for various uses by their owners, depict the story of the Raven who stole light—symbolic of knowledge—and brought it to humans. The personification of knowledge is carved as tongues extending from the mouth of one being to another.” ref

“Historically, the color blue was not in use as a dye, as the method for producing blue was not possible through natural sources on the Northwest Coast. Various shades of green were derived from copper minerals in combination with a native moss. Blue was first introduced by woolen material carried by travelers, mainly blankets, in the early nineteenth century. Blue-dyed blankets (most likely from indigo) were traded with indigenous people, and later the dye was rendered from them through boiling. Synthetic blue dyes were introduced to the market at the turn of the twentieth century, following the isolation of indigotin by Adolf van Baeyer in 1897.” ref

“Foreign presence in the Northwest Coast brought with it foreign aesthetics and markets along with the introduction of trade materials, like dyes or dye-products. Native artists were quick to identify the foreigners’ propensity to collect and to consume native cultural items and artwork as curios. As foreign traffic became more prevalent in the region—a result of commercial tourism up the coast of North America heading toward the territory that would become Alaska—Euro-American cultural items abounded. Carved, sculptural items, like smoking pipes and walking sticks, appealed to the preexisting art forms of the native people.” ref

“The mid-nineteenth-century carved argillite trade of the Queen Charlotte Islands is an example of this phenomenon. Although argillite, a unique type of black shale, is known to have been used minimally by the native inhabitants, a lucrative non-native market firmly established the practice among the Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands. A smallpox outbreak in 1862 decimated the population of the islands, effectively halting the intergenerational transmission of traditional art forms. Argillite served as an ideal medium for replicating forms and patterns commonly found on material objects. While artisans were capable of reproducing the physical appearance of centuries-old, three-dimensional cultural objects (albeit on a smaller scale), much of the symbolism and stories inherent to the figures were lost. This fact did not diminish the Euro-American desire to collect argillite sculpture in myriad shapes and sizes, including a western European style duct flute. Additionally, the practice of argillite carving presented Haida artists with an opportunity to begin reconstructing links to traditions of their past. Three-dimensional objects from the region, among them rattles, drums, and whistles, are highly prized for their sculptural innovation and figurative form-line composition by native and non-native people.” ref

Resource Intensification and Resource Depression in the Pacific Northwest of North America: A Zooarchaeological Review

“Abstract: In the Pacific Northwest of North America, researchers routinely suggest changes in human use of animals explain hunter-gatherer organizational changes and development of cultural complexity. For example, most models developed to explain developing cultural complexity invoke salmon in some fashion. Yet until recently, fish remains were not carefully studied and more generally, zooarchaeological evidence has not been systematically used to test models of culture change. This study reviews the 10,000-year-old faunal record in the Pacific Northwest to test predictions drawn from models of resource intensification, resource depression and hunter-gatherer organizational strategies. The records from two subareas, the South-Central Northwest Coast (Puget Sound/Gulf of Georgia) and the Northern Columbia Plateau, are examined in detail, representing 63 archaeological sites. While minor changes in animal use are evident, the overall record is characterized by stability rather than change.” ref 

“The Pacific Northwest has been occupied by a diverse array of indigenous peoples for millennia. The Pacific Coast is seen by some scholars as a major coastal migration route in the settlement of the Americas by late Pleistocene peoples moving from northeast Asia into the Americas. The coastal migration hypothesis has been bolstered by findings such as the report that the sediments in the Port Eliza Cave on Vancouver Island indicate the possibility of survivable climate as far back as 16 kya (16,000 years ago) in the area, while the continental ice sheets were nearing their maximum extent. Other evidence for human occupation dating back as much as 14.5 kya (14,500 years ago) is emerging from Paisley Caves in south-central Oregon. However, despite such research, the coastal migration hypothesis is still subject to considerable debate.” ref

“Due in part to the richness of Pacific Northwest Coast and river fisheries, some of the indigenous peoples developed complex sedentary societies, while remaining hunter-gatherers. The Pacific Northwest Coast is one of the few places where politically complex hunter-gatherers evolved and survived to historic contacts, and therefore has been vital for anthropologists and archaeologists seeking to understand how complex hunter and gatherer societies function. When Europeans first arrived on the Northwest Coast, they found one of the world’s most complex hunting and fishing societies, with large sedentary villages, large houses, systems of social rank and prestige, extensive trade networks, and many other factors more commonly associated with societies based on domesticated agriculture.” ref

“In the interior of the Pacific Northwest, the indigenous peoples, at the time of European contact, had a diversity of cultures and societies. Some areas were home to mobile and egalitarian societies. Others, especially along major rivers such as the Columbia and Fraser, had very complex, affluent, sedentary societies rivaling those of the coast. In British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, the Haida and Tlingit erected large and elaborately carved totem poles that have become iconic of Pacific Northwest artistic traditions. Throughout the Pacific Northwest, thousands of indigenous people live, and some continue to practice their rich cultural traditions, “organizing their societies around cedar and salmon”. The Northwest is still highly geologically active, with both active volcanoes and geologic faults. The last known great earthquake in the northwest was the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. The geological record reveals that “great earthquakes” (those with moment magnitude 8 or higher) occur in the Cascadia subduction zone about every 500 years on average, often accompanied by tsunamis. There is evidence of at least 13 events at intervals from about 300 to 900 years.” ref

“Active volcanoes in the region include Mount Garibaldi, Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Hood, Mount Meager, Mount Jefferson, Mount Shasta, Lassen Peak and Glacier Peak. The Pacific Northwest is a diverse geographic region, dominated by several mountain ranges, including the Coast Mountains, the Cascade Range, the Olympic Mountains, the Columbia Mountains, and the Rocky Mountains. The highest peak in the Pacific Northwest is Mount Rainier, in the Washington Cascades, at 14,410 feet (4,392 m). Immediately inland from the Cascade Range are broad, generally dry plateaus. In the US, this region is known as the Columbia Plateau, while in British Columbia, it is the Interior Plateau, also called the Fraser Plateau. The Columbia Plateau was the scene of massive ice-age floods, and as a consequence, there are many coulees, canyons, and the Channeled Scablands. Much of the plateau, especially in eastern Washington, is irrigated farmland. The Columbia River cuts a deep and wide gorge around the rim of the Columbia Plateau and through the Cascade Range on its way to the Pacific Ocean.” ref

“Because many areas have plentiful rainfall and mild summers, the Pacific Northwest has some of North America’s most lush and extensive forests, which are extensively populated with Coast Douglas fir trees, the second tallest growing evergreen conifer on earth. The region also contains specimens of the tallest trees on earth, the coast redwoods, in southwestern Oregon, but the largest of these trees are located just south of the California border in northwestern California. Coastal forests in some areas are classified as temperate rain forest. Coastal features are defined by the interaction with the Pacific and the North American continent. The coastline of the Pacific Northwest is dotted by numerous fjords, bays, islands, and mountains. Some of these features include the Oregon Coast, Burrard Inlet, Puget Sound, and the highly complex fjords of the British Columbia Coast and Southeast Alaska. The region has one of the world’s longest fjord coastlines. The Pacific Northwest contains an uncountable number of islands, many of the smaller ones being unnamed. The vast majority of such islands are in British Columbia and Alaska. Vancouver Island is by far the largest island in the area, but other significant land masses include the Haida Gwaii, vast and remote Princess Royal Island, Prince of Wales Island and Chichagof Island. The Salish Sea located close to major populated areas contains smaller but more frequently visited and well known islands. These include Whidbey Island, Salt Spring Island, and Texada Island, along with dozens of smaller islands in the San Juan and Gulf Island chains.” ref

Initial European exploration

“In 1579, the British captain and erstwhile privateer Francis Drake sailed up the west coast of North America perhaps as far as Oregon before returning south to land and make ship repairs. On 5 June 1579, the ship briefly made first landfall at South Cove, Cape Arago, just south of Coos Bay, Oregon, and then sailed south while searching for a suitable harbor to repair his ailing ship. On June 17, Drake and his crew found a protected cove when they landed on the Pacific coast of what is now Northern California. While ashore, he claimed the area for Queen Elizabeth I as Nova Albion or New Albion. Juan de Fuca, a Greek captain sailing for the Crown of Spain, supposedly found the Strait of Juan de Fuca around 1592. The strait was named for him, but whether he discovered it or not has long been questioned. During the early 1740s, Imperial Russia sent the Dane Vitus Bering to the region. By the late 18th century and into the mid-19th century, Russian settlers had established several posts and communities on the northeast Pacific coast, eventually reaching as far south as Fort Ross, California. The Russian River was named after these settlements.” ref

“In 1774, the viceroy of New Spain sent Spanish navigator Juan Pérez in the ship Santiago to the Pacific Northwest. Peréz made landfall on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) on July 18, 1774. The northernmost latitude he reached was 54°40′ N. This was followed, in 1775, by another Spanish expedition, under the command of Bruno de Heceta and including Juan Peréz and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra as officers. On July 14, 1775, they landed on the Olympic Peninsula near the mouth of the Quinault River. On August 17, 1775, Heceta, returning south, sighted the mouth of the Columbia River and named it Bahia de la Asunción. While Heceta sailed south, Quadra continued north in the expedition’s second ship, Sonora, reaching Alaska, at 59° N. In 1778 English mariner Captain James Cook visited Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island and also voyaged as far as Prince William Sound.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Wearing Labrets involved high status and was seen in the Northwest Coast 5,000 years ago.

Labrets? “a sign of power/status”

“A labret is a form of body piercing. Taken literally, it is any type of adornment that is attached to the lip (labrum). However, the term usually refers to a piercing that is below the bottom lip, above the chin. The labret was a traditional piercing among the American Northwest Coast Indians, where it was related to status:

“access to labrets. After 3,000 years ago, a divergence in labret wear in north and south coasts. In the north from 1500 – 3500 years ago, more labrets worn by males. After 1500 years ago, labrets worn by females. In the south, between 2000 – 3500 years ago, worn by males and females, but from 2000 years ago on, labrets generally disappear and are replaced by cranial deformation by free males and females of whatever class (e.g. elite or commoner). So, for 4,000 years on the northwest coast, it was important to distinguish certain individuals in a very direct manner; either by cranial deformation or by labret wear. Gender and geographical region may also be identified by these methods.” ref

“When a mask was being made to represent someone of high status, that mask would likewise have a labret. The wearing of labrets was widely observed among Tlingit women of high status at the time of European and American arrivals in Southeast Alaska. The Russian term for the Tlingit, Koloshi, derived from an Alutiiq word for labret. Based on analysis of the history and social context of the labret (lip plug) on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia over the last 5,000 years, Marina LaSalle asserts that “while simple correlations of the labret with ‘status’ and ‘gender’ are not wrong, nonetheless they betray the complexity of body ornamentation which, though manifested materially, is highly contextual” and that “the labret is a symbol and expression of social identity that continues to hold significant meaning for the descendants of this heritage.” ref 

“Labrets were used as personal adornments that were applied by piercing either the lips or the cheeks. They may date as early as 10,700 years ago at the Ushki I site in the Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia. The archaeological record suggests they “may have been” independently invented in six locations around the world at the southern Kamchatka Peninsula, Iran, the Balkans, Sudan in Africa, southwestern Mexico and in Ecuador. The long distant movement of labrets between cultures around these regions indicates a wide ranging cultural interaction that may be the result of trade and marriage alliances.” ref

“In some parts of the world, people cut holes in their lips for the insertion of plugs or buttons. To such ornaments the name labret is frequently given”——1926, Clark Wissler, “The Relation Of Nature To Man In Aboriginal America,” p. 61. “The labret, among American aborigines, is well known to be a plug, stud or variously-shaped button, made from various materials, which is inserted at or about the age of puberty through a hole or holes pierced in the thinner portions of the face about the mouth.”——–1884, W. H. Dall, “On Masks, Labrets, And Certain Aboriginal Customs, With An Inquiry Into The Bearing Of Their Geographical Distribution,” Third Annual Report Of The Bureau Of Ethnology To The Secretary Of The Smithsonian Institution, pp. 77-78.” ref

“They (labrets) are worn in some tribes by women only, in others by men only, in still others by both sexes, in which case the style of the labret is different for each sex.”—-1884, W. H. Dall, “On Masks, Labrets, And Certain Aboriginal Customs, With An Inquiry Into The Bearing Of Their Geographical Distribution,” Third Annual Report Of The Bureau Of Ethnology To The Secretary Of The Smithsonian Institution, p. 78. “The first descriptions by Europeans (in 1741) of the use by Alaskan peoples of tattoo and labrets refer to the Aleuts and Pacific Eskimos.”—-1988, Joy Gritton, “Labrets And Tattooing In Native Alaska,” Marks Of Civilization, p. 181.” ref

“Labrets (in Alaska) could be made of a variety of materials: stone (quartz, agate, jadite, serpentine or slate), graphite, glass, bone, wood or ivory.”—-1988, Joy Gritton, “Labrets And Tattooing In Native Alaska,” Marks Of Civilization, p. 186. “The decline of these two permanent modes of adornment (labrets & tattooing) has generally been attributed to intense efforts on the part of Christian missionaries to eradicate aspects of dress, grooming, and ritual they found offensive.”—-1988, Joy Gritton, “Labrets And Tattooing In Native Alaska,” Marks Of Civilization, p. 181.” ref

“The world distribution of labrets is very limited. From my observations independent development of labrets seems to be a rare occurrence. Labrets originate and disperse from a maximum of six localities in the world.”—-1989, Grant Keddie, “Symbolism And Context: The World History Of The Labret And Cultural Diffusion On The Pacific Rim,” p. 7. “I refer to the use of labrets, which for brevity may be called labretifery.”———1884, W. H. Dall, “On Masks, Labrets, And Certain Aboriginal Customs, With An Inquiry Into The Bearing Of Their Geographical Distribution,” Third Annual Report Of The Bureau Of Ethnology To The Secretary Of The Smithsonian Institution, p. 77.” ref

Their use in the southern Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia likely relates/connects to their use in the Americas, to me.

“At the southern Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia where Dikov suggests a date of 10,700 years ago, for labrets he discovered in level VI on the Ushki I site.  Labrets are believed to have spread to the eastern north Pacific sometime after 5500 years ago. Some of the earliest labrets in North America were found just south of Vancouver on Pender Island. They date to at least 5100 years ago. This labret was collected in western Alaska but it’s also similar to labrets that have been found on the southern coast of British Columbia that date to between 5000 and 2000 years ago. This labret is made of coal. It measures 7/8 of an inch (2.3 cm) wide.” ref

Pacific NW coast mask and labrets Haida people, Haida Gwaii, Canada, 19th century

“From a selection of crafted wood, bone, and pottery lip-plugs or ‘labrets’ (from the Latin labrum meaning ‘lip’ or ‘edge’). Are things like a realistic mask, which was carved before 1868 and depicts the wife of the artist, shows how a labret would be worn in the lower lip. Labrets thought to have been worn exclusively by women of the Northwest Coast including those of the Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian peoples. Usually inserted into an incision below the lower lip, the labret was a distinctive personal ornament, and highly visible mark of noble status and political influence as well as beauty. However, labrets were not without their problems, resulting in difficulties in eating and drinking, as well as occasional periodontal disease and tooth loss, so for this and other reasons modern Haida women no longer wear them.” ref

“Labrets were the subject of much fascination, discussion and speculation among 18th- and 19th-century explorers, traders, missionaries and ethnographers. Many sources say the lip was pierced on the occasion of the girl’s first menstruation and a small ornament inserted. This was one of several events that accompanied a girl’s puberty ritual including isolation away from the main group and the prohibition of certain foods. The size of the adult labret was associated with how many children the woman had as well as the hierarchical status of her kin group. For example, the red-coloured pottery lip-plug shown here was worn by a woman who had had several children. The most elite women wore the largest labrets, sometimes made of expensive materials such as copper or abalone shell. Haida society is based on a matrilineal system of descent and is divided into two main groups, Eagle and Raven. All Haida men or women are expected to marry a member of the opposite group. Since the mouth, as the locus of speech, was considered a powerful place on a woman’s body, a woman could through her words either mediate or agitate relations between clans of each group.” ref

“The earliest evidence of facial piercing and body modification in Africa has been discovered in the skeletal remains of a man who lived 12,000 years ago. By analyzing his teeth, researchers were able to identify abrasions from an object that had been rubbing against them – indicating that the man’s chin and cheeks had been gauged with jewelry. Finding such examples, as well as other forms of body modification, is tough because the soft tissue that was pierced has often worn away or been regarded beyond recognition. Most cultural piercings tend to take place on surface areas like skin, more serious forms embedded in the muscle that have long since perished on discovering the remains.” ref

“A study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology told of the work, led by John C. Willman from the University of Coimbra in Portugal, that saw scientists given access to the skeletal remains of Olduvai Hominid 1 (OH1). It once belonged to a young man who lived towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period, some 20,000 to 12,000 years ago. The skeleton was recovered from Tanzania, with evidence suggesting he had been purposefully buried. Initial research suggested that his teeth has been deliberately filed down in a body modification process known as ablation. This was a common occurrence, where teeth were purposefully removed with the intention of identifying an individual as being part of a group. However, the fresh research suggests the teeth’s wearing away was more likely a case of a lip or chin piercing, so say Mr Willman and his team of researchers.” ref

“This, they say, is hugely significant, as it revises our understanding of the culture and practices of our early ancestors. Mr Willman said: “Our review of the literature shows no evidence for facial piercings in Africa prior to about 10,000 years ago, in individuals from archaeological sites in Sudan.” Ablation, he noted, was common in Africa between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago. What’re, the example of Olduvai Hominid 1’s body modification nestles among a sea of ablation, revealing that the hithero undiscovered practice was likely more common than has ever been considered.” ref

“Similar to body modification jewelry worn in the present day, Olduvai Hominid 1 might have worn large discs at least an inch wide. The jewelry may have been carved out of wood that decomposed over time, or the discs may have been removed on his burial. It is not known when and why the practice of facial modification through gauges and jewelry began. Such present-day modifications are largely done as a symbol of expressing an individuals identity to showing they belong to a specific group, with scientists suggesting this may well be the case for our ancestors.” ref

Ancient Alaskan Labrets: jewelry that spoke louder than words

“Labrets, ornamental lip plugs worn through a perforation in the lower lip or cheek, are a frequent find in coastal Alaskan archaeological sites.  From prehistoric times, members of Aleut, Eskimo, and Indian hunter-gatherer tribes wore them for personal adornment, to reflect social affiliation, and to broadcast hereditary rank.  Because they were made of durable materials—wood, bone, stone—many have been preserved through the ages, providing important clues to frontier scientists about life in ancient coastal Alaska.  (See the video Jewelry Alutiiq Style.)” ref

“According to archaeologist Amy Steffian, who collects and interprets artifacts for the Alutiiq Museum on Kodiak Island, “In many traditions, labrets were used to broadcast messages. They indicated territorial boundaries and social rank.  They helped tribes quickly predict how things would go when they encountered others.  They helped maintain group cohesion at a time when warfare was common among hunter-gatherers who traveled long distances by boat, and  found themselves competing for food, raw materials, and even spouses with their neighbors.” ref

“A good deal of Steffian’s work has focused on prehistoric Gulf of Alaska societies from the Kodiak Archipelago, the northern-most region of the Pacific Ocean, where maritime foragers have lived for the past 7,500 years.  Ethnicity, regional affiliation, family ties, gender, age, grade, ownership, rank, and religious beliefs are some of the social categories that are stylistically symbolized by traditional labrets, as noted in a study she co-authored with colleague Patrick Saltonstall. Labret piercing took place in childhood, with labret holes periodically stretched over an individual’s life to accommodate larger ornaments. Plugs were inserted below the lower lip or at the corners of the mouth at either birth or puberty. The initial incision was usually quite small and fit with a slender object to prevent closure.  The variation was tremendous: inlays, incised designs, and attachments were common additions to the basic labret forms.” ref

“With the widespread arrival in Alaska of foreign explorers, merchants and missionaries in the 18th century, labrets rapidly disappeared.  During the Russian period such piercings were signs of rank, and those individuals were singled out as hostages.  Westerners also found labrets a horrifying facial disfigurement, and along with changes in society, the use of such ornaments was quickly abandoned. Interestingly, the purpose and stylistic variety found in this traditional jewelry carry on today, as demonstrated by current fashions.  Tattoos, eye-popping hair dyes and piercings are popular ways for youth of today to broadcast their identity not just to puzzled parents but to the world.  Modern-day labrets’ function hasn’t changed; they demonstrate membership in a like-minded group, express personal identity, and differentiate the wearers from other groups.” ref

Older than Expected: The Prehistoric Piercings of Turkey

Evidence suggests piercings were used as a sign of adulthood in Neolithic Türkiye

 “The little ornaments dating back as late as 10,000 BC were made from limestone, obsidian, flint, serpentine, chlorite, and copper. Of these ornaments, 85 were found in situ in burial contexts. This means archaeologists could determine precisely where the ornaments lay in life, for example, next to the left and right ear lobes or just in front of the mandible.” ref

Neolithic Chic: Body Piercing Fashion from the Arctic Around 5,000 Years Ago

“Ancient items of jewellery found by archeologists on Taymyr peninsula are stone labrets which were inserted into the face below the bottom lip. The discovery was made during the summer 2016 archeological season at a location some 600 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. The site in the far north of Krasnoyarsk region is believed to date as far back as three or four millennium BCE. Labrets are a kind of jewelry, which can be made of shell, bone, or stone, and is inserted into the lip as an ornament in some cultures.” ref

“The discovery was made by archeologists from Krasnoyarsk Geoarkheologia, and spokesman Danil Lysenko said: ‘We found these labrets at the Neolithic site Bolshaya II, which is located on the bank of Novaya River, a tributary of the Katanga River. ‘They were just lying on the ground, along with stone arrowheads. In some places here, the wind blows away the upper layer of tundra and the sand, so the ancient items are there, just on the ground, uncovered. ‘Judging by the stone arrowheads, the site can be preliminarily dated as being from the fourth to the third millennium BCE.’ Archeologists say these facial decorations – two were found this summer in the Arctic – were common among the ancestors of the western Eskimos, Aleuts, the North American Indians. It is believed they were worn by men as well as women.” ref

Evidence for Labret Use in Prehistory

“Abstract: Bull Int Assoc Paleodont. 2020;14(1):1-23. Abstract Aims. Compared to occlusal dental wear, labial/buccal abrasion is seldom documented in prehistoric groups. This type of wear occurs in some ethnographic-present and living populations and leaves telltale facets on non-occlusal vestibular surfaces associated with labrets. Methods and materials. For detailed macroscopic, microscopic (binocular and SEM), and thin-sectioned analysis, we focused on the early Neolithic site of Mehrgarh in Pakistan, where labial/buccal wear is found in mostly older adult males. We studied 215 teeth from ten individuals from the site. From the literature and some personal observations, we review evidence from the Czech early Upper Paleolithic and many later sites in the Old and New Worlds. Results. For Mehrgarh, macroscopic observations revealed numerous teeth with labial and buccal facets that affected nearly every Frayer etal. NO-FEE OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL indexed in Scopus tooth class. Binocular and scanning electron microscopy and one thin-sectioned tooth provided detailed information about the wear characteristics on the facets.” ref

“Comparisons. The most striking parallels to wear at Mehrgarh come from recent Inuit and Northwest Coast Native Americans where labret use was frequent in males and females. Vestibular wear occurs in various specimens from the early Upper Paleolithic to modern patients. Unlike Mehrgarh and earlier prehistoric groups, in many cases, Native American teeth are associated with the actual labrets in the graves. Conclusion. Occlusal wear or attrition caused by dental/oral manipulations where the teeth were used as tools differs, based on the resultant facets left on the teeth and micro-wear features. In prehistoric Europe, labret use extends back, at least, to the early Upper Paleolithic. As in recent humans, the use of labrets in prehistoric groups likely represents personal adornment tied to concepts of beauty and/or achieved/acquired status.” ref

“The practice of inserting lip and cheek plugs is an under-reported area in dental anthropology.  In part, this is because most dental anthropologists have focused on occlusal tooth wear and internal dental structure, but also because researchers tend to ignore or not look for vestibular wear on anterior and posterior teeth.  In the samples we reviewed, these lesions represent well-defined, sometimes deep facets on the labial and buccal surfaces, which must have taken some time to develop during the lives of the affected individuals. A few studies have documented this type of non-occlusal wear in recent populations, and the pattern seems to extend into the deep past.  Wear on the labial/buccal faces was first described more than 100 years ago, which was attributed to abrasive tooth powders and excessive brushing, factors irrelevant to our work.” ref

“For the fossil record, Matiegka first noted buccal wear in some early Upper Paleolithic remains from the Czech early Gravettian site of Předmostí. Others have described similar wear for numerous early Upper Paleolithic specimens from Central Europe. Here, we focus on evidence for labret use in the Pakistani site of Mehrgarh (~9000-5000 years ago) and extend this evidence for labret use to a wide variety of fossil populations ranging from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists. Similar evidence continues into ethno-historic and contemporary groups and, in some cases, provides ethnographic-present explanations for examples in prehistoric samples. These appear to be nonfunctional body decorations and serve as markers of beauty and status, just as perceived in extant groups. Evidence for lip and cheek plugs merits future surveys of other populations for documentation.” ref

Evidence for labrets in prehistory: South Asia

“Our initial interest in labrets stems from the dental remains of some individuals from the early Neolithic period at Mehrgarh in Baluchistan, Pakistan.  This site is an extensive, deeply stratified prehistoric village and cemetery. Located at the foot of the Hindu Kush on the east bank of the Bolan River in the northwestern extension of the Kacchi Plain, it is in a strategic area at the southwest access to the Bolan Pass, Figure 1a. Initial excavations began in 1974 by a French Archaeological Mission in Pakistan (with the collaboration of the Pakistani Department of Archaeology) when erosion exposed a deep stratigraphic sequence.  Eleven subsequent field seasons (1977-1985 and 1997-2000) uncovered a large graveyard with skeletons dated as far back as 9000-5000 years ago.  Our focus here is on the earliest Neolithic, named MR3, dated to 9000-7800 years ago. Burial grounds for this period extend over 12 hectares, and the absence of breaks in the sequence suggests these Neolithic individuals were buried during a ~1500-year time span, Figure 1b. Dental anthropology at Mehrgarh has been widely reported by Lukacs and colleagues, documenting dental size, pathology, fluorosis, trauma, and activity-induced patterns of dental abrasion in the skeletal collection deriving from the 1977-1985 field. More recently, tooth drilling as a form of prehistoric dentistry was reported on nine individuals.” ref

Other areas in Middle and South Asia and the Near East

“One of the problems we have in attributing, especially the labial/buccal facets, to labret use is that no labrets have been found in the archaeological collections from Mehrgarh. However, as documented in the ethnographic-present samples discussed below, labrets were sometimes made of wood or other perishable materials, which may have been the case at Mehrgarh. As far as the Near East, Middle, and South Asia are concerned, there is some evidence for labrets in other contexts, which is reflected in different materials. Bocquentin et al. report on two Natufian central incisors with extensive labial flattening of the incisor faces. SEM analysis revealed numerous, parallel vertical striations running up the abraded facets, which are flat, not concave like found in labret wear.  Although the potentiality of wearing a lip plug was considered, Bocquentin et al. argued the wear was more likely caused by some kind of repetitive action from a tool.” ref

“The earliest and most convincing material evidence for the use of lip plugs comes from the Deh Luran plains of south-western  Iran, specifically from the site of Ali Kosh, where in a graveyard dated to the early  6th millennium BCE one individual was buried with a bitumen plug found in place on the lower jaw, with corresponding wear marks on teeth. Objects possibly identified as labrets or lip plugs, but only on morphological grounds, have been reported with variable degrees of plausibility from the early 6th millennium BCE Neolithic site of Tol-e Nurabad and from the early-mid 6th millennium BCE site of Tall-e Mushki in the Marv Dasht plateau, both from south-western Iran and again from other southern Iranian sites in Fars. Labrets have also been identified from mid-late 6th millennium BCE site of Sabi Abyad in Syria, in sites of the Kuwaiti coast of the Persian Gulf.  In these and other cases of morphological identification, there is little chance of distinguishing labrets exclusively from tokens used in quite different ways. Statements by Pollock and Bernbeck concerning finds from Mondjukli Tepe, Turkmenistan express doubts about labrets. Similar questions for Tol-e Nurabad are reviewed in length in.” ref

“In the Near Eastern societies of the late 6th-5th millennium BCE and in the so-called sphere of the Ubaid period, objects interpreted as labrets (or as possibly ear spools) become quite common based identifications at the sites of ‘Oueili, Tell Abada, Tepe Gawra, Ra’s al-Amiya, Choga Sefid. Actually, these objects, whatever their ancient function, are considered “significant and easily recognized markers of Ubaid personal identity”. Afterward, the use of labrets expanded geographically with the Ubaid culture and remained in use through the beginning of the 4th millennium BCE (for example, at Choga Mish in Susiana, Iran. After about 3500 BCE or around 5,500 years ago, the ornaments seem to have disappeared at the onset of the Uruk period. The iconographic evidence of the use of labrets in the Near Eastern and Middle Asian regions is quite limited. A terracotta head of a human figurine found at Choga Mish (Khuzistan, Iran), dates back to the early 5th millennium BCE.  A round plug is clearly represented as a button-like relief, protruding from the lower lip. The small balafré (scarred men) statues, reportedly from southwestern Iran, but most likely coming from the Oxus region in northern Afghanistan are much later, tentatively dated to the late 3rd millennium BCE.” ref

“These still mysterious images (none were found in a scientific excavation) appear to have pierced upper and lower lips in the region of the central incisors. Yet, no figurine or statue of the same description has been found at Mehrgarh. Moreover, no other statues or carved heads from the Oxus region have lip piercings. Vidale suspects that the holes represent openings for the insertion of piercing plugs. In such a case, the lip holes should be considered as archaic or exotic representations. Except for these, in the Near Eastern and Middle Asian regions, there are no depictions of presumable lip plugs in statues.” ref

Evidence for labrets in prehistory: Europe

“Vanhaeren and d’Errico report the presence of an Aurignacian, ivory labret from Spy Belgium. No lip plugs, but similar buccal lesions to those at Mehrgarh have been documented for various Gravettian sites in Central Europe. Matiegka, Vlček, and Drozdová reviewed the evidence for buccal facets from Předmostí, Pavlov, and Dolní Vestonice involving mandibular and maxillary teeth. All these authors attributed the buccal wear to carrying stones in the mouth to ward off thirst. Trefný and Hillson made a similar argument, although Hillson maintained that “the cheeks might, for example, have been used to hold an implement or in the processing of a food or material”. To produce this kind of buccal wear, the stones or activity must have had sustained use and targeted in just a small area of the mouth. Willman opposed these arguments, suggesting lip and cheek plugs were more likely. We agree, and labret usage can better account for the buccal tooth wear in the Czech Gravettian, although, like Mehrgarh, no labrets have been found in any of these sites.” ref

“There are a series of pendants and other small objects at Dolní Vestonice, but these have never been considered as lip or cheek plugs. Labial/buccal lesions have not been documented in the European Mesolithic or Neolithic, but they also have not been systematically studied. Aubry et al. found no cases of this type of wear in a small sample from the French Chalcolithic, but they focused on abstractions, which are clearly different from labial/buccal abrasive wear. In a Bronze Age burial in southeastern Great Britain, Sheridan et al. describe wooden cheek plugs associated with a cremated burial of a young male, but due to burial practices, human remains were very fragmentary. Likely, there are more cases in prehistoric Europe awaiting description.” ref 

Evidence for labrets in prehistoric Africa, East Asia, and Australia

“Compared to Europe, labrets are infrequently reported for prehistoric dentitions from Africa and East Asia, despite the fact they occur in several native people in Africa and Asia. For Africa, the earliest example comes from Olduvai hominid 1, a Tanzanian specimen probably from the Late Pleistocene/Later Stone Age based on associated microlithic tools. It shows extensive lingual erosions on its anterior teeth, which resemble the effect of wearing a labret. Parsche identified the facets as ‘lingual,’ but from our direct observation of OH1 the facets are clearly labial. This identification is confirmed by Willman et al. Originally, these facets were interpreted to be the result of sandstone filing and later as the result of fiber processing. Both of these explanations have been rejected by Willman et al. They found labial flattening on a maxillary canine and buccal flattening on other mandibular and maxillary posterior teeth. Based on microscopic work, they concluded all these flattened surfaces were due to labret abrasion.  Later Mesolithic examples come from central Sudan, where lip plugs are found, dating to ~8000 – 7500 years ago.” ref 

“Honegger also documents lip plugs in early Neolithic graves of northern Sudan (6605-6960 years ago), but did not describe dental evidence. Labrets were found in Neolithic graves in Mali, Sudan, and Chad. Keddie notes that labrets are found in central Sudan, and their popularity spreads with population movements and along trade lines. The most stunning example of labret use in Africa comes from Jebel Moya in southern Sudan. Here, Addison documented 28,000 labrets in the large cemetery. The cemetery comprises members of a pastoral group associated with the Meroitic state and is dated between 200 BCE and 400 CE. Addison claims that labrets were almost as common as potsherds. Unfortunately, much of this skeletal material was destroyed in flooding at Oxford, and most of the artifacts appear to be missing.  However, MacDonald documented a few of the dentitions, which show labial wear on the anterior teeth. According to her survey, “47% of all the females examined had direct evidence for the wearing of labrets in the form of labial wear facets”. Besides labrets, it is probable some of these items were used in ear piercings, as they greatly vary in size and shape. Elsewhere Santoni et al. describe evidence of the use of labial lip plug in a mandible dating to the 14th Century from the Cameroon.” ref

“These are different from the others observed here in that the facets are confined to the mesial aspects of the canines and barely extend to the canine crowns. They seem to relate to a flat lip plug, but these were not found in the grave, and the attribution is not clear.  There is some prehistoric evidence for the Near East where Bocquentin et al. report on two Natufian central incisors with extensive labial flattening of the incisor faces. SEM analysis revealed numerous, parallel vertical striations running up the abraded facets, which are flat, not concave like found in the labret wear described above. Although the potentiality of wearing a lip plug was considered, Bocquentin et al. argued the wear was more likely caused by some kind of repetitive action. Lip plugs and associated tooth wear are infrequent in the prehistory of northeast Asia. There are no documented cases of prehistoric or recent labret use in native Australians.” ref

Labrets in prehistory and the ethnographic-present in the Americas

Prehistoric evidence for labret use

“Various authors have mentioned or described actual labrets and, sometimes, dental evidence for labret use in late prehistoric groups in North, Central, and South America. Among the Aztecs and Incas, labrets served as status markers and were made from a variety of materials, from leather to lead.  Pollard, describing their use in pre-Hispanic Tarascan (Aztec) groups, notes that “[m]ale members of the elite wore gold ear and lip plugs to signal their status, and at death were buried with these status markers.” Otis Charlton records that lip plugs were sometimes made of chert and obsidian among the Aztecs of Otumba. Further south in Peru, Cordy-Collins documents lip plugs from her study of pottery vessels. These depicted only females and, given the absence of lip plugs in early Moche periods, Cordy-Collins maintains these females are from outside the Moche area. Very few studies have described dental complications from these marks. An exception is the study by Torres-Rouff who reports an edentulous individual, associated with a labret. She argues anterior tooth loss in this male likely was caused by labret use, given that a large labret was found in the tomb.  She describes a second case from prehistoric Chile, 400-900 years ago. This male was buried with two small, quartz labrets, which were found in place. Both canines preserved large labial wear facets, extending from the crown to each tooth’s root.” ref

“These facets correspond closely to the position where the labrets were found in the skeletal remains. Torres-Rouff reports that ‘evidence for male use of labret is pervasive in prehistoric Chile.”  Reviewing evidence from the El Torín graveyard (2200 – 1000 years ago), she records polishing of the labial faces of incisors and canines, gingival recession in four males, and in all four cases, ante mortem tooth loss. Much farther north, the use of labrets is well documented by various authors for prehistoric Inuit, Athabascan, and Northwest Coast groups. Rorabaugh and Shantry report multiple types of large and small labrets in Salish archaeological deposits from 30+ sites dating from 3200 – 1000 years ago. There are some cases of dental involvement, but mostly, the labrets are isolated from skeletal material. Rorabaugh and Shantry maintain that males and females wore labrets and that they served as “credibility enhancing displays,” marking the special status of the wearer.” ref

“Labret use in the ethnographic-present Using reports by explorers, Hrdlička documented Inuits from Kodiak Island, Alaska, wearing labrets made from a variety of stone, bone, and ivory. A more recent study by Ray writes that “[m]en of the entire area [Bering Strait Eskimos] wore labrets, and it is interesting that many wore extremely large ones made of trade beads or jade, probably as a status symbol, since these huge things must have been very uncomfortable”.  Pedersen published an extensive survey of 802 Inuits and found evidence of buccal wear (“abnutzungsfacetten”) in 4.5% of the skulls in collections at the Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.), the American Museum of Natural History (New York City) and the Anthropologicum Laboratorium (Copenhagen).” ref

“He also published various lip and cheek labrets and a large labret in a burial affecting four mandibular teeth. These produced buccal abrasions similar to those seen in Mehrgarh and the other prehistoric samples. Labret use among the western Inuits was common and spread all the way to the Aleutian Islands, but was not circumpolar since labrets are not seen in the Inuit eastern range. They also did not extend far northwest into eastern Siberia, but as documented by Keddie labrets are found in the Kamchatka Peninsula natives and in far northern Japan. Cybulski analyzed skeletal material from recent Northwest Coast groups and found evidence of labret use in mandibles of adult males and females. He records a burial preserving a large labret associated with mandibular teeth and documented a frequency of 16% of adult individuals with labrets, all involving anterior teeth.” ref

“For Northwest Coast groups, La Salle records a wide variety of labret raw materials including “antler, basalt, bone, shell, coal, horn, ivory, quartz, quartzite, sandstone, siltstone, slate, soapstone, steatite, clay, limestone, mudstone, serpentine, talc, wood, and copper.” She also reviews ethno-historic sources for Northwest Coast groups and found that: “The older the woman the larger is the ornament, and young girls have only a needle in the lower lip, the married women alone have the right to the bowls”. Dall describes the labret, worn by all women but slaves, as a symbol of vigor, fortitude, and mature development, of sexual freedom, of maturity only, and, of power, privileges, and respect. Moss found evidence for lip and cheek labrets in Catlin’s portraits of Native Americans, which he contended generally signified a higher status of the wearer in both males and females.” ref

The Dentalium Labrets Of The Tlingit

“There’s a legend among the Tlingit that starts by saying, “No one knows where the story of Raven begins, so everyone starts from where they know and goes on from there.” According to the story, Raven was a god-like figure with an abalone shell labret, and he (or sometimes she) made the world. Not the whole universe, mind you, but this particular world. So he had a world, and he needed a light for it. Raven knew a guy, out there in the universe, who had a light, so he went and got that guy’s daughter pregnant. The child that was born cried all the time, and Raven and his new family gave the child all the stars in the sky, the sun and the moon, all the earth it could walk on, the sea to fish in, and a lot of friends. And that’s where the world, and the people in it came from.” ref

“Among the Tlingit, Whose name means “People of the Tides,” that story, the story of how Raven created the world, is as much property as the land you might live on, or the laptop you’re reading this on. Stories, names, dances, and songs were all owned by clans. You might be given a name to pay back a debt, or, if the person who owes you was particularly hard to collect from, you might steal a dance or a song instead. According to one of their other legends, they met a group of people, not Tlingit but “people with whom you could trade” and they were called Athapaskan people. Nomads who’d been robbed and had other troubles along the way. Mighty hunters though, and very knowledgeable about things like dancing and fashion.” ref

“The Athapaskans sported some amazing tattoo work, and some great jewelry. One of their habits, the wearing of nose rings and nose pins and labrets made from slate and abalone, caught on with the Tlingit, and became a tradition practiced over the centuries. They could pierce and stretch their septums with dentalium shells, or porcupine or bird’s quills. The earliest settlements made things like labrets from slate. Later they made ornaments like copper rings and disks. It wasn’t simply a matter of fashion sense either. It’s interesting that the Tlingit legends describe Athapaskans as “People with whom you could trade”, because with the scarcity of food and goods in the northern tundra, people you could trade with were one of their most important assets. War for goods, food, spouses, and among some people (including the Tlingit, at least until the 1860s) slaves was common. A harsh winter could divide clans, and set people against each other.” ref

“But how… Could you know if the people you saw in the distance were friends or foes? If they would kill you or trade with you? The answer is by looking at their jewelry. The way labrets and other jewelry was worn could indicate tribal boundaries, social status, whether you were open to trading or looking for a fight. They were a sign of who you were within your society, what society you belonged to, and how high caste or low caste you might be. People could tell everything about you just by looking at your face. Stem from earlier indigenous peoples that scientists now call “Paleo Hunter Gatherers”, and archeological digs have turned up the same kinds of jewelry that traditional northern indigenous people were still wearing when Edward S. Curtis (see the pics on the right) came through to photograph them in the early 1900s.” ref

“It’s a tradition, just like stories about Raven, that spans clans and cultures across the northern Pacific coast, up into Alaska and across the Yukon Territory, and it goes back a long ways. Digs done in Alaska have found evidence of people, like the paleo hunter-gatherers, dating to 8000 BCE, when a land bridge still connected Siberia and Alaska. When according to legend, the first people who spoke Athapaskan crossed over and met the Tlingit, and they traded things like abalone shells for food and learned about dances and jewelry. And with them came Raven.” ref

“When Raven began journeying between the clans, from the Tlingit and Athapaskan peoples to the Kwakuitl and Inuit, he (and she, because Raven could also be a woman) had many adventures, married men and women, birds and fish and whales. That’s when Raven, as both man and woman, wore an abalone shell labret, and this became popular among the highest caste of people among the Tlingit and Athapaskans. Eventually, it was said that only the highest caste people, chiefs and children of chiefs, knew the whole story of Raven, because they were the only people who had time to learn it. But even then, no one ever knew the beginning, and no one ever will.” ref

Things that are similar in several Indigenous groups in the Pacific Northwest area

1. “Marine/riverine orientation and adapted technology
2. Sedentary life in villages
3. Highly developed woodworking technology
4. High population density
5. Strict social stratification, including slavery
6. No intercommunity organization or political offices” ref

The Evolution of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Abundance, Prosperity & Complexity (VIEDO)

“The Northwest Coast Native Americans can indeed be considered an example of a chiefdom-level society. This social organization in the Pacific Northwest was characterized by a complex hierarchical system where power was concentrated within the leadership of clans. These clans were made up of families recognizing a common ancestor, often symbolized by important regional animals like ravens or whales. The leadership held not only political power but often combined aspects of economic, religious, and sometimes military dominance. Stratification was a notable characteristic, with individual, family, clan, and town rankings. The practice of ‘potlatch’ was central to this society, reinforcing the status and hierarchy among members and other clans through ceremonial gift-giving and feasts.” ref

“The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of salmon as a resource and spiritual symbol, and many cultivation and subsistence practices. The term Northwest Coast or North West Coast is used in anthropology to refer to the groups of Indigenous people residing along the coast of what is now called British Columbia, Washington State, parts of Alaska, Oregon, and Northern California. The term Pacific Northwest is largely used in the American context. At one point, the region had the highest population density of a region inhabited by Indigenous peoples in Canada.” ref

“The Pacific Northwest Coast at one time had the most densely populated areas of indigenous people ever recorded in Canada. The land and waters provided rich natural resources through cedar and salmon, and highly structured cultures developed from relatively dense populations. Within the Pacific Northwest, many different nations developed, each with their own distinct history, culture, and society. Some cultures in this region were very similar and shared certain elements, such as the importance of salmon to their cultures, while others differed. Prior to contact, and for a brief time after colonization, some of these groups regularly conducted war against each other through raids and attacks. Through warfare they gathered captives for slavery.” ref

“The Tlingit are a matrilineal society. They developed a complex hunter-gatherer culture in the temperate rainforest of the Alaska Panhandle and adjoining inland areas of present-day British Columbia. The Haida people (/ˈhaɪdə/ HY-də) are well-known as skilled artisans of wood, metal, and design. They have also shown much perseverance and resolve in the area of forest conservation. The vast forests of cedar and spruce where the Haida make their home are on pre-glacial land, which is believed to be almost 14,000 years old. The Haida were widely known for their art and architecture, both of which focused on the creative embellishment of wood. They decorated utilitarian objects with depictions of supernatural and other beings in a highly conventionalized style.” ref

“Haida communities located in Prince of Wales Island, Alaska and Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (previously referred to as the Queen Charlotte Islands) also share a common border with other Indigenous peoples, such as the Tlingit and the Tsimshian. The Haida were also famous for their long-distance raiding and slaving, going often to California for trading. The Tsimshian (/ˈsɪmʃiən/ SIM-shee-ən), translated as “People Inside the Skeena River,” are indigenous people who live around Terrace and Prince Rupert on the North Coast of British Columbia, and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island. There are about 10,000 Tsimshian, of whom about 1,300 live in Alaska.” ref

“Succession in Tsimshian society is matrilineal, and one’s place in society was determined by one’s clan or phratry (defined as four equal parts). Four main Tsimshian clans form the basic phratry. The Laxsgiik (Eagle Clan) and Ganhada (Raven Clan) form one half. Gispwudwada (Killer Whale Clan) and Laxgibuu (Wolf Clan) form the other half. Prior to European contact, marriage in Tsimshian society could not take place within a half-group, for example between a Wolf and a Killer Whale. It was considered to be incest even if there was no blood relationship. Marriages were only arranged between people from clans in different halves: for example, between a Killer Whale and a Raven or Eagle.” ref

“The area referred to as the Northwest Coast has a very long history of human occupation, exceptional linguistic diversity, population density and cultural and ceremonial development. Noted by anthropologists for its complexity, there is emerging research that the economies of these people were more complex and intensive than was previously assumed. Coast Salish peoples’ had complex land management practices linked to ecosystem health and resilience. Forest gardens on Canada’s northwest coast included crabapple, hazelnut, cranberry, wild plum, and wild cherry species. Many groups have First Generation Stories – family stories that tell of the origin of the group, and often of humans themselves arising in specific locations along the coast.” ref

TRIBES AND CHIEFDOMS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST: THE TSIMSHIAN CASE

Chiefly Power and Household Production on the Northwest

The Origins of a Pacific Coast Chiefdom: The Chumash of the Channel Islands

Stratification and social structure in the Pacific Northwest

“The Northwest Coast was the outstanding exception to the anthropological truism that hunting and gathering cultures—or, in this case, fishing and gathering cultures—are characterized by simple technologies, sparse possessions, and small egalitarian bands. In this region, food was plentiful; less work was required to meet the subsistence needs of the population than in farming societies of comparable size, and, as with agricultural societies, the food surpluses of the Northwest encouraged the development of social stratification. The region’s traditional cultures typically had a ruling elite that controlled use rights to corporately held or communal property, with a “house society” form of social organization. The best analogues for such cultures are generally agreed to be the medieval societies of Europe, China, and Japan, with their so-called noble houses.” ref

“In house societies, the key social and productive unit was a flexible group of a few dozen to 100 or more people who considered themselves to be related (sometimes only distantly), who were coresident in houses or estates for at least part of the year, and who held common title to important resources; in the Northwest, those resources included sites for fishing, berry picking, hunting, and habitation. House groups also held a variety of less-tangible privileges, including the exclusive use of particular names, songs, dances, and, especially in the north, totemic representations or crests.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Totemism, Tribalism, Clan, and Power: (band, tribe, chiefdom, and state)

Women of POWER: Matrilineal Chiefdoms and Matrilineal clans as well as Women as Chief/King or Warrior Women

 “Timeline of the Northwest

12000(?)—6000 years ago

“Extensive use of basalt chipped stone tools (leaf-shaped bifaces, choppers, scrapers, burins, pecked spheroids, edge-ground cobbles, and simple bone tools. Hunting and gathering “generalists” with probable emphasis on land mammals; the importance of fish and shellfish unknown.” ref

6000—3000 years ago

“Continued use of chipped stone, as in the preceding period, with more diversity in projectile points; large ground slate points(?); extensive bone-working technology probable. Unknown for the Peninsula, Fraser River sites show land mammal and seal hunting and shellfish gathering of nearly equal importance and increased evidence for fishing.” ref

3000—1000 years ago

“Large and medium-sized ground slate points; minimally ground adzes; barbed wooden and bone projectile points; hafted microlithic knives; small chipped stone points(?). Anadromous and deep-sea fisheries; shellfish gathering; relative importance of land and sea mammal and bird hunting unknown.” ref

1000—200 years ago

“Whalebone clubs and wedges; bone unipoints and bipoints; ground slate and shell projectile points & knives; extensive woodworking; metal present but rare. Anadromous and deep-sea fisheries; shellfish gathering; sea and land mammal hunting; bird hunting; extensive gathering of camas, fern roots, berries.” ref

Middle Prehistoric: 6000—3000 years ago

“It is very difficult to characterize with certainty this period of prehistory for the Olympic Peninsula. No sites known to be from that period have been archeologically investigated, although the previously discussed Van Os site in Port Angeles may date to earlier portions of the Middle Prehistoric. The recently documented Deer Park site, a high-elevation lithic site, is possibly representative of upland adaptation for the period. See Figure 6 for examples of artifacts from this period. Elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, the span of time between 6000—3000 years ago is a period of major adaptive shifts, from an economy oriented toward land mammal hunting to one in which fishing and the gathering of intertidal resources became increasingly important. The lack of dated sites on the Olympic Peninsula for this period is probably due to a number of factors, including all the general archeological difficulties previously discussed. Coastal sites, if they existed, would be submerged now due to changes in sea level.” ref

“If we assume that the Olympic Peninsula was not depopulated during the Middle Prehistoric and that its human inhabitants shared in the same sorts of trends seen elsewhere in the archaeological record, then the most obvious changes are in subsistence and technology. Data from the Fraser River are especially informative. At the Esilao Village site in the lower Fraser Canyon, the first evidence for the developed ground stone industry occurs at about the 5000 years ago level. Forms include large ground slate projectile points and knives. At the Glenrose Cannery site, the “Old Cordilleran” chipped stone tool kit discussed previously is seen in the St. Mungo component (4300—3300 years ago), but many more bone and antler tools occur than in the earlier component, in conjunction with an increase in abrading stones and the first appearance of ground slate points. Also noted was a decrease in frequency of cobble choppers, accompanied by a trend toward reduction in size of chipped stone points. Woodworking became intensified and elaborated, as evidenced by rodent-incisor carving tools, a mussel shell adze-blade, and antler wedges.” ref

“Although land mammals and seals continued to be of dietary significance in the St. Mungo component, bay mussels became a major food source, and the first bird remains found at Glenrose are also seen in that component. Additionally, fish began to assume more importance as a food resource. The remains of salmon, sturgeon, eulachon, flounders, minnows, and sticklebacks have been found. Shellfish studies, along with other lines of evidence, indicate that the Glenrose Cannery site was occupied seasonally during the winter as well as the summer throughout the St. Mungo Phase. While the artifact inventory came to include important new bone, stone and shell tools, much continuity is seen from the past. Matson concludes that “the continuities in subsistence and artifacts indicate that slow, continuous development was taking place.” ref

“Kidd, in surveying Puget Sound archaeology, has also discussed the continuity of basalt chipped stone tool forms from earlier times into what he terms the “Archaic” (5000—3000 years ago). He also mentions the initial appearance of large ground slate projectile points at certain Whidbey Island sites during that period. In reviewing the settlement pattern of the “Archaic” cultures on Whidbey Island and the San Juans, Kidd states that “known units are found in shell-free strata underlying shell mounds, in shoreline locations, or in sites on natural prairie uplands.” While that statement implies that shellfish weren’t important subsistence resources, it nonetheless points out that people of the Middle Prehistoric were expanding their settlement system. That expansion suggests, at least indirectly, an ever-widening resource base.” ref

“It may be that the technological and subsistence shifts noted for the Middle Prehistoric in the Fraser River country occurred later in time on the Olympic Peninsula. The geographical isolation of large portions of the Peninsula has been an important theme noted in botanical, faunal, and historical studies. Also, major changes in relative sea level since the Pleistocene, both above and below the present level, have complicated the picture. These changes were caused by isostatic rebound of the land surface and a gradual world-wide rise in sea level. Between 9000—5000 years ago (and possibly continuing up to more recent times) there was evidently a period of lowered sea level. Coastal sites on the Peninsula occupied during that time would now be submerged.” ref

“Areas such as the western and southern river valleys may not have been occupied until late in the Middle Prehistoric, or perhaps were populated by small isolated groups of hunters and gatherers whose technology had remained essentially unchanged since the Early Prehistoric. If Middle Prehistoric land mammal hunter/gatherer sites do exist in the western and southern valleys, they are probably hidden in the dense vegetation of the lowland and temperate rain forests. Wessen, in reviewing the paleoclimatic reconstructions of the area, has suggested that forests “may have been fairly open communities from ca. 8000—3000 years ago. It is, apparently, the cooler and moister conditions of the last 3000 years that gave rise to the dense closed forests.” He goes on to note that habitation sites would likely have been “open sites lying within the now closed forest.” ref

“The northeastern portion of the Peninsula contains the only sites which might be assignable (at this time) to the Middle Prehistoric. It has already been noted that the Van Os site in Port Angeles may be of that period. Based on comparisons with similar artifacts from the St. Mungo Phase (4300—3300 years ago) at Glenrose Cannery, the Deer Park lithic site in Olympic National Park may date to the Middle Prehistoric. At Glenrose Cannery, contracting stem and shouldered basalt projectile points have been found in association with cobble choppers, gravers, and abrading slab utilized flakes and basalt flint knapping debitage and debris. The rather small projectile point size (3-4 cm long) and lack of appreciable patination or artifacts suggests an age of roughly 4000—2000 years ago.” ref

“Olcott”-like leaf-shaped and stemmed basalt projectile points, plus a large ground slate point fragment and unilaterally barbed bone harpoon fragments, were collected from a site near Crescent Beach, just west of Port Angeles. Interestingly, informal testing of that site by WSU has produced two C¹⁴ dates of about 2200 and 2600 years ago. This site, like the Van Os site, may contain multiple components. Although detailed archaeological investigations of Middle Prehistoric sites are lacking, it is nonetheless suggested that by about 3000 years ago, the adaptive shifts noted in the Fraser Canyon and Delta were probably in progress, at least along the southern shores of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and northeastern portion of the Peninsula.” ref

“Those adaptive shifts and new technological processes were no doubt the outcome of an array of environmental and cultural factors. Basing his argument on fisheries and paleoenvironmental data, Fladmark has maintained that post-Pleistocene stabilization of the land/sea interface at about 5000 years ago made possible the large and generally predictable runs of anadromous fish up the major spawning streams of the Northwest Coast. Surely such runs of fish weren’t ignored, and as Matson has noted for the Fraser, salmon fishing first became important as a subsistence practice in the St. Mungo Phase (4300—5300 years ago). On the other hand, it may be that salmon bones simply weren’t preserved in earlier levels at that site.” ref

“Wessen has discussed the importance of the “closed forest” both in terms of its impact on the development of the Northwest Coast ethnographic pattern and its hindrance of archeological survey. He suggests that Western red cedar may have been rare or absent prior to 3000—4000 years ago. Similarly, Barnosky maintains that the advent of red cedar in the Puget lowland was not until 5500 years ago. Those dates are reasonably consonant with the developed woodworking indicated in the St. Mungo Phase at Glenrose. It can be assumed that water transport, probably in the form of cedar dugout canoes, was well established along the Northwest Coast by the end of the Middle Prehistoric or even earlier, as a number of researchers have maintained. Water transport capabilities would have greatly enhanced the inter-cultural exchange of ideas and technology, as well as opening up river valleys for settlement and allowing exploitation of offshore fisheries and sea mammal hunting.” ref

“Some of the new technological advances, such as stone grinding, highly elaborated bone-working and water transport may have been the result of the infusion of ideas from the far north, as Borden has suggested. Those new advances were readily adopted by populations which had been undergoing long in situ development and had expanded their dietary base to include fish and molluscs. Those interconnected cultural and environmental factors culminated in the Prehistoric Northwest Coast Pattern. Its manifestation on the lands now occupied by Olympic National Park will be the subject of the section to follow. ” ref

Long-term developments in complex hunter-gatherer societies: Recent perspectives from the pacific coast of North America 

“The Pacific coast of North America is ideally suited to the study of long-term developments in complex hunter-gatherer societies. This paper synthesizes current research in California and the Northwest Coast on three related research problems. The first concerns the timing, spatial distribution, and economies of the earliest coastal peoples in the region. The second problem involves the growth and florescence of complex Pacific hunter-gatherer societies. What constitutes archaeological evidence of hunter-gatherer complexity, when and where it occurs, and the interpretations proposed to account for it are reviewed. The final problem addresses how complex hunter-gatherer peoples responded to European exploration and colonization, and how these early encounters affected the Pacific coast societies recorded in early ethnohistoric accounts and later studied by ethnographers.” ref

Complex Hunter–Gatherers in Evolution and History: A North American Perspective

“A review of recent research on complex hunter–gatherers in North America suggests that age-old tensions between evolutionary and historical epistemologies continue to cultivate progress in anthropological understanding of sociocultural variation. Coupled with criticism of the evolutionary status of ethnographic foragers, archaeological documentation of variation among hunter–gatherer societies of the ancient past makes it difficult to generalize about causal relationships among environment, subsistence economy, and sociopolitical organization. Explanations for emergent complexity on the Pacific Coast that privilege environmental triggers for economic change have been challenged by new paleoenvironmental findings, while hypotheses suggesting that economic changes were preceded by, indeed caused by, transformations of existing structures of social inequality have gained empirical support. In its emergent data on mound construction apart from significant subsistence change, the southeastern United States gives pause to materialist explanations for complexity, turning the focus on symbolic and structural dimensions of practice that cannot be understood apart from particular histories of group interaction and tradition. Taken together, recent research on complex hunter–gatherers in North America has not only expanded the empirical record of sociocultural formations once deemed anomalous and/or derivative of European contact but also has contributed to the ongoing process of clarifying concepts of cultural complexity and how this process ultimately restructures anthropological theory.” ref

“Among the more significant advances in anthropological research in the last 30 years has been the recognition that institutions of social inequality existed commonly among populations whose subsistence economies did not include the exploitation of domesticated plants or animals. Through the 1970s, unusually populous, stationary, and stratified hunter–gatherer societies, such as those of the Northwest Coast of North America, were regarded as ethnographic anomalies, a radical departure from the typically mobile, small-scale, and egalitarian formations canonized in ethnographic tropes such as the forager mode of production, primitive communists, and the “original affluent society”. In the cultural ecological paradigms of three decades ago, simple societies were products of unpredictable, immature, or impoverished environments, those that encouraged mobility, put a check on accumulation, and diffused tendencies toward inequality.” ref

“In cultural evolutionary terms, simple societies preceded agriculture because it was food production that made environments rich, secure, and expandable, and, consequently, brought the hunter–gatherer lifestyle and its presumed egalitarian ethos to an end. Only in places where agriculture could not expand, the argument went, do we find egalitarian hunter–gatherers existing after food production became a global phenomenon. This remarkably resilient and dominant theme in anthropological discourse has now been thoroughly erased by evidence to the contrary. Two parallel developments eroded orthodoxy. Foremost is the work of archaeologists, who have documented cases of so-called “complex” hunter–gatherers that far exceed the geographic and temporal range of such formations in the ethnographic and ethnohistoric present. Many such advances have been made among archaeologists searching for the roots of inequality among populations of the Pacific Coast of North America, those existing at a chiefdom level of sociopolitical organization at the time of European contact.” ref

“Others have provided new data on societies whose historical trajectories toward increasingly complex organization were truncated long before contact with the West. These include groups of the Interior Northwest Plateau, the Canadian Arctic, Japan, parts of Australia, northern Eurasia, the Middle East, South America, the Caribbean, and the American Southeast, among others. Naturally, scholars disagree on definitions of complexity, with some reluctant to include any society lacking clear evidence for hereditary inequality; others allow for a much broader range of variation. The lively debate such ambiguity engenders has fueled a voluminous literature over the past few years, situating archaeologists at the forefront of anthropological theorizing about intermediate societies. The second major development has been the historicization of “primitive” society. As part of the larger shift in anthropological focus from evolutionary to historical explanations for sociocultural variation, studies of ethnohistoric and ethnographic hunter–gatherers have become increasingly trained on the structural features (e.g., egalitarianism) arising from and reproducing intergroup interactions. It is no longer reasonable to conceptually isolate a hunter–gatherer population for study under the premise that it genuinely represents humanity in a primitive state, as architects of the 1960s’Kalahari Project professed.” ref

“The results of this project and others of like it left a lasting impression on archaeologists seeking analogical insight into prehistoric foragers worldwide. Ethnographic foragers like those of the Kalahari were widely appropriated as a model for populations whose mobility, reciprocal sharing, and egalitarian ethos were considered inherent to life before food production. Ironically, the ethnographic material used to construct knowledge of social conditions before the “emergence” of complexity was derived from societies whose internal dynamics, serving to mitigate tendencies for the accumulation of power, are historical consequences of powerful, institutionalized forces. In other words, “primitive” societies of the ethnographic present are best understood as components, not antecedents, of complex societies. These dual developments have contributed to yet another incarnation of an age-old philosophical tension in social sciences, the tension between historical and evolutionary perspectives on cultural variation and change.” ref

“This latest iteration is akin to, albeit somewhat different than rhetoric of the Boasian critique of nineteenth-century evolutionism, as well as the neo-evolutionist critique of culture history. Indeed, ontological premises about history and evolution have grown more nuanced and polysemic in recent years. In drawing intellectual lines in the sand, it is hardly enough to juxtapose history and evolution as polar opposites. Rather, we have to consider premises about effective scale, causation, and the relationship between material and ideational realms of human experience, to name but a few of the constitutive themes. The intellectual permutations are as diverse as the subject matter itself. Still, the conceptual divide between history and evolution is arguably the crucible for progress in this endeavor. Several recent texts in fact offer up this sort of tension as a catalyst for intellectual progress.” ref

“This conceptual chasm between historical and evolutionary perspectives on complex hunter–gatherers is an organizing theme of the review that follows. It takes as it starting point the mid-1990s, when, over a period of 2 years, an important body of literature on complex hunter–gatherers was published, including two major volumes on emergent complexity and a synthesis on the archaeology of complex hunter–gatherers. Also issued at this time was Kelly’s (1995) influential cross-cultural analysis of forager variation from a behavioral ecological perspective. A constant stream of papers, book chapters, monographs, and dissertations ensued from long-term projects worldwide. My review is decidedly biased toward literature on North American hunter–gatherer societies. The emphasis on North American case material is arguably justified because only on this continent do we find unequivocally complex hunter–gatherers in the modern era, those of the Northwest Coast, California, and south-west Florida. Of course, the boundaries one wishes to draw around this subject matter determines what is and is not included.” ref

“If we are to draw the boundaries tightly, asserting as defining criteria hereditary inequality and an economy based strictly on wild food resources, then select areas of North America indeed provide the best examples of complex hunter–gatherers. The geographical purview of this subject widens as we allow for more generalized definitions of complexity. I cannot claim to provide here a comprehensive review of the literature on complex hunter–gatherers since the mid-1990s, although every effort was made to locate and include all major English works on the subject. The literature high-lighted herein was chosen because it both showcases the substantive contributions archaeologists have made in the growing recognition of complex hunter–gatherers worldwide (but also exposes the conceptual tensions between historical and evolutionary approaches to the subject) and lays bare the shortcomings of approaches to complexity based on only one or a few defining traits.” ref

“In delimiting the relevant literature for this review, the concept of hunter–gatherer itself posed problems. A vast literature now supports the notion that a subsistence economy based on wild food resources is not structurally linked to any particular form of social organization, technology, labor arrangement, intergroup relations, or ideology. In fact, the term “hunter–gatherer” implies nothing but that—a mode of subsistence—with permutations asserted to account for emphases on plant foods (gatherer–hunter) or fish (fisher–gatherer–hunter) instead of game. We can likewise cite many cases in which husbanding wild resources is tantamount to food production, or suggest that the abundance of high-yield wild foods is the equivalent to agricultural produce in its economic elasticity. Clearly, the term hunter–gatherer does not carry the unified conceptual weight it once did, and we have to ask ourselves why and how the concept of complex hunter–gatherers truly differs from pastoral tribes or agricultural chiefdoms. Through some theoretical lenses, the differences blur indeed.” ref

“Until recently, complexity among hunter–gatherers was a subject shaped more by the contours of theory than by its empirical record. Although it is always true that theory shades perception and interpretation, contradictions between the empirical record and orthodoxy have brought the contours of theory into sharper relief. The archaeological record of the American Southeast is a case in point. New evidence for monument construction dating to at least the sixth millennium before present is at odds with data that otherwise point to a landscape inhabited by small-scale, mobile foragers. Like the Poverty Point culture of 2000 years hence, these Middle Archaic mound builders simply “do not fit” the overall picture of southeastern prehistory (Ford and Webb, 1956; Gibson, 1996) when viewed from the shopworn perspective of cultural evolutionism.” ref

“Brought into focus by this contradiction are the persuasions of those willing to upgrade the level of sociopolitical complexity among these precocious populations, and, on the other side of the divide, those willing to downgrade the significance of monumentality. Ongoing debate over emergent complexity in California and the Interior Plateau of the Northwest provide additional material for exploring the tensions between theory and data. All such cases show that archaeology has a vitally important role in not only amassing the empirical record of sociocultural variation but in contributing to the ongoing process of clarifying what we mean by cultural complexity and how this process ultimately restructures anthropological theory.” ref

Rituals and Secret societies in Complex Hunter/Gatherers of the American Northwest

“Above all, what is striking about the secret societies of the complex hunting and gathering cultures of the American Northwest Coast (Fig. 2.1) is the remarkable amount of time, effort, and expense that went into the rituals and performances. Although no reports deal with the amount of time required for the preparations, they must have taken many months, not counting the years of wealth accumulation required for initiation into the more important positions, the weeks or months of seclusion of the candidates, and the years of prohibitions after initiation. There were unusual materials to be procured; masks and elaborate costumes to be made; special dramatic or stage effects to be crafted or arranged (with confederates helping to make noise or other effects on house roofs, outside the houses, or even outside villages); feasts of the best foods to be procured, prepared, and organized; permissions from secret society “marshals” had to be obtained; gifts to be arranged; many songs and dances to be learned; and numerous meetings and rehearsals. The performances themselves usually lasted a number of days and often went on all night or could be repeated in each house of a village. According to McIlwraith, one host’s performance succeeded another so that there were dances on a nightly basis over the three months of the winter ceremonial season.” ref

“However, there were also considerable risks. McIlwraith, Drucker, and Boas all noted that deaths during long seclusion periods were not uncommon (see “Ecstatic States”), besides which blunders during performances could entail punishments including death. Sponsors or hosts of the performances had to pay for everything, but they also had to obtain permission from secret society marshals or leaders, at least in some groups like the Bella Coola. It is often difficult to know to what extent the rapid breakdown of secret societies had altered their organizational structures by the time ethnographic observations were made. However, given all the costs, risks, and privations, one would expect there to be substantial benefits, at least traditionally, to membership in the secret societies and for sponsors of the elaborate performances. Yet, what these benefits were has not been meaningfully addressed by most ethnographers. We might anticipate that the prospect of acquiring substantial power and some means of accessing wealth was associated with memberships; however, details are elusive.” ref

“Boas stated that all the secret societies of the Northwest Coast were very similar, often even using the same names. They all used cedar bark as badges, including head rings, neck rings, and masks. Loeb saw the possession and mask characteristics as relatively “recent” influences from Siberian shamanism; however, this was speculative. The Tlingit appeared to represent the northern limit of secret society organizations. They were present at Wrangell (Southern Tlingit), with some traces at Sitka, but not farther north, except possibly for Point Barrow Eskimos.” ref

Similarities with California

In general, there were many, sometimes striking, similarities between the central California Kuksu secret societies and the secret societies of the Northwest Coast. These included the themes of death and resurrection of new initiates; the disappearance of new initiates from the ritual gathering (sometimes ejected or thrown out) and a period of seclusion during which the initiate was supposed to have ascended to the upper realm of spirits from which he returned in a wild state and needed to be calmed (including by ritual dousing with water); portrayal of ghosts as either possessing people or as visiting the living; the use of dances and disguises by performers to assume the role of, or to channel, specific spirits (Fig. 2.2); recognition or certification of successful initiation by publicly performing the dance received from spirits; induced bleeding at the mouth as a sign of supernatural power or the possession by powerful spirits; the need of new initiates to cover their heads when temporarily leaving the ritual location (so as not to lose their spirit power; the high costs of initiations; the use of decorated staffs or sticks; the use of whistles and bullroarers as secret voices of spirits; the use of bone drinking tubes by new initiates; the use of stage magic to demonstrate supernatural powers to the uninitiated; and perhaps even a common derivation of the names for the cults or members, e.g., Kuksu in California and KuKusiut in Bella Coola.” ref

“There were several differences as well. Notably, the Northwest Coast secret societies involved distinctive possessions by the guardian spirits of each secret society and masks were used to personify those guardian spirits whereas these features do not occur in other areas. Possession only occurred in secret societies of the Northwest Coast, and is seen as a Siberian influence by Loeb. Moreover, while groups in the Canadian Plateau and California used sweat houses, most groups in the Northwest Coast did not use them. Because of the implications concerning the dynamics of secret societies and their interactions, several minor but striking features of some Northwest Coast secret societies held in common with those among the Ojibway are also of interest. These include the “shooting” of power into new initiates or others by means of special objects such as quartz crystals used by the Bella Coola and Nuuchahnulth (also known as the Nootka) or by cowrie shells used by the Ojibway. In both areas, the person “shot” fell down as if dead and was then revived. Some detailed similarities also exist between Northwest Coast groups and Plains groups such as the piercing of the skin on the back or arms or legs and the suspension of the individual(s) by ropes attached to items thrust through the skin.” ref

“These detailed ritual similarities between groups separated by great distances may indicate that members of secret societies participated not only in regional interactions but more far-flung connections, creating an interacting network of people who freely exchanged, bought, or borrowed elements of particular interest, introduced new practices to their own local groups, and promoted their adoption, much as described for Plains secret societies. Individuals from other villages or regions in the Northwest were particularly welcome at secret society rituals, and special attempts were made to impress them, for example by conferring on them the exclusive honor of publicly receiving “potlatch” gifts.” ref

“Ethnographers on the Northwest Coast rarely discuss motives behind forming or belonging to secret societies. However, when they do raise such issues they strongly emphasize the practical benefits, particularly obtaining power over other people and dominating society via the use of terror, violence, and black magic tactics. Secret societies have even been referred to as “terrorist organizations.” Since power appears to have been the goal of membership, and a frequently attained one, competition for positions was frequently intense, resulting in a very fluid and dynamic ritual structure with new dances and entire ritual organizations being constantly introduced with only the most successful persisting or flourishing. This is a recurring characteristic of secret societies in most regions of the globe.” ref

Wealth Acquisition

“There is little information on how members, especially high-ranking members, benefited materially from their positions other than from initiation or advancement payments. There are a number of allusions to candidate families hosting feasts as payments to the members of secret societies. Those who transgressed society rules could be killed or forced to provide feasts to secret society members. There were unspecified “compensations” paid to society members for training, passing power, and returning spirit-possessed individuals back to normal states. Some members also claimed to steal the souls of spectators which could be returned to the rightful owner upon payment. “Shamans” similarly were said to make people sick so that they could extract high prices for the cures.” ref

Relation to Politics

“There was a strong relationship between chiefly offices and the most important, highest ranked secret societies, or, in some cases, the highest positions in secret societies. Some societies such as the Sisauk Society only admitted “chiefs” (the heads of corporate kin groups) and their power was said to derive from their membership in the Sisauk Society.” ref

“In order to justify the use of terror and violence, secret societies promulgated a number of key ideological premises. These included the existence of members’ ancestors who acquired supernatural powers from spirits which could be passed on to descendants or acquired anew directly from spirits. These powers could be accessed in winter ceremonial times via dances, wearing masks, singing, rituals and special paraphernalia resulting in the possession of members by their ancestral spirits – which were subsequently exorcised by other members. Supernatural power was portrayed as dangerous and hence required special training to safely control. In order to emphasize their supernatural powers, secret society members often referred to themselves as shamans, whether they had shamanistic abilities or not. Those undergoing initiation were said to die and travel to the spirit realm where they became spirits and returned in a new form (Fig. 2.3). The societies claimed that they could bring the dead back to life, at least in some cases. The development of skills and success in all domains was supposed to be dependent on supernatural help which, in turn, was dependent on wealth. Conversely, wealth was a sign of supernatural favor. Because of such warrants, powerful chiefs could make their own rules and disregard conventional practices.” ref

Community Benefits and Threats

“While the more public secret society ceremonies certainly provided entertainment for their communities, it is difficult to find many references to other community benefits aside from occasional mentions of empowering warriors or healing, and even these last could be suspect as sickness was sometimes said to have been induced by secret society members in order to get high commissions for healings. The overwhelming emphasis in the ethnographies is on the dire consequences of ignoring or unleashing the supernatural powers dealt with by the secret societies, as palpably demonstrated by the violent acts of masked spirits and the cannibalistic manias of people who were possessed by spirits. Houses could be destroyed, dogs torn apart, people bitten by those possessed, and such spirits could take possession of initiates for any perceived slight at any time. It was the secret societies that claimed to hold the knowledge of how to control the terrible power of the spirits. Others who tried to do so were said to go insane, sicken, or often die.” ref

Exclusiveness, Costs, and Hierarchies

“While there were some secret societies of lesser importance which admitted a wide range of members, the more important secret societies were very exclusive and used the criteria of wealth, descent, and sociopolitical position to exclude non-members. In some cases such as the Nuuchahnulth Wolf Society, all males were expected to become non-members at the entry level of the society. (A number of variant names are given for the Nuuchahnulth Wolf Society, e.g., Klukwalle ) for a comprehensive list.) However, there were a number of ranked specialized positions within these societies which constituted a kind of separate society. These positions were much more exclusive. A number of Northwest Coast societies, especially the Hamatsa (Cannibal) groups, were exclusively for wealthy chiefs or elites. The initiation feasts in some groups constituted the greatest undertaking of a man’s career. Initiation costs could be enormous and sometimes entailed many thousands of blankets, as well as bracelets, decorated boxes, food, kitchen ware, canoes, pelts, shells, masks, and other wealth items, in one case enough to fill a square that was 100 feet on a side. The higher one progressed in the ranked positions of the secret societies, the more costly and exclusive the initiations became.” ref

Public Displays

“In order to persuade community members of the power of the supernatural forces that secret societies claimed to control, they periodically put on dances, displays, and processions of some of those powers for everyone to see. Society members impersonated spirits by the use of masks, costumes, and unusual noise-making devices. They also developed highly sophisticated stage magic techniques, all of which provided fascination and entertainment for non-initiated spectators, as well as instilling terror. Thus, spectators witnessed dancers becoming crazy and possessed, going around biting bits of flesh from people, or tearing dogs apart and eating them. Some of those who were possessed destroyed house walls and furniture. Some could handle fire, keep burning coals in their mouths, make rattles dance by themselves, change water to blood, bring dead salmon to life, have arrows thrust through their bodies. Some initiates even cut off their own heads only to be brought back to life. The material power (derived from spirit power) of the society was also manifested in the form of lavish feasts, spirit costumes and masks, and the destruction of property such as the burning of fish oil and killing of slaves.” ref

Ecstatic States

“There can be little doubt that at least some of the initiations and dances created altered ecstatic states of consciousness for individuals. The lengthy periods of fasting resulting in emaciated initiates, and the days of drumming, drone-style singing, dancing, and the psychological stresses of confronting or even eating corpses all must have had mind-altering effects. These trials were so severe that candidates sometimes died during their ordeals. The effects of entering such altered states would have created more convincing performances for spectators, but also would have persuaded some of those who experienced possession states of the reality of the spirit powers, thus binding them more strongly to secret society organizations and leaders.” ref

Enforcement

“If uninitiated spectators failed to be awed or suitably fearful of the ideological claims and spirit performances, secret societies generally resorted to coercion and violence to achieve acquiescence from all community members. Those who did not accept secret society claims or dictates were targeted and frequently eliminated one way or another. Some groups employed spies to identify such individuals. Thus, as tends to be true of many secret societies, anyone disclosing or discovering that the appearances of the spirits were really humans in masks, or anyone disclosing the tricks behind stage magic performances, was either inducted into the society (if deemed desirable) or killed outright. This was the common procedure for dealing with individuals who entered – either on purpose or accidentally – designated sacred spaces of the society. Punishments were also meted out to society members who revealed secrets, or to those who let their masks fall in performances, or who made staged displays that failed to work. Killings for transgressions of conduct rules during dances became prevalent in some groups. Lesser offences such as coughing, talking, or laughing during dances could be punished by clubbing, knife jabs, disfigurement, or fines (Fig. 2.4). Above all, it was the use of violence in these situations and in states of possession which warranted the use of the terms “terrorist” and “terror” to describe the organizations and their tactics.” ref

Sacrifices and Cannibalism

“While the sacrifice of slaves during potlatches and secret society performances seems to be generally accepted as an aspect of some Northwest Coast ceremonialism, the issue of cannibalism is strongly debated. There are numerous claims of first-hand accounts, and there appear to have been desiccated corpses involved in ceremonies, but it cannot be known whether human flesh was actually consumed, or perhaps only touched to the mouth, or whether stage illusions were used to make it seem as though cannibalism was occurring in order to intimidate spectators or to establish fearsome reputations. In other parts of the world such as Melanesia and Africa, secret societies were more certainly using cannibalism as a means to intimidate any who opposed them. Thus, this may have been a tactic used by a range of secret societies both ethnographically and prehistorically, including on the Northwest Coast.” ref

Paraphernalia and Structures

“A broad array of ritual paraphernalia was used by Northwest Coast secret societies. In general, these included masks, various forms of wood whistles, bullroarers, drums, rattles, rattling aprons, bird bone drinking tubes, horns, trumpets, smoking pipes, bark rings, certain bird skins or animal pelts, decorated staffs and poles, copper nails for scratching, quartz crystals, and some special stones. The general ritual settlement pattern was to hold initiation and other important ceremonies inside a house in the community which was appropriated for the purpose, suitably rearranged, and cordoned off.” ref

“Special meeting places were also established at varying distances, from 150 to 400 meters, outside the villages, although no structures are reported to have been built at such locations. Ritual paraphernalia was sometimes stored in “faraway” locations, including rock shelters and caves. Candidates for initiations were taken to secluded locations outside the villages where they camped for the duration of their seclusion, probably not too distant from villages. Caves are mentioned in some areas as being used for seclusion, meetings, or ritual storage locations of secret societies. There are thus both central (village) loci of secret society activities and a variety of remote (non-village) loci for society activities. The use of caves is of particular note given their archaeological importance and frequent evidence of ritual use.” ref

Burials

“Information on the burial of high-ranking secret society members is very limited, perhaps because such individuals were generally chiefs, and chiefly burials are usually described in terms of the sociopolitical roles that the deceased held, reflected in the sculptures on their burial poles. Thus, in the case of the Northwest Coast, it is difficult to distinguish any unique features of burials of secret society members. Kamenskii does report that shamans were buried in caves, but whether he was referring to bona fide shamans or secret society members referred to as shamans is uncertain.” ref

Cross-cutting Kinship or Regional Organizations, and Art Styles

“Since many specific roles and dances in secret societies could only be occupied or performed by members of specific descent groups, this guaranteed that a variety of descent groups would be represented in the membership of specific secret societies. Secret society membership therefore cross-cut kinship groups in communities. In addition to serving as an overarching organization for the wider community, there is ample evidence that major secret society ceremonies included members of neighboring villages or even of larger regions. In the Bella Coola region, secret society members in one village could even intervene in another village’s affairs to punish ritual transgressions. The marking of initiates with scars or other physical modifications may have been used to reliably identify initiates when they visited groups where they were unknown.” ref

“Given such mutual participation in secret society rituals on a regional scale, it is not surprising that the masks and other ritual paraphernalia (rattles, staffs, feasting dishes) exhibit artistic similarities generally known as the Northwest Coast art style with regional substyles (e.g., Kwakwakawakw (also known as the Kwakiutl), Salish, Nuuchahnulth (also known as the Nootka), Tlingit, Bella Coola, Tsimshian). These ritual and artistic similarities can be considered as expressions of a Northwest Coast Interaction Sphere. In addition to common secret society ritual origins, these similarities also undoubtedly emerged from common feasting and political structures.” ref

Power Animals

“One of the features of these common ritual practices was an emphasis on certain animals as sources of great power. These included bears in particular (Fig. 2.5), but also wolves, various birds (especially ravens and eagles), mythical animals such as sea monsters (especially the sisiutl and thunderbirds), and killer whales.” ref

Number of Societies and Proportion of Population

“While some communities may have had only a single secret society organization, the more common pattern seems to have been for communities to have from two to five such organizations. As previously noted, some societies were exclusively for chiefs and thus must have involved only a small segment of the population. Other societies had up to forty-four or fifty-three individual dance roles, but it is not clear whether this was for a single village or whether it was for the regional organization. Some societies like the Nuuchahnulth Wolf Society were for all free male residents of villages at the entry level, although the upper ranks only involved small numbers of people.” ref

Sex and Age

“Women could be initiated into at least some secret societies. They could perform dances in some societies, but only held supporting roles in others. There were also societies that excluded women or had exclusively female members. Children were commonly initiated into many secret societies around the age of seven to ten years old. However, cases of three-year-old initiates were also reported.” ref

Feasts

“There were numerous feasts associated with secret society initiations and performances, even on a nightly basis for the duration of the ritual season. There were particularly grandiose feasts at the culmination of sons’ initiations into the most important societies, described as the greatest potlatch of a man’s career. Other feasts were given to secret society members for services, as fines for transgressions, and for various initiation arrangements. Important secret society dances and rituals were held every year during the winter ritual season. Initiations into the highest ranks must have been much less frequent since it took about twelve years to enter the third level of the Cannibal society.” ref

Origins of Secret Societies

“Boas maintained that the origins of secret societies were closely connected with warfare. Ernst similarly thought that the Nuuchahnulth Wolf Society was originally warrior-based, noting that there was a strong warrior emphasis on Vancouver Island. Indeed, pronounced warrior aspects existed in many secret societies, including warrior dances and the destructive use of clubs in warrior spirit possession dances. On the other hand, McIlwraith thought that the Kusiut Society was originally a band of elders. Tollefson argued that secret societies were not important among the Tlingit because they had such strong shamanic traditions, and people went to shamans if they wanted supernatural power, negating the need to become involved collectively in a secret society to obtain such power.” ref

Motives and Dynamics

“In addition to their ideological claims, Drucker categorically states that the function of secret societies on the Northwest Coast was to dominate society by the use of violence or black magic. Accounts of some informants portrayed them as “terroristic organizations”. Members of secret societies were reported to experience powerful feelings of superiority over non-members. Ruyle too, argued that the monopolization of supernatural power by the ruling class supported the exploitative system by producing fear, awe, and acquiescence on the part of the uninitiated populace. In discussing the Gitksan, John Adams makes the important point that for those at the head of kinship groups, there was no way within the kinship system to increase wealth or power. In order to do this, ambitious individuals had to go outside kinship groups to create war or other alliances or to establish secret dance societies.” ref

“In general, Boas painted a very dynamic picture of secret society formation and evolution, showing that new dances were constantly being introduced, with some of the better ones lasting, while many faded away. Similarly, Olson observed that “new” dances (not necessarily secret society dances, but probably displaying similar dynamics) were considered great things and were often obtained from neighboring tribes by the Tlingit, namely from the Tsimshian, the Tahltan, and other Interior groups. Boas also observed that ceremonies that became too elaborate and expensive were abandoned for newer ones), and that people who wanted to obtain the advantages and prerogatives that the secret societies could confer either had to join existing secret societies or start new ones.” ref

“Although the specific historical societies of the nineteenth century such as those with cannibal aspects seem to have spread widely along the coast in recent times (sixty to seventy years prior to Boas’ work), Boas argued that other forms of secret societies probably existed earlier. Thus, as elsewhere (the Plains, New Guinea, the Southwest, California), specific successful secret societies exhibited the ability to spread over large regions very rapidly, creating a relatively uniform regional network of ritual and political organizations that would otherwise be unexpected and surprising. In fact, Boas stated that all the secret societies of the Northwest Coast were very similar, often even using the same names. They all used cedar bark as badges, including head rings, neck rings, and masks. I postulate that the same dynamic probably underlay the emergence of regional ritual phenomena such as the Chavín Horizon, the Chaco Canyon culture, the Hopewell Interaction Sphere, or other similar prehistoric manifestations.” ref

Wealth Acquisition (see also “Membership Fees”)

“Little is written about how secret societies obtained material benefits. Certainly, the many feasts that the initiates’ families were required to give to the members of the secret societies (as documented by Drucker were major types of payments. The required training of initiates also necessitated payments, as did all instances of returning initiates back to normal states so that they were no longer a danger to the community. Initiation fees for Nuuchahnulth novices were given to chiefs who distributed the wealth items among society members. Anyone who coughed or laughed during Kwakwakawakw ceremonies was required to give secret society members a feast.” ref

“Halpin says that Tsimshian chiefs in secret societies were richly compensated for their passing of power to novices. The form of “payments” is far less specific, although the surrender of wealth for the transfer of dances, songs, prayers, or paraphernalia is plausible. The cost of advancement into successive ranks escalated in tandem with rank level. While the individual initiate may have personally financed some of these costs as he matured, it is more likely that, as a member of a high-ranking administrative family in a corporate group, he drew upon his entire family, and probably his entire house group or kin group to provide the necessary initiation payments. In this fashion, secret societies could draw off substantial portions of the surplus production of a large section of a community.” ref

“Bella Coola and probably other secret society performers sometimes could attract and ensnare the spirit or soul of uninitiated spectators, who then had to pay to have their spirit returned to them. Similarly, Kwakwakawakw spectators who had their souls stolen by dancers had to pay to have them returned. In general, secret society members were thought to cause or promote sickness in their communities so that people would have to come to the society to be cured, and had to pay the “shaman” handsomely. This was viewed by the afflicted individuals as extortion. Thus, successful secret society “shaman” curers were always wealthy.” ref

Political Connections

“The power of Bella Coola chiefs was said to derive from the performance of dances that they controlled in the Sisauk Society composed exclusively of chiefs. Chiefs were also the exclusive members of the Cannibal and other societies in many groups or were the heads of secret societies as among the Nuuchahnulth, Quinault, and Chinook (see “Exclusiveness and Ranking”).” ref

Ideology and Control of Esoteric Knowledge

“Central to Northwest Coast secret society ideologies were putative ancestral contacts with supernatural beings who conveyed supernatural powers to specific ancestors who, in turn, made them available to those of their descendants who wanted those powers and were able to acquire them through memberships in secret societies. This required considerable wealth payments as well as family connections. In the conceptual schemes of secret societies, these supernatural powers could be accessed via initiations (involving fasting and physical-psychological ordeals), dancing and singing, donning masks and costumes, and using ritual paraphernalia. Members were said to become possessed by the spirits, or even to become the spirits (see “Ideology and Control of Esoteric Knowledge”). For instance, Kwakwakawakw dances were claimed to be inherited from the mythic encounter of an ancestor with a supernatural being that conferred power on the ancestor which subsequently could be passed on to one of his descendants. McIlwraith observed that the Bella Coola Sisauk Society claimed to have very powerful supernatural connections which apparently increased with repeated initiations (up to ten times).” ref

“Among the Kwakwakawakw and Tsimshian – and probably other Northwest Coastal groups as well as Southwestern groups – the right to control economic resources, like the right to access specific supernatural spirits, was hereditary, with powers and privileges stemming largely from the exclusive elite hereditary rights and roles in secret societies . Exclusive access to supernatural knowledge and power was used as a warrant for the exercise of specific practical skills, and the differential wielding of secular power and authority. Tsimshian chiefs claimed that only they had the power to deal directly with heavenly beings, whereas such contact would make others go insane or make them sick.” ref

“Typical of many transegalitarian societies, material wealth and positions of power were portrayed among the Gitksan, the Bella Coola, and probably most other groups as resulting from spiritual favor obtained through the performance of special rituals and feasts. A more extreme expression of this ideology was promulgated among the Bella Coola, some of whom maintained that humans could not do anything without supernatural help. Therefore sacrifices, prayers, and abstinence were needed for all important endeavors, perhaps to promote or justify an ideology of privilege since it was maintained that in order to use those skills, they had to be validated, typically at potlatches – hence rich families had many “skills” while the poor had few or none in this ideological system.” ref

“Power was portrayed as a gift from the spirits in recognition of an individual’s strong supernatural character and/or the ritual observances of an individual. The supernatural power held by “shamans” was claimed to be particularly dangerous to others and was sometimes even portrayed as a spirit residing in the body of a shaman. This presumably also applied to secret society members since shamans were generally members of secret societies and the same term (Kusiut) was used to refer to both a shaman and a secret society member. However, in contravention of all norms, powerful chiefs “feared no restrictions and heeded no conventions”, and undoubtedly justified their actions in terms of their positions in the Sisauk Society. Such actions and attitudes are characteristic of extreme aggrandizer, if not sociopathic, behavior.” ref

“In the ideology of the secret society, initiates went to the upper world to obtain supernatural knowledge and in some sense became supernatural beings. Boas added that initiates in the Bella Coola Cannibal Society took human flesh with them to eat on these celestial journeys, for which a slave was killed. However, supernatural power could also be transferred from one individual to another by means of “shooting” a crystal into the person who fainted or was “killed” by the shock of the power, but then was revived and eventually returned to a normal state by removing the crystal from his body. Supernatural power was portrayed as dangerous (rather like electricity or nuclear power), although secret society members knew how to get it and use it without harming themselves. According to Garfield and Wingert, “recipients of secret society power were dangerous to all who had not been initiated by the same spirits.” At the time of European contact, the power held by secret society members was apparently unquestioned.” ref

“In order to emphasize the supernatural abilities of initiates, members of at least the most important secret societies adopted the title of shaman, apparently irrespective of their shamanic skills, not too dissimilar to the training of priests in seminaries. Among the Wikeno Kwakwakawakw, all the initiates and dancers in the shamans’ series of dances were called “shamans”. The same appears to have been true among the Nuuchahnulth. The Xaihais Kwakwakawakw distinguished between those called shamans by dint of membership in secret societies and “true shamans”. Among the Kwakwakawakw at Fort Rupert, Curtis categorized people as either uninitiated or “shamans” (initiates). Similarly, Boas reported that those who were not initiated into the Wolf Society were referred to as “not being shamans,” while new members were initiated in the context of ceremonies and feasts referred to as the “Shamans’ Dance”. In addition to bearing the epithet of “shaman,” Bella Coola initiates also wore a distinctive collar used by shamans. Tsimshian chiefs often incorporated references to “heaven” in their names, referring to the source of their power, and engaged in rival demonstrations to display their superior supernatural power.” ref

Benefits and Threats to Community Well-being

“A major benefit that secret societies claimed to provide to their communities was protection from dangerous supernatural powers which secret societies themselves periodically unleashed in communities to demonstrate how much danger the community might face without their protection. McIlwraith observed that the Cannibal Societies of the Bella Coola not only commanded the most awe, but instilled fear and terror in non-members. Manifestations of non-human behavior inherited from ancestors and evoked by Kwakwakawakw possession dances included the raw uncontrolled power of supernatural entities that wreaked havoc in the material and social world via their possessed human agents. Demonstrations of this raw power involved the possessed person destroying property, tearing off people’s clothes, biting people, and cannibalism. Cannibal-possessed people ran through all the houses of the village biting various individuals, even those of high rank or took “pieces of flesh out of the arms and chest of the people”. It was said that if the Hamatsa (cannibal) spirits could not be pacified (by dances and songs), then there would always be trouble . People who suffered injuries from such acts had to be compensated. The cannibals could become excited at any time if provoked by any perceived slight, the mention of certain topics, mistakes in rituals, or improper actions, thus posing a constant threat to individuals and the community (Fig. 2.6).” ref

“Members of other secret societies like the Fire Throwers and Destroyers could similarly wreak havoc (typically destroying almost anything in their frenzies and biting off pieces of flesh from women’s arms – all of whom had to be compensated), and they regularly did so when they contacted sacred powers, only to be brought under control by the higher ranking members with the secret knowledge to control supernatural forces. This was similar to the Panther dancers among the Nuuchahnulth described by Boas who knocked everything to pieces, poured water on fires, tore dogs apart and devoured them. McIlwraith repeatedly mentions the terror that such events created throughout the entire village, especially for the uninitiated who often cowered in their houses or rooms while destruction rained down on their houses or persons from “Cannibals,” “Breakers,” “Scratchers,” “Bears,” “Wolves,” and other supernatural impersonators. As previously noted, other dancers claimed to capture or steal the souls of spectators. Similarly, individuals being initiated into spirit dancing among the Coast Salish Sto:lo were considered dangerous, having unregulated power capable of harming others, whereas secret society members had the knowledge to control such individuals.” ref

“Among the central Kwakwakawakw, some of the most important claimed powers were the ability to heal or cause sickness or death as well as the power to capture the souls of audience members and return them. The Nuuchahnulth had a secret society, largely composed of women, that specialized in curing and this may be the same as the Tsaiyeq Society described by Drucker. The Quinault also had a secret society that was primarily for curing and whose members were primarily women. However, members of their main society, the Klokwalle (Wolf) Society, were feared and reputed to kill and eat people during their secret ceremonies. One community benefit of some secret society dances that included volleys of rifle fire was that they could be used to strengthen warriors’ military spirits, excite them to go into battles, and presumably be more fearsome and effective warriors. As another community benefit, at least one dance, the Mother Nature Dance, of the Bella Coola was portrayed as creating or promoting the birth of plant life.” ref

Exclusiveness and Ranking

“In general, Drucker and also Ford noted that on the Northwest Coast, the highest-ranking chiefs owned the highest-ranked dances with the most ceremonial prerogatives. Low-ranked individuals were generally not members of secret societies and could not even participate in potlatches following dances. Among the Tsimshian, “supernatural contacts were determined by hereditary status … only persons who had wealth could advance in the ranks of the secret societies”. Only elites were members of the exclusive Fire Thrower, Destroyers, and Cannibal societies. Expensive secret dance societies excluded non-elite Gitksans, according to John Adams.  Kwakwakawakw individuals had to have both a hereditary claim or affinal link (to be able to acquire dances) and enough family resource-ability to underwrite the training, displays, gifts, and impressive feasts required for initiation. The Hamatsa members, in particular, were “men in the highest positions in all the tribes”. Thus, political and social positions of rank, hierarchical descent, and succession were all related to ceremonial titles and privileges. Dances were ranked, with only the highest ranked chiefs eligible to enter the Cannibal Society among the Bella Bella.” ref

“There was also a series of specialized roles in secret societies which were probably ranked. In addition to the numerous dance roles that were inherited and owned, Kwakwakawakw secret societies had masters of ceremonies; dance masters; caretakers for drums, batons, and eagle down; door guardians; tally keepers; distributors of gifts; people designated to be bitten; dish carriers; and undoubtedly many other offices (e.g., fire tenders, assistants, messengers). McIlwraith  also reported that some members of the Bella Coola Kusiut Society were calendar specialists who engaged in bitter disputes for ceremonies just as their supernatural counterparts “argue about their observations after the fashion of humans.” Other specialized roles included keeping track of debts which required training and involved the use of sticks to keep accounts. McIlwraith also mentioned carvers, heralds, singers, dancers, marshals, and spies in various accounts.” ref

“The Sisauk Society of the Bella Coola was explicitly viewed as an exclusive society of chiefs. Only children or families of wealthy chiefs could be members and membership gave individuals a warrant for control over a territory derived from their confirmation of ancestral power. The power of Bella Coola chiefs was said to derive from the performance of dances that they controlled in the Sisauk Society (presented in terms of their mythical ancestral heritage). Dances had to be validated by distributing costly gifts. Similarly, an ancestral prerogative was required for entering the Kusiut Society, and the leading roles of “marshals” were hereditary. Permission had to be obtained from the marshals of the society for all performances and “tricks” to be used. In concert, these officials approved new initiates, oversaw preparations for ceremonies, policed behavior, ensured that the dignity of the society was maintained, and decided on punishments. Their names reflected power roles (e.g., “Destroyer,” “The Terrifier,” “Dog-Tooth,” and “Ritual Guardian Who Grips with His Teeth”. Aside from the role of marshals, there were other specialized roles, and dances were ranked in importance. For the Tsimshian the cost of initiations into successive ranks escalated in tandem with rank level, thus creating very exclusive upper ranks. Among the Nuuchahnulth, chiefs headed the Wolf (Lokoala) Society while only rich individuals became members of Coast Salish secret societies. Chiefs led the secret society of the Quinault and members had to be wealthy. Members of Chinookan secret societies were also from the upper class.” ref

Membership Fees

“Membership and advancement fees were explicitly used to restrict membership, especially in the upper ranks. Among most groups examined by Drucker fees included a series of feasts or potlatches given by the initiate’s family and supporters to secret society members, or at least the higher ranking members, culminating in a large, expensive public celebratory feast. For the initiation of a chief’s son, a full year was required to assemble the necessary materials. The Nuuchahnulth only held the Wolf (Lokoala) ceremony when an individual could give “a large amount of property” for an initiation. This wealth was given to the head of the secret society who distributed it to the members at a great feast. The total cost of the initiations into some of the Wikeno societies was very expensive, and the major potlatch given by high-ranking individuals at the culmination of a son’s initiation was usually the greatest of a man’s career. Full entry into the third level of the Cannibal Society took twelve years and required a great deal of wealth, with few men able to achieve this rank.” ref

“The Heavenly series of dances of the Wikeno Kwakwakawakw were even more costly provided a partial list of items given away for initiating one man’s son as a Hamatsa, apparently not including the various feasting and potlatch costs. These appear to have been three coppers worth 3,400 blankets in all, plus a large number of blankets given to guests, including two button blankets. Elsewhere, Boas emphasized that initiations involved immense wealth distributions, especially for Hamatsa initiation, which was “exceedingly expensive.” When a secret society dance was transferred from one Kwakwakawakw mother’s kin group to her son, a square 100 feet on a side was demarcated on the beach and filled with food dishes, pots, cutlery, bracelets, boxes, blankets, copper, canoes, sea otter pelts, slaves, and other wealth items to be given away.” ref

“The main wealth items that Kane mentioned were slaves, otter furs, dentalia, and wives. Initiations were one of the few events in which wealth was purposefully destroyed also emphasized the excessive costs of initiations and feasts, listing gold bracelets and broaches as given to guest chiefs from other villages in addition to copious amounts of money, clothes, blankets, dishes, pots, and other items given to helpers. Boas mentioned that at one initiation, women and children were given coppers, bracelets, and spoons, while men received silver bracelets, kettles, and box covers. At another initiation, 13,200 blankets were given away as well as 250 button blankets, 270 silver bracelets, 7,000 brass bracelets, 240 wash basins, and large quantities of spoons, abalone shells, masks, and kettles.” ref

“Initiation into the Bella Coola Sisauk Society was similarly expensive, although actual amounts of goods are not reported by McIlwraith who only said that gifts were given to the village and “foreign guests” who received potlatching valuables. He also stated that paying for people to care for initiates in seclusion was a high expense, and that chiefs’ sons could undergo repeated initiations (up to ten times) to increase their prestige in the society, with high costs each time. Costs were in the form of skins, blankets, food, boxes, baskets, slaves, canoes, and unspecified other items. Initiation into Chinookan secret societies required the assembling of wealth over a period of several years for the formal initiation and to pay mentors for their instruction. This generally imposed “a considerable burden on the initiate,” amounting often to an equivalent of US$200 (in 1938). The Coast Salish initiations were similarly described as “very costly”. Olson claimed that there were no high fees for joining the Quinault Wolf/Klukwalle Society. This seems anomalous.” ref

Public Displays of Power and Wealth

“McIlwraith stated explicitly that the prestige of the secret societies was derived from their ability to inspire awe, and that they all worked together toward that end, including promoting the ideology that members were supernaturally powerful and dangerous, and killing slaves to reinforce these claims. As a result of these and other tactics, when Europeans first encountered Northwest Coast tribes, the power of secret society members was described as “unquestioned.” Secret societies used public performances of supernatural powers to create awe and fear, supplemented by physical coercion to consolidate their claims of power and make them tangible and effective. New initiates into the Bella Coola Sisauk Society obtained “strange power” and acted “peculiarly” and “crazy” due to the possessing spirit.” ref

Such descriptors seem understated given the more graphic accounts of cannibalism, biting people, devouring live dogs, disemboweling dancers or beheading them or burning them or drowning them (all of whom were subsequently brought back to life), and demolishing house walls and furnishings. The public was allowed to watch many of these performances, sometimes standing by the doorways of host houses or witnessing performances that were routinely repeated in each house of a village. Destruction of property only took place during the initiation of a son into a secret society or for taking on a new role or building a house. The possessing spirit was subsequently expelled from the dancer by society members at the end of the ceremony. Some of the “tricks” used in society performances included making objects disappear, making suns and moons move over the walls by themselves, and throwing dog carcasses up in the air where they disappeared. In conjunction with the Kusiut Society, shamans gave a public feast at which they demonstrated some of their supernatural abilities. These included changing water to blood or birds’ down; pulling birds’ down from fires; burning stones; making water disappear; and throwing a stick up in the air to the ridge pole, and hanging from the suspended stick.” ref

“Kwakwakawakw dances resulted in a spirit possession of the dancer, giving the dancer miraculous powers, often displayed in the possession dances or exhibited by inhuman behaviors or supernatural powers, including power over pain. Dancers were then returned to normal states through the use of other members’ ritual knowledge. The supernatural power was derived from a member’s ancestor who had been possessed by a supernatural being who taught the ancestor the dance and gave him miraculous powers. However, such contact with the spirits could only occur during winter ceremonial events. Ancestral powers included the ability to stand on red-hot stones, handle fire and put coals in one’s mouth, throw fire around, walk on fire, walk on water, make stones float, make a rattle dance by itself, disappear into the ground or plow up the floor from underground, gash oneself, push an arrow through one’s body, swallow magical sticks until blood flowed, be scalped while dancing, be speared, bring a dead salmon back to life, commit suicide by throwing oneself into fire or by cutting off one’s own head and then being brought back to life, split a dancer’s skull in two and then revive them, engage in cannibalism, and eat live dogs.” ref

“Some members of the Nuuchahnulth curing society, the Tsaiyeq, were reported to be able to stick a feather in the ground and make it walk around the floor, to handle hot rocks, or put red-hot rocks in their mouths. One of the most remarkable accounts is of Chief Legaic who found a look-alike slave and had him act as Legaic in a performance. The slave impersonating Legaic was then killed and cremated as part of the performance, after which the real Legaic rose miraculously from the burial box containing the slave’s ashes. Other dramatic effects related more to economic and political power (associated with supernatural power) included the killing of slaves (viewed by the Bella Coola as necessary to accompany the novice on his spirit journey) and pouring fish oil on indoor hearths so that the flames reached the house roof, which sometimes caught fire. The possessing spirits also conferred success in hunting and war.” ref

“People could attract, control, and exorcise spirits by being initiated into the society and via the use of special dances and songs. The death and resurrection of initiates or others was a common theme. Jonaitis summarizes a number of other staged displays of supernatural power described by Boas for the central Kwakwakawakw. Among the most important claimed powers was the ability to heal as well as the power to capture (and return) the souls of people in the audience. Public processions of Hamatsa members and dancers were conducted through the villages to the ceremonial house, with “all the people” witnessing at least parts of the initiation (e.g., exorcising of the cannibal spirit), performances, dances, and feasts in the ceremonial house, although other dances and ritual performances were only for the initiated among the Nuuchahnulth and Kwakwakawakw.” ref

“For the Bella Coola and Tsimshian, non-initiates were admitted to some dances but had to stand by the door. Both male and female Nuuchahnulth initiates led a public procession showing off bleeding cuts on their arms and legs. Blood also streamed from initiates’ mouths, a tradition reminiscent of many Californian practices as well as Chinookan practices. Nuuchahnulth initiates were “killed” by putting quartz crystals in their bodies. They were subsequently revived when the quartz was removed, a practice resembling the Midewiwin and Plains secret society traditions. Ernst reports Nuuchahnulth performances that could be publicly witnessed from individual houses and were performed almost continuously at different houses during the ritual season, although in the past spectators were only permitted to watch from inside their own homes.” ref

“There were also Wolf Society performances by new and older initiates that publicly took place on the beaches in front of villages. In addition, a general feast was held which was supposed to be open to everyone in the village after initiations. Whether this was the same as the “Shamans’ Dance” reported by Kenyon is not clear, but seems possible, since Clutesi attended this dance as a child in a large smoky house filled with costumed dancers, endless feasting, and dramatic performances which lasted for twenty-eight days and nights during which the Wolf Society initiated new members. The Shamans’ Dance was hosted by an important chief who only provided one such event in his lifetime. The public was usually invited to witness the performances of the Quinault Wolf secret society. Performers entered into “frenzied states” in which they performed prodigious feats of strength, imitated their animal guardian spirits, cut their skin, skewered their flesh, pierced the flesh of their abdomen with knives, ate live coals, and tore dogs apart to eat them. While non-members were able to watch these performances, some people feared to attend them.” ref

“The woman’s secret curing society also held public performances in which they washed their faces with whale oil without harm and “shot” novices with balls of dried salmon, causing them to fall down as if dead, and then revived them. Performers of the curing society paraded through the village in full dancing costume to the potlatch house where people, both men and women of the home village as well as visitors, were assembled to watch. Chinookans also demonstrated their spirit power through dramatic magical performances such as walking on fire, standing in the middle of fires, slashing arms, or plunging daggers through their skin with miraculous instantaneous self-healing. These were openly viewed by the public, although some performances took place in houses restricted to members only.” ref

Sacred Ecstatic Experiences

“Comparative studies have identified a wide range of well-known techniques for inducing altered states of consciousness and sacred ecstatic experiences (SEEs). Some of the more common techniques include severe physical trials such as fasting, sensory deprivation, prolonged dancing or drumming, use of psychotropics, auditory or visual driving, strong emotional perturbations including being “shot” or “killed” or forced to consume human flesh. Except for the use of psychotropic substances, all these techniques were used on the Northwest Coast. As Loeb observed, death and resurrection constituted one of the leitmotifs of most secret societies. Typically, the possessing spirit took the initiates away, killed them, and returned them initiated and reborn, as with the Nuuchahnulth Lokoala (Wolf) Society and Kwakwakawakw societies, which had to remove a piece of quartz from a “dead” initiate in order to revive him.” ref

“Nuuchahnulth initiates were described as entering into states of “mesmerism,” while Coast Salish novices went to the woods for “inspiration”. Tsimshian, Wikeno, and Xaihais initiates into the Heavenly or Cannibal series of dances were supposed to have been taken up into the sky during their periods of seclusion, and were subsequently to be found on the beach (see Fig. 2.3) when they fell back to earth. For the Kwakwakawakw, the primary goal of the winter ceremonies was to bring back youths who were in ecstatic, wild states while they resided with the supernatural protector of their secret society. New initiates into the Bella Coola Sisauk Society obtained “strange power” and acted “peculiarly” and “crazy” due to their possessing spirit. Kwakwakawakw performers entered into “frenzied states” in which they performed prodigious feats, imitated their animal guardian spirits, and supposedly injured themselves (see “Public Displays”). Youths had to be returned to a normal psychological and social state by exorcising the possessing spirit.” ref

“Long seclusion and fasting periods were most likely used to induce ecstatic states. Typically, training and trials for initiations occurred at some distance from villages, in the “woods,” over periods varying for the Kwakwakawakw from one to four months during which initiates subsisted on starvation diets to the point of becoming “skin and bones”. The Tsimshian initiates at Hartley Bay spent from four to twelve days secluded, the longer periods being for the highest elite children. Initiates into the main Tsimshian “Shamans’” dance series were sequestered for a month or two “in a hut or cave in the bush surrounded by corpses”. That these initiations involved serious physical stresses (undoubtedly meant to promote ecstatic experiences) is indicated by claims that “many people have died from them.” ref

“Long seclusion periods (weeks, months, and sometimes years) tend to typify initiations into secret societies, especially for the wealthy elites as with the Bella Coola, the Tsimshian, and the Kwakwakawakw previously noted. Initiates into the Wolf Society (Klukwalle) spent five days in darkness even reported the suspension of Tox’uit dancers by ropes inserted under the skin of the back and legs, in a fashion resembling the Sun Dance rituals of the Plains Indians, which must have involved altered states of consciousness. Initiation into Chinookan secret societies included a spirit quest in which novices fasted and learned to inflict self-tortures followed by miraculous recoveries. Fasting was also part of the three-day initiation into the secret society.” ref

Enforcement

“In general, Ruyle argued that the monopolization of supernatural power by the ruling class functioned to produce fear, awe, and acquiescence on the part of the uninitiated populace and supported an exploitative system. There was a wide range of tactics used to intimidate, persuade, or coerce people into compliance with the professed ideological claims, rules, and actions of secret societies, but foremost among the tactics used was terror. Drucker categorically stated that the function of secret societies on the Northwest Coast was to dominate society by the use of violence or black magic. Accounts by some informants portrayed them as “terroristic organizations”. People who transgressed the “laws of the dance” could be murdered, an apparently common occurrence. “When they heard a dance was to be given, the low-rank people all began to weep, for they knew someone would be murdered”. In addition, when disagreements broke out among members, even high-ranking individuals could be targeted by the society. In general, the use of masks to impersonate spirits constituted the “secret” of spirit appearances, so that if any uninitiated individuals saw a mask being carved (thereby revealing the real non-spirit nature of the masks), they were killed. On the other hand, some of the secret society initiations involved the public removal of a novice’s mask. Thus, the claim that secrets were revealed by knowing that the masks were not literally supernatural beings may have been more a pretext for terrorizing non-initiates.” ref

“Summing up the situation among the Kwakwakawakw, Boas noted that the enforcers of Hamatsa Society laws (mainly the Grizzly Bears and “Fool Dancers”) threw stones at people, hit them with sticks, or even stabbed them or killed them for any transgressions of ceremonial rules (see Fig. 2.4). Even people who coughed or laughed during the ceremonies had to provide a feast for the secret society members. Secret societies also organized raiding parties, engaged assassins, and regularly threatened to kill members who divulged society secrets or killed non-members who trespassed into areas used as special meeting places or for ritual events, or even saw some of the sacred paraphernalia, thereby learning some of the secrets of the societies. Anyone revealing society mysteries among the Coast Salish was torn to bits. For the Nuuchahnulth, Ernst reported that people who “abused” the secret rituals were put to death within living memory, and that those who laughed during ceremonies had their mouths torn down from the lip outward. Anyone who revealed the ceremonial plans for the Wolf Society ceremonies was severely punished. Even those who broke activity taboos or initiates who failed to wear black markings on their faces for the year following initiation were punished.” ref

“Among the Bella Coola, Drucker observed some instances of members who carried clubs apparently acting as dance police, while McIlwraith frequently mentioned that anyone responsible for divulging the “secret” that the masked performers and performances were not really visitations and miraculous acts of supernatural beings would be severely punished, frequently with death, whether the offending act was accidental or intentional. Blunders by dancers or failures of dramatic stage effects used in performances (which revealed the true nature of the performing “spirits”) similarly resulted in killing the offender(s) or the offenders having to redo the entire ritual, including all preparatory feasts and expenses. Anyone contravening society rules, including sexual prohibitions, revealing society knowledge, showing any disrespect, diminishing the integrity of the society, intruding in designated sacred areas, or talking/coughing/laughing during a performance, was also punished.” ref

“If new initiates did not say the required phrases, they and their families could be killed. Most of these observations were substantiated by Boas. If the act was egregious, secret society members in other villages could even attack the village where the offense occurred, presumably because the members in surrounding villages were closely connected, and it was considered threatening to their own claims to supernatural connections and power. Kusiut members were especially eager to recruit sorcerers who could kill individuals by supernatural means (probably using the power of suggestion) since they often relied on such means to kill offending individuals. In addition to policing the most obvious offenses, secret societies also enlisted a number of young “spies” to identify doubters in the community and to deal with them.” ref

“Tsimshian individuals who broke the “laws” of the societies were killed, while, as with most other groups, death was threatened for unauthorized people trespassing near ritual locations or into secret society rituals, especially if they discovered the “tricks” used in demonstrations of supernatural powers during performances. Tsimshian technical assistants could also be killed if they botched special supernatural effects so that the supernatural display became apparent to spectators as an artifice. Halpin reports one incident where an entire crew of technicians committed suicide rather than face their fate at the hands of the elites after one such effect failed. According to Garfield and Wingert, “recipients of secret society power were dangerous to all who had not been initiated by the same spirits.” The initiates to the Xaihais Kwakwakawakw Cannibal Society were told: “Now you are seeing all the things the chiefs use. You must remember to take care not to reveal the secrets of the Shamans [society members]. You must abide by the rules of the work of the chiefs. These things you see before you will kill you if you break the rules of the dance. If you make a mistake your parents will die, all your relatives will die.” ref

“The use of power to kill transgressors of society “rules” was viewed as “evil” by at least some community members. Among the Owikeno Kwakwakawakw, Olson reported similar killings or beatings for breaking the rules of the dances. The Quinault punished smiling and laughing during their secret society performances by painfully deforming the offender’s mouth, dragging him or her around the fire by the hair, gashing their arms, and blackening their face. Snoops or intruders into their ritual preparation room were reportedly killed.” ref

Cannibalism

“Whether cannibalism existed in secret societies on the Northwest Coast or not is a contentious issue. Drucker reported that Xaisla Cannibal Society members pretended to eat bits of corpses, giving pieces of flesh torn off to their attendants who concealed them, while among the Tsimshian a corpse was given to each Cannibal Society initiate at a mummy feast. Olson recorded conflicting opinions as to whether human flesh was actually eaten or only held in the teeth among the Wikeno. Curtis, too, was skeptical that actual cannibalism took place, although George Hunt (Boas’ main informant) affirmed its existence. Among the southern Kwakwakawakw, Boas cited several eye-witness accounts of Hamatsa initiates eating human flesh as well as biting “pieces of flesh out of the arms and chest of the people.” He also recorded at least two cases of slaves being killed and consumed for Hamatsa ritual purposes.” ref

“Boas also reported cannibalism as part of Bella Coola and Nishga initiations or ceremonies. He added that initiates in the Cannibal Society took human flesh with them to eat on their celestial journeys, for which a slave was killed, half of which was eaten by members. However, McIlwraith felt that this was done with stage props rather than real consumption of human flesh, except that he acknowledged that slaves were sometimes killed, possibly to make such claims more believable (108). He also reported that chiefs belonging to secret societies killed slaves and buried them in their houses in order to give more power to their Kusiut paraphernalia. The sacrifice of slaves was also recorded as a regular part of the Wolf ceremonies of the Nuuchahnulth and was reported by Kane a half-century earlier. Members of the Klokwalle (Wolf) Society also had a reputation for killing and eating people during their secret rites.” ref

Paraphernalia

“Whistles (Fig. 2.7) made of wood or bone were the voices of spirits or the voices of those possessed by spirits or signaled the arrival of spirits, as with most California groups, and whistles were often kept by initiates. A surprising variety of large and small whistle forms were photographed by McIlwraith, who even recorded one (not illustrated) blown by means of a bladder filled with air, held under the arm. Masks were carved by secret society members and represented spirits, but were sometimes supposed to be burned after major rituals like those of the Cannibals and after all Kusiut ceremonies of the Bella Coola, apparently in an attempt to keep the spirit charade a secret, although Sisauk members received masks to be kept after their initiation. Masks were normally kept hidden among the Tsimshian, and only displayed or used during supernatural performances. Masks used by impersonators of wolves in the Wolf Society of the Nuuchahnulth were “jealously guarded for a lifetime, and relinquished only at death to some duly appointed heir.” These were considered ancestral family spirit allies.” ref

“Weasel skins were worn by Bella Coola Sisauk members as an insignia of membership, while members of the Kusiut Society wore swan skins with feathers as well as cedar bark rings and head circlets. Some members wore aprons with deer hooves or puffin beaks attached. Rattles were used in secret society rituals, including some shell rattles used by initiates which were suspended by skin inserts. Other rattles were used to purify novices. Bird-shaped rattles were used by Bella Coola initiates in their dances. Bullroarers and drums signaled the presence of supernatural beings among the Koskimo or were considered the voice of the spirits states that bullroarers were only used by the Kwakwakawakw, McIlwraith lists them as part of the Kusiut Society paraphernalia of the Bella Coola.” ref

“Copper nails were used by Kwakwakawakw initiates for scratching. Horns, tubes, and trumpets were used to represent the voices of spirits or souls. Eagle bone drinking tubes were used by Kwakwakawakw novice initiates in order to avoid contaminating others with their untamed spirit possession, a practice similar to that of many Californian groups. Smoking pipes are mentioned as used in secret society ceremonies. Dog skulls were hung as pendants, and bear or wolf heads and hides were used by Cannibal initiates to represent their supernatural patrons. Cannibals often wore bear skins during their performances.” ref

“Brown identified “slave killer” clubs as being used in Nuuchahnulth secret society rituals, possibly Warrior dances. Cedar bark rings for necks, heads, ankles, and wrists were usually dyed red and used to calm or control Cannibal or similar possessing spirits, as well as being worn as a “badge” of society membership (Fig. 2.8). Wooden figurines or dolls of animals, birds, or people were used in some ceremonies. Decorated staffs were used by Coast Salish Sto:lo winter dance initiates for ritual walking as well as by Tlingit shamans and political officials. Ceremonial “sticks” or “staffs” were used by the Bella Coola Kusiut Society and decorated with bark and bird down. Poles wrapped with cedar bark featured in Kwakwakawakw Hamatsa ceremonies in both short (6 foot) and long (30–40 foot) versions, similar to Californian traditions.” ref

“Carved bowls and dishes used in secret society feasts had individual names and were given away as prestige goods. Among the Bella Coola, they were used to serve chiefs if the host was wealthy. Perhaps most prestige goods (coppers, bracelets, carvings, and others) can be considered peripheral paraphernalia of secret societies since they were used to pay for initiations and displays and were given away at secret society ceremonies. Some stones were considered as special sources of power and as lucky. They were sometimes carefully kept in boxes, one example of which was about “a foot” long , and may account for a few unusual pebbles being found in structures thought to be ritual structures at the Keatley Creek site where I excavated possible examples. Quartz crystals were used by the Bella Coola societies to “shoot” supernatural power into new initiates or other members, and to remove the debilitating effects of being shot. They were the “supernatural treasure of the Wolves” among the Nuuchahnulth.” ref

Secret Society Structures and Settlement Patterns

“The Kwakwakawakw, Nuuchahnulth, and Bella Coola secret societies each “had a separate house” in the village. This did not necessarily mean that they owned separate structures but only that a residential house (presumably of a high-ranking member of the society) was designated as taboo to non-initiates during the period that secret societies held their rituals inside it. Such houses were cleaned for dancing, profane items were removed, and a central hearth was established for society activities. The houses were publicly marked by hanging a cedar bark ring or other cedar bark symbols outside, or the houses were cordoned off so that non-initiates would not witness any of the secret rituals. Boas specifically states that it was the “Master of Ceremonies’” house that served as a dance house for the Kwakwakawakw, and a separate house was used by society members to prepare for their performances and rituals. In contrast, for the Nuuchahnulth and the Bella Coola, it was the house of the person paying for the initiation which was used as the “taboo” house of the society for their ceremonies.” ref

“George MacDonald (personal communication) has also indicated that the prevalent practice among the Tsimshian was probably simply to transform one of the larger residential “long houses” into temporary secret society dance venues, especially where leaders lacked sufficient resources or labor to construct special facilities for public dance displays. Within the house, a “room,” or partitioned section, at the rear was used for the seclusion of novices. For new cannibal initiates, this was referred to as the House of BaxbakualanuXsi’wae, the Cannibal Spirit. For the Bella Coola Kusiut dances, members often erected temporary “raised enclosures” within the main performance house (perhaps like stages) and they spread clean sand on the floor for the ceremonial entry of supernatural beings. Sproat reports a similar use of high-ranking members’ houses for Wolf Society rituals among the Nuuchahnulth.” ref

“Sometimes Kwakwakawakw initiates were simply confined to one “room” in a house, or in the dance house, for a few days. This “room” was simply a screen of boards set up at the far end of the structure. One such house interior is probably represented in Kane’s 1846 painting of a house on the Columbia River. Depictions of other house interiors are devoid of the elaborate ritual paraphernalia in this painting. A pole, reported to be 30–40 feet high and wrapped with cedar bark, was supposed to be erected in the house used for Hamatsa ceremonies, although a shorter version only 6 feet long was used during the actual performances. Both pole sizes are reminiscent of some Californian traditions. Movable screens with iconographic images were also used in ceremonies among the Nuuchahnulth at the time of first contact with Europeans.” ref

“Drucker frequently noted dance performances or feasts that occurred in “the dance house”; however, it is not clear whether this referred to a house belonging to a secret society member being used for society dance performances or to a special structure that was used for dances, and if so whether this was a traditional feature or something that developed after European contact. In historical times, large communities had, and often still have, specialized structures for ceremonial events, including dances. However, Marshall has demonstrated that these communal ritual/ceremonial structures developed after 1890 in response to the shift from large multifamily households suitable for large ritual performances to smaller nuclear family residences. David Archer (personal communication) observed that none of the Late Middle Period (500 BCE to 500 CE) village sites or early historic period sites in the Tsimshian area appear to have any structures that are distinctly different in size, shape, or location from regular domestic structures, so that it seems unlikely that special secret society structures existed within villages of those periods. However, interestingly, there was an increase in the size and shape of domestic structures in the late prehistoric and early historic periods that made it possible to accommodate larger performances in the centers of normal residential houses (e.g., for dancing or feasting). Little room seems to have been available for such activities in the smaller houses of the middle prehistoric period.” ref

“Recent archaeological survey work in the Lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia has reported the occurrence of one or a few relatively large plank structures (some which had three-tiered floors) within prehistoric villages primarily composed of pithouses, with a common ratio being about one plank house for every two to seventeen pithouses. Although Ritchie viewed all these structures as residential in function, I think that the plank house structures may represent either secret society meeting locations or communally used “dance houses” similar to the dance houses of many Californian groups, which seem to occur in about the same or even lower ratio of one sweat or dance house for every three nuclear family residences. The Tlingit were reported to have had special “bath houses” adjacent to some high-ranking households where political elites would gather. This is a pattern reminiscent of Californian sweat lodges used by secret societies for some of their rituals. Whether the Tlingit bath houses were used by secret society elites is unclear, but it seems plausible as part of a general pattern of exclusive gathering places for elites who typically formed secret societies.” ref

“In general, the seclusions, training, and trials of initiates occurred at some distance from villages, in the “woods,” over periods varying for the Kwakwakawakw from one to two months during which little was eaten, and for the Hartley Bay Tsimshian from four to twelve days, the longer periods being for the highest elite children. At least one Gitksan dance was originally obtained in a cave where dance spirits dwelled and where initiates were supposed to go during their seclusion, and initiates into the main Tsimshian “Shamans’” dance series were sequestered for a month or two “in a hut or cave in the bush surrounded by corpses”. Similarly, the Wikeno Kwakwakawakw initiates usually stayed “in a shelter or cave which has been prepared for him out in the woods”. Kwakwakawakw initiates into the aL’aqim Society were also taken to “a cave inhabited by spirits” where they remained for four days. Each Bella Bella local group apparently used a separate cave in which spirits of ceremonials dwelled and taught initates songs, dances, and magic. The Cave of the Animals (EeSo-28) in the Broughton Archipelago area was also used to store secret society masks and for secret society ceremonies (“winter ceremonials”) and initiations, as well as having a number of animal pictographs (Fig. 2.9) on the cave wall.” ref

“A model of this cave with its associated masks has been on display as the ‘Cave of Supernatural Power’ at the Royal British Columbian Museum, and an account of the myth associated with the dance which originated in the cave is recounted in Sewid’s autobiography. Several other cave and rock art sites were similarly linked with secret societies (Doris Lundy, personal communication). In other instances, it is simply reported that initiates disappeared or were taken “into the woods” provided a graphic description of an initiate’s shelter from Barrett’s field notes based on George Hunt’s accounts. The very small shelter was well over 400 meters from the village and consisted of “a single slab leaned up against a hemlock and providing just room enough so that he could stretch out.” The initiate was also smoke-curing a corpse for his initiation.” ref

“Similar remote locations were apparently also used for vision quests which may or may not have been part of secret society initiations. In the Northwest, vision quests were primarily undertaken by elites who acquired more, and more powerful, patron spirits from visions. Vision quests were not undertaken by “lay people” among Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian, although everyone had at least a nominal guardian spirit among the Tlingit. Coast Salish adolescents sought guardian spirits, sometimes recording them as rock art images, which was also true of shamanic experiences. Cairns and rock walls in remote areas were also probably part of spirit quests on the Plateau and among the Lower Chinookans.” ref

“Ritual paraphernalia also appears to have generally been stored in secret locations “far away from human habitation,” such as large hollow cedar trees and, one might expect, caves, as documented for the Cave of the Animals. McIlwraith reported “repositories” as “subterranean” places where one’s patron spirit(s) could be encountered, typically in “caves” (apparently rock shelters or rock crevices as in Plate 6), or tree hollows. There were reputedly hundreds of such locations around Bella Coola. Although McIlwraith did not mention any storage of ritual paraphernalia at such locations, this seems likely and may account for the isolated finds of ritual objects such as figurine bowls far from known village sites in the Northwest, in which case such isolated finds may be good archaeological indicators of secret society practices. George MacDonald (personal communication) also indicated that secret societies would sometimes meet outside villages for especially secret activities. Rose Island just outside Port Simpson was one such location. Stretches of clan-owned beaches would also be reserved for use by secret societies for some activities such as initiations and disposal of those killed by the society. In a similar vein, McIlwraith described places near every village where secret society members and chiefs met to discuss plans for winter (and presumably other) ceremonies.” ref

“These were places of dread which were tabooed for most people owing to the supernatural powers of society members. Elsewhere, he referred to secret sacred meeting places in the forest for Kusiut members. One such location was about one quarter mile (c. 400 meters) from the village located on a ledge of rock jutting out over a waterfall. Another was located in a small valley about four miles from the sea where petroglyphs could be seen. Most were at the bases of cliffs, near a natural feature, or at secluded caves or ledges. There was no mention of any structures at these locations although some were associated with rock carvings. Boas and Spradley also referred to a “secret meeting place in the woods” where Kwakwakawakw planners of initiations and ceremonies would congregate and practice performances, excluding non-initiates. Boas also referred to a “Place of Supernatural Power” located about an eighth of a mile from a village, presumably also shown in his Plate 43 (described as the “place where the secret meetings of the winter ceremonial are held”), and presumably used by secret society members. The area appeared to be a simple clearing in the woods, and no structures are visible in his photo. He also reported a meeting place used over generations for a special performance (the Ame’lk). This was located about 150 meters from the end of the village.” ref

“In sum, secret societies among complex hunter/gatherers along the Northwest Coast used at least four distinctive types of locations for their activities:

1. 1 venues for public displays of power (usually within or near villages);
2. 2 locations for secret meetings (either within villages and/or in more or less remote locations depending on climate or other factors);
3. 3 locations for the seclusion of initiates (usually in locations at some distance from villages, and possibly the same locations used for secret meetings); and
4. 4 isolated remote locations for storing ritual paraphernalia whether owned by individuals or by secret societies.” ref

“Whatever the specifics may turn out to be concerning public displays, a general point is that secret societies usually needed some large public facility in order to conduct their public displays of supernatural and corporal power. These could take the form of temporarily transformed large residential structures, separate large “dance house” structures in the community (and possible precursors of later churches used by congregations), open plaza areas or dancing grounds such as those used by the Chumash and Pueblos, or other alternative forms of large facilities.” ref

Burials

“McIlwraith described the death of a Sisaok leader in which a dummy of the body was taken up through the roof of the house by a raven or eagle spirit while the real body was buried in secret, apparently in the community cemetery, 50–100 meters behind the houses. Secret burials of secret society leaders were common in such societies elsewhere. Kamenskii  reported that “shamans” were buried in caves. Whether these were secret society members with the title of “shaman,” or whether they were bona fide shamans is uncertain. I have not found any other descriptions of burials for specifically identified members of secret societies in the Northwest, although the burial of at least some people in caves was widespread.” ref

Cross-cutting Kinship and Community Relationships (Regional Organizations)

Kin Groups

“In discussing the Gitksan, John Adams made the important point that for those at the head of kinship groups, there was no way within the kinship system to increase wealth or power. In order to do this, ambitious heads had to go outside kinship groups to forge war or other alliances or establish secret dance societies. Thus, secret societies may be key stepping stones to the creation of increased political complexity in the archaeological record. Drucker categorically stated that on the Northwest Coast “Secret society membership is one of the few institutions that cuts cleanly across the social group” (at least for high-ranking individuals). Ford also affirmed that members were from different clans. Positions in secret societies often had to be filled from specific families, lineages, or clans, especially for the highest ranked positions as with the Nuuchahnulth and Bella Coola. Specific roles in Nuuchahnulth societies – such as the wolf impersonators and those who broke into the houses – were hereditary. Among the Tlingit, dances were clan prerogatives or owned by families and secret societies “cut across lineage lines and represent one of the few activities which were organized across lineage lines”. These requirements ensured that secret society membership cross-cut kinship groups and included members from all the important such groups.” ref

“Although the Kwakwakawakw dances were inherited from mythic encounters by an ancestor that conferred power on the ancestor (which was subsequently passed on to one of his descendants; Drucker, membership in societies included men from different kinship groups and often specific roles in secret societies were allocated on a hereditary basis to members of specific families, lineages, or clans (see also “Roles” above). This system allowed some flexibility since the transfer of spirit dances could occur through marriage to a son from the mother’s lineage (accompanied by lavish payments), or by killing the owner of the dance. In fact, Boas recorded a war waged just to acquire a secret society mask, and presumably the dances and spiritual power that went with it. Initiation into the Bella Bella Cannibal Society was reserved for the highest-ranking chiefs, and the required regalia was supposed to be acquired via marriage as a dowry. Such practices must have ensured flexible cross-cutting kinship memberships and support groups. Similarly, “all the chiefs” had the right to be initiated into either of the two Tsimshian secret societies, and membership was part of the validation for chiefly succession.” ref

Regional Networks

“Regional ritual networks may have played key roles in creating regional interaction spheres as displayed in material items and based on styles and materials used in ritual paraphernalia. Hamatsa initiations drew Hamatsa members, initiation candidates, singers, and dancers “from all over the Kwakwakawakw nation,” or at least a large region, for two to three weeks of winter ceremonies and initiations also affirmed that society members were from different tribes, thus constituting a regional ritual network. Among the Nuuchahnulth, the most elite members of the Wolf Society secretly held an annual regional meeting with a public performance of the wolf dance at an elite member’s house which rotated among members. Up to seventy members attended from both American villages and Vancouver Island villages. In addition, Ernst recorded that the chiefs from four different principal families of the tribe met together to determine the plans for the Wolf Society ceremonies.” ref

“Members of a secret society in one Bella Coola village were “accepted as a member in any other one”, while serious cases of revealing secret society knowledge at performances could be grounds for punishing raids and attacks by members from other villages. This strongly indicates that an organized regional secret society network existed. This is explicitly stated in discussing the “marshals” of the Kusiut Society who cooperated on an inter-village and inter-tribal basis in maintaining and policing the supernatural fictions presented to the uninitiated, even to the extent of waging war on groups that transgressed this imperative. In society dance performances as well, “fellows” from neighboring villages were invited (29), while “leading Kukusiut from neighbouring towns are often invited” to ceremonies in host villages (174,201) and invitations to Kusiut and Sisaok events were sent out as far as the Nass River and Alert Bay. McIlwraith also mentioned that marshals from two villages got together to remove crystals shot into initiates or others. Performances of the curing society of the Quinault were attended by guests from other villages who represented secret societies and performed songs and dances in the potlatch house of the home village. Thus, regional networks were prominent characteristics of secret society organizations.” ref

Initiate Marking

“Initiates of secret societies on the Northwest Coast generally appear to have been physically marked in some way, often involving some cutting. For instance, Nuuchahnulth initiates had deep cuts made into their arms and legs which they displayed streaming with blood in public processions. Such marking may have functioned to identify bona fide society members on a regional level.” ref

Power Animals

“Powerful patron animals, whether derived from natural or imaginary species, were used to help achieve domination by secret society members. In contrast to the subsistence importance of animal prey species, the nature of most animals used in Northwest Coast iconography was dominating and threatening – characteristics which were supposed to be conferred upon their human confederates. Specific power animals tended to characterize entire regions, being depicted there in common art motifs. Of particular note among the pantheon of power animals of the Northwest Coast are the mythological “monsters,” including the Sisiutl or other sea monsters. Such imaginary creatures occurred in secret societies elsewhere as well. Supernatural guardian spirits of dances especially featured bears, the personae of which were often adopted when secret society members set out to punish or kill people. However, wolves, large birds, feathered serpents, heavenly and other spirits were also part of the Northwest Coast power ideologies. Tlingit shamans claimed supernatural powers commensurate with the number of guardian or possessing spirits that they had acquired.” ref

“The Que’qutsa division of secret societies among the Kwakwakawakw was characterized by spirit animal patrons (as they existed before their transformations into animals) including wolves, thunderbirds, wasps, bears, killer whales, ravens, dogs, sea monsters, eagles, ghosts, and salmon. Grizzly bears were the most important and were greatly feared as helpers of the Hamatsa Society. The Nuuchahnulth animal patrons included bears, wolves, eagles, and whales. The most powerful and feared possessing animals among the Bella Coola secret society dancers were the bear, the wolf, and the eagle, all of which hungered for human flesh and instilled cannibalistic cravings in their human subjects. Guardian spirits acquired by Chinookan secret society novices predominantly took the form of black bears and cougars.” ref

Number of Societies in Communities

“If the role of secret societies was to promote social solidarity within communities, one would expect single organizations within those communities. Instead, there are frequently two or three or more secret society organizations within individual communities which makes sense primarily in factional and competitive contexts. According to Drucker, the Southern Kwakwakawakw studied by Boas had only one secret society, although elsewhere he mentions that other Kwakwakawakw groups and northern groups had two or three exclusive secret societies in each group, with a series of ranked dance grades within each. Ford counted as many as five, although this may have been throughout the region. However, in Boas’  descriptions, there are two basic divisions or categories in the organization of the dances: the “Seals” (including the Bears, Hamatsas, and others) and the more animal-oriented “Que’qutsas” with some fifty-three different dances. Other groups only had six to eleven recognized dance groups, although whether these constituted single internally ranked organizations or multiple ranked organizations is unclear. Boas stated that the Nishga had six ranked societies while the Coast Salish had only two. In some places, each dance group such as the Bears or Hamatsas seems to have formed a separate society with ranked roles within the group. In other instances, it seems that all the dance groups in each main division were ranked as part of a single organization. Thus, it is far from clear as to whether there were two secret societies, or dozens of them.” ref

“Following  Drucker’s lead, conservatively treating the dance groups as forming two basic secret societies. This was also the case with the Bella Coola, where there were clearly two distinct societies, the Kusiut and the Sisauk, with perhaps a third less prestigious or upstart rival society, the A’alk, about which little is said. The A’alk Society may have been a newly formed organization with rival ambitions or one formed to defend members from depredations of the more powerful secret societies, but little was recorded about it. Within each of these societies, there were specific spirit patrons or types of possessions associated with specific dances (McIlwraith describes forty-four of these), and recognized “marshals” who authorized all performances by members, as well as other specific roles (see below). McIlwraith explicitly stated that those possessed by the cannibal spirit did not form a separate society or group and they often worked in concert with other dancers and performances. This organizational structure appears to have been similar to what Boas described for the Kwakwakawakw as a “series” of dances.” ref

“Among the Tsimshian, Halpin reported three exclusive secret societies with hereditary prerequisites for membership and two “ritual moieties” (open to all individuals with wealth). In addition to the Wolf Society, Ernst described a Deer Society and a Wild Man Society for the Nuuchahnulth as well as several specific dances that women could adopt. A curing society with predominantly female members was also mentioned by Boas. The Quinault apparently had two secret societies, one for curing and the other a Wolf Society with a cannibalistic reputation. For the Interior Shuswap, Teit listed almost thirty dance societies which he compared to dance societies in the east and west, at least some of which appear to have corresponded to secret societies (e.g., the Wolf, Dog, Corpse, and Cannibal Societies).” ref

Number of Members, Proportion of Population

“Given the frequent presence of guests from secret societies in other villages, it is difficult to determine what proportion of the populations were members of secret societies, especially given the complicating factors of weakening/collapsing influence of the societies and looser admission standards following epidemic depopulations and European settlement. However, it is of interest to note that in Bella Coola, there were generally four or five “marshals” in most villages, and that forty to fifty Kusiut Society members often accompanied new initiates when they were possessed. Curtis estimated that 60 percent of the native residents at Fort Rupert were “shamans,” i.e., initiated into a secret society, a proportion that seems exceptional and may have been the result of depopulation combined with the unusual wealth provided by the fur trade. Although all males were expected to join the Nuuchahnulth Wolf Society, the upper ranks of the society were severely restricted and seem to have acted as a separate organization. Only a small percentage of the Chinookan population became members of secret societies.” ref

Sex

“All Wikeno Kwakwakawakw dancers were men; dances were prohibited to women. Women were initiated into at least some secret societies, acting primarily as attendants or as singers of supernatural songs to drive away possessing spirits. In Bella Bella women performed some dances prior to the entry of the Cannibals, and a woman even called initiates back from the underworld. Among the Xaihais, high-ranking women made the neck and head rings for Ulala initiates. Among the Kwakwakawakw, some women were Hamatsa initiates with roles primarily as healers, singers, and food providers. Women were also the first to receive gifts and they participated in major feasts. They performed dances and were also initiated into other societies. The Bella Coola secret societies were for both males and females. Women were prohibited from being members of the Deer Society and Wild Man Society among the Nuuchahnulth, and the Wolf Society initiates were described as being boys. Women were eligible to be members of Chinookan secret societies, but were decidedly in the minority.” ref

Age of Initiates

“Children” were initiated among the Wikeno and Xaihais Kwakwakawakw, in one case as young as three years old, but seven years old appears to have been a more common lower age of initiation for some boys. Boas reported that children destined to become Hamatsa initiates had to first join a lower ranking society for seven years beginning at ten to twelve years old. A Bella Bella man could bring “his small son into the dance house” observed that among the Haida, “Little children could be initiated into the society … They spent the eleven days behind the curtain, supposedly dead for eight days and absent with the spirits for the remaining three.” A number of vintage photographs published by Joanaitis (1988:Figs. 47 and 48) clearly depict boy initiates in the seven- to ten-year-old range, even for the Cannibal Society. Full entry into the third level of the Cannibal Society took twelve years and required a great deal of wealth, with few men able to achieve this rank. The Heavenly series of dances of the Wikeno Kwakwakawakw were even more costly.” ref

McIlwraith made the important point that chiefs’ sons underwent repeated seclusions and initiations – up to ten times – to increase their prestige. Since positions in the most important secret societies of the Bella Coola were ranked and acquired successively – with each rank requiring large payments – only individuals initiated at a young age would have a chance to pass through all the lower ranks and enter the highest ones. McIlwraith also repeatedly referred to “children” being able to enter the societies, although traditionally this may have only applied to the SisaokSociety of chiefs, since he was told that only those over twenty-five years old were admitted to the Kusiut Society in earlier times. Ernst reported that children were initiated into the Wolf Society from eight years old on and were generally pre-adolescents.” ref

Feasts

“Hamatsa initiates gave or were given lavish public feasts after initiation, while secret society members often had big feasts together during the day. Boas mentioned numerous feasts in connection with the winter ceremonial initiations and dances, including nightly feasting that rotated to “every house,” involving all-night singing. Similarly, visitors were feasted every day during Nuuchahnulth winter ceremonies, although women and men apparently ate separately for some of the society feasts, even though they were all society members. Feasting took place at the host’s house each night and for everyone in the village after the initiation. It also described a twenty-eight-day “Shamans’ Dance” hosted by an important chief for the initiation of Nuuchahnulth boys into the Wolf Society. This included “endless feasting.” Initiation fees were also distributed to secret society members at a “great feast”. Coast Salish initiations involved a five-day feast that accompanied the dances. The Nishga celebrated the return of novices with a feast given to the chief who helped them. In addition, anyone who coughed or laughed during Kwakwakawakw ceremonies or who transgressed other rules could be required to give a feast to the secret society members, or the highest ranking members.” ref

“The Bella Coola held feasts to open the winter ritual season, and to announce the selection of new candidates for secret society membership in the candidate’s family’s house. Feasts and gifts were also given by the candidate’s father and kin to society members at the culmination of the initiation, and feasts were given after all Kusiut performances as routine elements in society dances, with food that was always considered the best available. Feasts were given for Chinookan novices who successfully returned from their spirit quests in order to announce and celebrate the event together with their initiation into the secret society which was to follow and which was also accompanied by a feast.” ref

Frequency

“Among the Bella Coola, and as was probably characteristic of most groups on the Northwest Coast, the winter was the sacred time when spirits visited the earth and could be contacted by secret society members, although the Sun Dance apparently was performed at both the winter and summer solstices as well as after eclipses. The entire social structure changed during the winter ceremonial season so that individuals aligned themselves primarily with secret societies rather than according to kinship groups. During this time, they used only their sacred names, not their profane names. Thus, secret society rituals were an annual affair, and McIlwraith claimed that the Bella Coola engaged in nightly dancing for almost three months, which is difficult to imagine given the preparations and costs involved.” ref

“However, some of these were evidently minor or simpler versions of dances, with the more complex rituals like the cannibal performances only given three or four times in an individual’s lifetime. Initiations, too, were probably held, on average, at intervals of several years. This brings to a close the documentation of important points concerning the dynamics, motivations, organization, economic foundations, ideology, and material characteristics of secret societies on the American Northwest Coast. We now turn to California where secret societies also thrived and were documented by early anthropologists.” ref

Tlingit

“The Tlingit or Lingít (English: /ˈtlɪŋkɪt, ˈklɪŋkɪt/ ^ⓘ TLING-kit, KLING-kit) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively Lingít, pronounced [ɬɪ̀nkɪ́tʰ]), in which the name means ‘People of the Tides’. The Tlingit language may have split from the closely-related Athabaska language five thousand years ago. The Tlingit language is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada and is a branch of the Na-Dene language family. And, Na-Dene has been linked to the Yeniseian languages of central Siberia making a Dené–Yeniseian family.” ref, ref, ref, ref

“The Russian name Koloshi (Колоши, from a Sugpiaq-Alutiiq term kulut’ruaq for the labret worn by women) or the related German name Koulischen may be encountered referring to the people in older historical literature, such as Grigory Shelikhov‘s 1796 map of Russian America. Tlingit people today primarily belong to two federally recognized Alaska Native tribes: the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe. Some citizens of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation in Yukon and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska are of Tlingit heritage. Taku Tlingit are enrolled in the Douglas Indian Association in Alaska and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation in Canada.” ref

“The Tlingit have a matrilineal kinship system, with children born into the mother’s clan, and property and hereditary roles passing through the mother’s line. Their culture and society developed in the temperate rainforest of the southeast Alaskan coast and the Alexander Archipelago. The Tlingit have maintained a complex hunter-gatherer culture based on semi-sedentary management of fisheries. Hereditary servitude was practiced extensively until it was outlawed by the United States Government. An inland group, known as the Inland Tlingit, inhabits the far northwestern part of the province of British Columbia and the southern Yukon in Canada. The greatest territory historically occupied by the Tlingit extended from the Portland Canal along the present border between Alaska and British Columbia, north to the coast just southeast of the Copper River delta in Alaska.” ref

“The Tlingit culture is multifaceted and complex, a characteristic of Northwest Pacific Coast people with access to easily exploited rich resources. In Tlingit culture a heavy emphasis is placed upon family and kinship, and on a rich oratory tradition. Wealth and economic power are important indicators of rank, but so is generosity and proper behavior, all signs of “good breeding” and ties to aristocracy. Art and spirituality are incorporated in nearly all areas of Tlingit culture, with even everyday objects such as spoons and storage boxes decorated and imbued with spiritual power and historical beliefs of the Tlingits.” ref

“Tlingit society is divided into two moieties, the Raven and the Eagle. These in turn are divided into numerous clans, which are subdivided into lineages or house groups. They have a matrilineal kinship system, with descent and inheritance passed through the mother’s line. These groups have heraldic crests, which are displayed on totem poles, canoes, feast dishes, house posts, weavings, jewelry, and other art forms. The Tlingits pass down at.oow(s) or blankets that represented trust. Only a Tlingit can inherit one but they can also pass it down to someone they trust, who becomes responsible for caring for it but does not rightfully own it. Like other Northwest Coast native peoples, the Tlingit did practice hereditary slavery. ” ref

Slavery among Native Americans

“Slavery among Native Americans in the United States includes slavery by and enslavement of Native Americans roughly within what is currently the United States of America. Tribal territories and the slave trade ranged over present-day borders. Some Native American tribes held war captives as slaves prior to and during European colonization. Some Native Americans were captured and sold by others into slavery to Europeans, while others were captured and sold by Europeans themselves. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, a small number of tribes, such as the five so-called “civilized tribes“, began increasing their holding of African-American slaves.” ref

“European contact greatly influenced slavery as it existed among pre-contact Native Americans, particularly in scale. As they raided other tribes to capture slaves for sales to Europeans, they fell into destructive wars among themselves, and against Europeans. Many Native-American tribes practiced some form of slavery before the European introduction of African slavery into North America.” ref

“The Haida and Tlingit Indians who lived along the southeastern Alaskan coast were traditionally known as fierce warriors and slave-traders, raiding as far as California. Slavery was hereditary after slaves were taken as prisoners of war. Among some Pacific Northwest tribes, about a quarter of the population were slaves. Other slave-owning tribes of North America were, for example, Comanche of Texas, Creek of Georgia, the fishing societies, such as the Yurok, that lived along the coast from what is now Alaska to California; the Pawnee, and Klamath.” ref

“Some tribes held people as captive slaves late in the 19th century. For instance, “Ute Woman”, was a Ute captured by the Arapaho and later sold to a Cheyenne. She was kept by the Cheyenne to be used as a prostitute to serve American soldiers at Cantonment in the Indian Territory. She lived in slavery until about 1880. She died of a hemorrhage resulting from “excessive sexual intercourse”. There were differences between slavery as practiced in the pre-colonial era among Native Americans and slavery as practiced by Europeans after colonization. Whereas many Europeans eventually came to look upon slaves of African descent as being racially inferior, Native Americans took slaves from other Native American groups, and therefore viewed them as ethnically inferior.” ref

“In some cases, Native American slaves were allowed to live on the fringes of Native American society until they were slowly integrated into the tribe. The word “slave” may not accurately apply to such captive people. When the Europeans made contact with the Native Americans, they began to participate in the slave trade. Native Americans, in their initial encounters with the Europeans, attempted to use their captives from enemy tribes as a “method of playing one tribe against another” in an unsuccessful game of divide and conquer.” ref

“Native American groups often enslaved war captives, whom they primarily used for small-scale labor. Others, however, would stake themselves in gambling situations when they had nothing else, which would put them into servitude for a short time, or in some cases for life; captives were also sometimes tortured as part of religious rites, which sometimes involved ritual cannibalism. During times of famine, some Native Americans would also temporarily sell their children to obtain food. The ways in which captives were treated differed widely among Native American groups. Captives could be enslaved for life, killed, or adopted. In some cases, captives were only adopted after a period of slavery. For example, the Iroquoian peoples (not just the Iroquois tribes) often adopted captives, but for religious reasons there was a process, procedures, and many seasons when such adoptions were delayed until the proper spiritual times.” ref

“In many cases, new tribes adopted captives to replace warriors killed during a raid. Warrior captives were sometimes made to undergo ritual mutilation or torture that could end in death, as part of a spiritual grief ritual for relatives slain in battle. Adoptees were expected to fill the economic, military, and familial roles of the departed loved ones, to fit into the societal shoes of the dead relative, and maintain the spirit power of the tribe. Captured individuals were sometimes allowed to assimilate into the tribe, and would later produce a family within the tribe. The Creek, who engaged in this practice and had a matrilineal system, treated children born of slaves and Creek women as full members of their mothers’ clans and of the tribe, as property and hereditary leadership passed through the maternal line. In the cultural practices of the Iroquoian peoples, also rooted in a matrilineal system with men and women having equal value, any child would have the status determined by the woman’s clan. More typically, tribes took women and children captives for adoption, as they tended to adapt more easily into new ways.” ref

“Several tribes held captives as hostages for payment. Various tribes also practiced debt slavery or imposed slavery on tribal members who had committed crimes; full tribal status would be restored as the enslaved worked off their obligations to the tribal society. Obtaining prisoners was also a strong interest for Native American warriors as for the qualification of being considered brave this was especially an interest of male warriors in various tribes. Other slave-owning tribes of North America included the Comanche of Texas; the Creek of Georgia; the fishing societies, such as the Yurok, who lived in Northern California; the Pawnee; and the Klamath. When St. Augustine, Florida, was founded in 1565, the site already had enslaved Native Americans, whose ancestors had migrated from Cuba.” ref

“The Haida and Tlingit, who lived along Alaska’s southeast coast, were traditionally known as fierce warriors and slave-traders, raiding as far as California. In their society, slavery was hereditary after slaves were taken as prisoners of war—children of slaves were fated to be slaves themselves. Among a few Pacific Northwest tribes, as many as one-fourth of the population were slaves. They were typically captured by raids on enemy tribes, or purchased on inter-tribal slave markets. Slaves would sometimes be killed in potlatches, to signify the owners’ contempt for property. The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole made the largest efforts of all the Native American peoples to assimilate into white society by implementing some of the practices which they saw as beneficial; adoption of slavery was one of them. They were the most receptive to whites’ pressures to adopt European cultures. The pressures from European Americans to assimilate, the economic shift of furs and deerskins, and the government’s continued attempts to “civilize” native tribes in the south led to them adopting an economy based on agriculture.” ref

“Slavery itself was not a new concept to indigenous American peoples as in inter-Native American conflict tribes often kept prisoners of war, but these captures often replaced slain tribe members. Native Americans did not originally distinguish between groups of people based on color, but rather traditions. There are conflicting theories as to what caused the shift between traditional Native American servitude to the enslavement the Five Civilized Tribes adopted. One theory is the “civilized” tribes adopted slavery as means to defend themselves from federal pressure believing that it would help them maintain their southern lands. Another narrative postulates that Native Americans began to feed into the European belief that Africans were inferior to whites and themselves. Some indigenous nations such as the Chickasaws and the Choctaws began to embrace the concept that African bodies were property, and equated blackness to hereditary inferiority. In either case, “The system of racial classification and hierarchy took shape as Europeans and Euro-Americans sought to subordinate and exploit Native Americans’ and Africans’ land, bodies, and labor.” ref

“Whether strategically or racially motivated the slave trade promoted African slaves owned by Native Americans which led to new power relations among Native societies, elevating groups such as the Five Civilized Tribes to power and serving, ironically, to preserve native order. In the 1830s, all of the Five Civilized Tribes were relocated, many of them forcibly to the Indian Territory (later, the state of Oklahoma). The incident is known as the Trail of Tears, and the institution of owning enslaved Africans came with them. Of the estimated 4,500 to 5,000 blacks who formed the slave class in the Indian Territory by 1839, the great majority were in the possession of the mixed bloods. Tensions varied between African Americans and Native Americans in the south, as each nation dealt with the ideology behind the enslavement of Africans differently. In the late 1700s and 1800s, some Native American nations gave sanctuary to runaway slaves while others were more likely to capture them, and return them to their white masters or even re-enslave them.” ref

“Still others incorporated runaway slaves into their societies, sometimes resulting in intermarriage between the Africans and Native Americans, which was commonplace among tribes like the Creek and Seminole. Some Native Americans may have had a strong dislike of slavery, because they too were seen as a people of a subordinate race than whites of European descent, they lacked the political power to influence the racialistic culture that pervaded the Non-Indian South. It is unclear if some Native American slaveholders sympathized with African-American slaves along racial lines. Missionary work was an efficient method the United States used to persuade Native Americans to accept European methods of living. Missionaries vociferously denounced Indian removal as cruel, oppressive, and feared such actions would push Native Americans away from converting. These same missionaries reported that Native American slave owners were brutal masters, even though accounts of Indian freedmen gave different accounts of being treated relatively well without tyrannical treatment.” ref

“Tlingit thought and belief, although never formally codified, was historically a fairly well organized philosophical and religious system whose basic axioms shaped the way Tlingit people viewed and interacted with the world around them. Tlingits were traditionally animists, and hunters ritually purified themselves before hunting animals. Shamans, primarily men, cured diseases, influenced weather, aided in hunting, predicted the future, and protected people against witchcraft. A central part of the Tlingit belief system was the belief in reincarnation of both humans and animals. Between 1886 and 1895, in the face of their shamans’ inability to treat Old World diseases including smallpox, many Tlingit people converted to Orthodox Christianity. Russian Orthodox missionaries had translated their liturgy into the Tlingit language. It has been argued that they saw Eastern Orthodox Christianity as a way of resisting assimilation to the “American way of life,” which was associated with Presbyterianism. After the introduction of Christianity, the Tlingit belief system began to erode.” ref

“Today, some young Tlingits look back towards their traditional tribal religions and worldview for inspiration, security, and a sense of identity. While many elders converted to Christianity, contemporary Tlingit “reconcile Christianity and the ‘traditional culture.’” Tlingit tribes historically built plank houses made from cedar and today call them clanhouses; these houses were built with a foundation such that they could store their belongings under the floors. It is said that these plank houses had no adhesive, nails, or any other sort of fastening devices. Clan houses were usually square or rectangular in shape and had front facing designs and totem poles to represent to which clan and moiety the makers belonged.” ref

“Various cultures of indigenous people have continuously occupied the Alaska territory for thousands of years, leading to the Tlingit. Human culture with elements related to the Tlingit originated around 10,000 years ago near the mouths of the Skeena and Nass Rivers. The historic Tlingit’s first contact with Europeans came in 1741 with Russian explorers. Spanish explorers followed in 1775. Tlingits maintained their independence but suffered from epidemics of smallpox and other infectious diseases brought by the Europeans. The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic killed about 60% of the Mainland Tlingit and 37% of the Island Tlingit.” ref

“Food is a central part of Tlingit culture, and the land is an abundant provider. Most of the richness of intertidal life found on the beaches of Southeast Alaska can be harvested for food. Though eating off the beach could provide a fairly healthy and varied diet, eating nothing but “beach food” is considered contemptible among the Tlingit and a sign of poverty. Indeed, shamans and their families were required to abstain from all food gathered from the beach, and men might avoid eating beach food before battles or strenuous activities in the belief that it would weaken them spiritually and perhaps physically as well. Thus for both spiritual reasons as well as to add some variety to the diet, the Tlingit harvest many other resources for food besides those they easily find outside their front doors. No other food resource receives as much emphasis as salmon; however, seal and game are both close seconds.” ref

“Halibut, shellfish, and seaweed traditionally provided food in the spring, while late spring and summer bring seal and salmon. Summer is a time for gathering wild and tame berries, such as salmonberry, soap berry, and currants. In fall, sea otters are hunted. Herring and eulachon are also important staples, that can be eaten fresh or dried and stored for later use. Fish provide meat, oil, and eggs. Sea mammals, such as sea lions and sea otters, are used for food and clothing materials. In the forests near their homes, Tlingit hunted deer, bear, mountain goats and other small mammals. Genetic analyses of HLA I and HLA II genes as well as HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 gene frequencies links the Ainu people of Japan to some Indigenous peoples of the Americas, especially to populations on the Pacific Northwest Coast such as Tlingit. The scientists suggest that the main ancestor of the Ainu and of the Tlingit can be traced back to Paleolithic groups in Southern Siberia.” ref

Ainu people

“The Ainu are an ethnic group comprising related Indigenous peoples who are native to northern Japan, including Hokkaido and Northeast Honshu, as well as the land surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, such as Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula, and the Khabarovsk Krai; they have occupied these areas known to them as “Ainu Mosir” (Ainu: アイヌモシㇼ, lit. ’the land of the Ainu’), since before the arrival of the modern Japanese and Russians. These regions are often referred to as Ezochi (蝦夷地) and its inhabitants as Emishi (蝦夷) in historical Japanese texts. Official estimates place the total Ainu population in Japan at 25,000. Unofficial estimates place the total population at 200,000 or higher, as the near-total assimilation of the Ainu into Japanese society has resulted in many individuals of Ainu descent having no knowledge of their ancestry.” ref

“The Ainu are one of the few ethnic minorities in the Japanese islands, with a distinct and unique culture and way of life. They were subject to forced assimilation and colonization by the far larger Yamato population of Japan since at least the 18th century. Japanese assimilation policies in the 19th century around the Meiji Restoration included forcing Ainu peoples off their land; this, in turn, forced them to give up traditional ways of life such as subsistence hunting and fishing. Ainu people were not allowed to practice their religion, and they were pushed into Japanese-language schools where speaking the Ainu language was strictly forbidden. In 1966, there were about 300 native Ainu speakers; in 2008, there were about 100. Since 2019, there have been increasing efforts to revitalize the Ainu language.” ref

“This people’s most widely known ethnonym, Ainu (Ainu: アィヌ; Japanese: アイヌ; Russian: Айны), means ‘human’ in the Ainu language, particularly as opposed to kamui, ‘divine beings’. Ainu also identify themselves as Utari (‘comrades’ or ‘people’). Official documents use both names. The name first appeared as Aino in a 1591 Latin manuscript titled De yezorum insula. This document gives the native name of Hokkaido as Aino moxori, or Ainu mosir, ‘land of the Ainu’. The terms Aino and Ainu did not come into common use as ethnonyms until the early 19th century. The ethnonym first appeared in an 1819 German encyclopedia article. Neither European nor Japanese sources conceived of the Ainu as a distinct ethnic group until the late 1700s.” ref

“The Ainu were also called the Kuye by their neighbors. The Qing dynasty called Sakhalin Kuyedao (“island of the Ainu”). The island was also called Kuye Fiyaka. The word Kuye used by the Qing is “most probably related to kuyi, the name given to the Sakhalin Ainu by their Nivkh and Nanai neighbors.” When the Ainu migrated onto the mainland, the Chinese described a “strong Kui (or Kuwei, Kuwu, Kuye, Kugi, i.e. Ainu) presence in the area otherwise dominated by the Gilemi or Jilimi (Nivkh and other Amur peoples).” Related names were in widespread use in the region, for example the Kuril Ainu called themselves koushi. The Old Japanese exonym 蝦夷 (Emi₁si) was coined according to the Kojiki-den from 蝦 (“shrimp”) + 夷 (“barbarian”) as a reference to their hairiness and savagery. The term is considered an insult by contemporary Ainu.” ref

“The Ainu are considered the native people of Hokkaido, southern Sakhalin, and the Kurils. Early Ainu-speaking groups (mostly hunters and fishermen) were also present in northern Honshu, where their descendants are today known as the Matagi hunters, who still use a large amount of Ainu vocabulary in their dialect and also migrated to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Ainu toponyms support the historical view that the Ainu people lived in several places throughout northern Honshu, mostly along the western coast and in the Tōhoku region. There is also evidence that Ainu speakers lived in the Amur region through Ainu loanwords found in the Uilta and Ulch languages. The ancestors of the Ainu, who were referred to as Emishi came under Japanese subjugation starting in the 9th century and were pushed to the northern islands. Active contact between the Wa-jin (ethnonym for Japanese, also known as Yamato-jin) and the Ainu of Ezogashima (now known as Hokkaidō) began in the 13th century. The Ainu formed a society of hunter-gatherers, surviving mainly by hunting and fishing. They followed a religion that was based on natural phenomena.” ref

“After the Mongols conquered the Jin dynasty (1234), they suffered raids by the Nivkh and Udege peoples. In response, the Mongols established an administration post at Nurgan (present-day Tyr, Russia) at the junction of the Amur and Amgun rivers in 1263, and forced the submission of the two peoples. In 1264, the Ainu invaded the land of the Nivkh people. The Ainu also started an expedition into the Amur region, which was then controlled by the Yuan dynasty, resulting in reprisals by the Mongols who invaded Sakhalin. From the Nivkh perspective, their surrender to the Mongols essentially established a military alliance against the Ainu who had invaded their lands. According to the History of Yuan, a group of people known as the Guwei (骨嵬; Gǔwéi, the phonetic approximation of the Nivkh name for Ainu) from Sakhalin invaded and fought with the Jilimi (Nivkh people) every year. On November 30, 1264, the Mongols attacked the Ainu. The Ainu resisted the Mongol invasions but by 1308 had been subdued. They paid tribute to the Mongol Yuan dynasty at posts in Wuliehe, Nanghar, and Boluohe.” ref

“The Ainu are regarded as having descended from the indigenous Japanese hunter-gatherers who lived in Japan during the Jōmon period (c. 14,000 to 300 BCE). The exact origins of the early Ainu remain unclear, but it is generally agreed to be linked to the Satsumon culture of the Epi-Jōmon period, with later influences from the nearby Okhotsk culture. The Ainu culture may be better described as an “Ainu cultural complex”, taking into account the regional variable subgroups of Ainu peoples. While the Ainu can be considered a continuation of the indigenous Jomon culture, they also display links to surrounding cultures, pointing to a larger cultural complex flourishing around the Sea of Okhotsk. Some authors have also described the development of the Ainu culture as the “resistance” of a Jomon society to the emerging Japanese state. One of their Yukar Upopo, or legends, tells that “[T]he Ainu lived in this place a hundred thousand years before the Children of the Sun came.” The historical Ainu economy was based on farming as well as hunting, fishing, and gathering.” ref

“The general consensus among historians is to associate the Ainu with the Satsumon culture, which was located in an area stretching from northern Honshu to Hokkaido. Linguists such as Juha Janhunen and Alexander Vovin argue for a Satsumon origin of Ainu dialects, with deeper links to cultures centered in Central or Northern Honshu. This is in part supported by Ainu-derived loanwords observed in Eastern Old Japanese and the probable distant link between the Ainu and the Emishi. It has also been noted that the Okhotsk culture played a role in the formation of the later Ainu culture. The origin of the Okhotsk culture itself is subject to research. While Okhotsk remains display affinity to the modern Nivkh people of northern Sakhalin, both also display affinities to the Jōmon peoples of Japan, pointing to a possibl heterogeneous makeup of Okhotsk society. Satsumon pottery has been found among Okhotsk sites, pointing to a complex network of contacts in the wider area around the Sea of Okhotsk.” ref

“The emergence of the Ainu culture is henceforth primarily attributed to the Satsumon culture, which later received some contributions from the Okhotsk culture via cultural contacts in northern Hokkaido after the Satsumon culture expanded northwards and into Sakhalin. This view has been corroborated by later analyses. Archaeologists have considered that bear worship, which is a religious practice widely observed among the northern Eurasian ethnic groups (including the Ainu, Finns, Nivkh, and Sami), was also shared by the Okhotsk people. On the other hand, no traces of such a religious practice have ever been discovered from archaeological sites of the Jomon and Epi-Jomon periods, which were anterior to the Ainu cultural period. This implies that the Okhotsk culture contributed to the formation of the Ainu culture.” ref

Paternal lineages

“An analysis of 16 Ainu male individuals found that the majority (14/16) belong to Y-DNA Haplogroup D-M55, while a minority (2/16) belongs to Haplogroup C-M217. D-M55 is found throughout the Japanese archipelago, with very high frequencies among the Ainu of Hokkaido. C-M217 is found more commonly among populations from Northeast Asia and Central Asia. Another analysis found that one out of four Ainu men belonged to haplogroup C-M217, while the remaining three belonged to haplogroup D-M55.” ref

Maternal lineages

“An analysis of 51 Ainu individuals found that around 51% of their mtDNA subclades are unique to the Ainu, while the remaining haplogroups are shared with other Asian populations, especially with the Nivkhs in northern Sakhalin and the Koryaks on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Of the 51 Ainu individuals, around 27.5% (14/51) belong to N9 (of which 10 were assigned to subclade Y and four to unclassifed N9 clades), around 23.5% (12/51) to D, around 19.6% (10/51) to M7, and around 19.6% (10/51) to G; the minor haplogroups are A (2/51), B (1/51), F (1/51), and an unclassified subclade of M not belonging to M7, M8, CZ, D, or G.” ref

Autosomal DNA

“The Ainu appear genetically most closely related to the Jōmon period peoples of Japan. Previous genetic analyses of Jomon remains found them to represent a deeply diverged East Asian lineage. The Jomon lineage is inferred to have diverged from Ancient East Asians before the divergence between Ancient Northern East Asians and Ancient Southern East Asians, but after the divergence of the basal Tianyuan man and/or Hoabinhians. Beyond their broad affinity with Eastern Asian lineages, the Jomon also display a weak affinity for Ancient North Eurasians (ANE), which may be associated with the introduction of microblade technology to Northeast Asia and northern East Asia during the Last Glacial Maximum via the ANE or Ancient Paleo-Siberians.” ref

“The genetic makeup of the Ainu represents a “deep branch of East Asian diversity”. Compared to contemporary East Asian populations, the Ainu share “a closer genetic relationship with northeast Siberians”. The Ainu also display a relative closer genetic affinity with “lowland East Asians” than “highland East Asians” and may have contributed some ancestry to surrounding populations around the Sea of Okhotsk. Differences in the frequency of the derived EDAR gene variant between the Ainu and contemporary East Asians suggest that the ancestors of the Ainu may not have shared the selective pressures with other Ancestral East Asian populations. The Ainu, however, share two variants in the ADH gene cluster with other East Asians at high frequency, unlike Tibetans and Sherpa, “raising the possibility that selective pressure on these variants was different in the high-altitude environments.” ref

“The closest modern ethnic groups to the Ainu are the Ryukyuans in southern Japan, followed by contemporary Japanese people. Compared with other East Asian populations, the Ainu are forming an outgroup, pointing to long-lasting isolation after their divergence. By analyzing the SNP loci of Ainu individuals, it was found that they carry genes associated with facial structure found among Europeans and hair and tooth morphology found among East Asians. Genetic analyses of HLA I and HLA II genes as well as HLA-A, B, and DRB1 gene frequencies placed the Ainu in an intermediate position between indigenous peoples of the Americas and contemporary Northeast Asians.” ref

“Studies on modern-day Ainu estimate that they derive between 66% and 79.3% of their ancestry from the Jōmon lineage. Another study on modern Ainu individuals found that they derive c. 49% of their ancestry directly from the Jōmon people, c. 22% from the Okhotsk people (who themselves could be modeled as 54% Ancient Northeast Asian, 22% Ancient Paleo-Siberian, and 24% Jōmon), and ~29% from the Yamato Japanese (who carried around 11% Jōmon and 89% Yayoi ancestry), corresponding with historical events. Traditional Ainu culture is quite different from Japanese culture. According to Tanaka Sakurako from the University of British Columbia, the Ainu culture can be included into a wider “northern circumpacific region”, referring to various indigenous cultures of Northeast Asia and “beyond the Bering Strait” in North America.” ref

“Never shaving after a certain age, the men have full beards and moustaches. Men and women alike cut their hair level with the shoulders at the sides of the head, trimmed semi-circularly behind. The women tattoo (anchi-piri) their mouths and sometimes their forearms. The mouth tattoos start at a young age with a small spot on the upper lip, gradually increasing in size. The soot deposited on a pot hung over a fire of birch bark is used for color. Traditional Ainu dress consists of a robe spun from the inner bark of the elm tree, called attusi or attush. The various styles consist generally of a simple short robe with straight sleeves, folded around the body, and tied with a band around the waist. The sleeves end at the wrist or forearm, and the length generally is to the calves. Women also wear an undergarment of Japanese cloth.” ref

“In winter, the skins of animals are worn, with leggings of deerskin and, in Sakhalin, boots made from the skin of dogs or salmon. Ainu culture regards earrings, traditionally made from grapevines, as gender-neutral. Women also wear a beaded necklace called a tamasay. Modern craftswomen weave and embroider traditional garments that command very high prices. Traditional Ainu cuisine consists of the meat of bears, foxes, wolves, badgers, oxen, and horses, as well as fish, fowl, millet, vegetables, herbs, and roots. The Ainu traditionally never eat raw fish or meat, always boiling or roasting it. Their traditional habitations are reed-thatched huts, the largest about 20 ft (6 m) square, without partitions and having a fireplace in the center. There is no chimney; there is only a hole at the angle of the roof. One window sits on the eastern side, along with two doors. The house of the village head is used as a public meeting-place when one is needed. Another kind of traditional Ainu house is called chise.” ref

“Instead of using furniture, Ainu traditionally would sit on the floor, which would be covered with two layers of mats, one of rush and the other of water flag (Iris pseudacorus), a water plant with long sword-shaped leaves. For beds, planks are spread, and mats are hung around them on poles, employing skins for coverlets. Men use chopsticks when eating, and women use wooden spoons. Ainu cuisine is not commonly eaten outside Ainu communities. Only a few restaurants in Japan – mainly in Tokyo and Hokkaido – serve traditional Ainu dishes. The functions of judgeship were not entrusted to chiefs. Rather, an indefinite number of a community’s members sat in judgment upon its criminals. Capital punishment did not exist, nor did the community resort to imprisonment. Beating was considered a sufficient and final penalty. However, in the case of murder, the nose and ears of the culprit were cut off, or the tendons of their feet were severed.” ref

The Ainu traditionally hunt from late autumn to early summer, in part because in late autumn, plant gathering, salmon fishing, and other activities of securing food come to an end, and hunters readily find game in fields and mountains in which plants have withered. A village typically possesses a hunting-ground of its own, or several villages use a joint hunting territory, called an iwor. Heavy penalties were imposed on any outsiders trespassing on such hunting grounds or on joint hunting territory. The Ainu traditionally hunt Ussuri brown bears, Asian black bears, Ezo deer (a subspecies of sika deer), hares, red foxes, Japanese raccoon dogs, and other animals. Ezo deer are a particularly important food resource for the Ainu, as are salmon. The Ainu also hunt sea eagles, such as white-tailed sea eagles, along with ravens and other birds.” ref

“The Ainu hunted eagles for their tail feathers, which they used in trade with the Japanese. Historically, the Ainu hunted sea-otters and traded their pelts in the Japanese market. The Ainu hunted with arrows and spears with poison-coated points. They obtained the poison, called surku, from the roots and stalks of aconites. The recipe for this poison was a household secret that differed from family to family. They enhanced the poison with mixtures of roots and stalks of dog’s bane, boiled juice of Mekuragumo (a type of harvestman), Matsumomushi (Notonecta triguttata, a species of backswimmer), tobacco, and other ingredients. They also used stingray stingers or skin-covering stingers. They traditionally hunt in groups with dogs. Before hunting, particularly for bears and similar animals, they may pray to the Kamuy-huci, the house guardian goddess, to convey their wishes for a large catch and to the god of mountains for safe hunting.” ref

“The Ainu traditionally hunt bears during the spring thaw. At that time, bears are weak because they haven’t eaten during their long hibernation. Ainu hunters catch hibernating bears or bears that have just left hibernation dens. When they hunt bears in summer, they use a spring trap loaded with an arrow, called an amappo. The Ainu usually use arrows to hunt deer. Also, they drive deer into a river or sea and shoot them with arrows. For a large catch, a whole village would drive a herd of deer off a cliff and club them to death. Fishing is important to Ainu culture. They largely catch trout in summer and salmon in autumn, as well as ito (Japanese huchen), dace, and other fish. Spears called marek were often used. Other methods were tesh fishing, uray fishing, and rawomap fishing. Many villages were built near rivers or along the coast. Each village or individual had a definite river fishing territory. Outsiders could not freely fish there and needed to ask the owner.” ref

“Traditionally, Ainu men wear a crown called a sapanpe for important ceremonies. Sapanpe are made from wood fiber with bundles of partially shaved wood. The crown has wooden figures of animal gods and other ornaments in its center. Men carry an emush (ceremonial sword) secured by an emush-at strap to their shoulders. Ainu women traditionally wear matanpushi, embroidered headbands, and ninkari, metal earrings with balls. Matanpushi and ninkari were originally also worn by men. Furthermore, aprons called maidari are now part of women’s formal clothes. However, some old documents state that men wore maidari. Women sometimes wear a bracelet called a tekunkani. Women may wear a necklace called a rektunpe, a long, narrow strip of cloth with metal plaques. They may also wear a necklace that reaches the breast, called a tamasay or shitoki, usually made from glass balls. Some glass balls came from trade with the Asian continent. The Ainu also obtained glass balls secretly made by the Matsumae clan.” ref

“A village is called a kotan in the Ainu language. Kotan were traditionally located in river basins and along seashores where food was readily available, particularly in the basins of rivers through which salmon traveled upstream. In early modern times, the Ainu people were forced to labor at Japanese fishing grounds. Ainu kotan were also forced to relocate to near fishing grounds so that the Japanese could secure a labor force. When the Japanese moved to other fishing grounds, Ainu kotan were forced to accompany them. As a result, the traditional kotan disappeared, and large villages of several dozen families were formed around the fishing grounds. }}Cise}} or cisey (houses) in a kotan are made of cogon grass, bamboo grass, bark, etc. The length lays east to west or parallel to a river. A cise is about seven by five meters, with an entrance at the west end that also serves as a storeroom. A cise has three windows, including the rorun-puyar, a window located on the side facing the entrance (i.e., on the east side), through which gods enter and leave and ceremonial tools are taken in and out. The Ainu regard this window as sacred and are told never to look in through it.” ref

“A cise has a fireplace near the entrance. A husband and wife would traditionally sit on the fireplace’s left side (called shiso). Children and guests would sit facing them on the fireplace’s right side (called harkiso). The cise has a platform for valuables called iyoykir behind the shiso. The Ainu place sintoko (hokai) and ikayop (quivers) there. The Ainu people have various types of marriage. A child is traditionally promised in marriage by arrangement between their parents and the parents of their betrothed, or by a go-between. When the betrothed reach a marriageable age, they are told who their spouse is to be. There are also traditional marriages based on the mutual consent of both sexes. In some areas, when a daughter reaches a marriageable age, her parents allow her to live in a small room called a tunpu, annexed to the southern wall of the house. The parents choose her husband from the men who visit her. The age of marriage is 17 to 18 years of age for men and 15 to 16 years of age for women, who are traditionally tattooed. At these ages, both sexes are regarded as adults.” ref

“When a man proposes to a woman in traditional fashion, he visits her house, and she hands him a full bowl of rice. He then eats half of the rice and returns the rest to her. If the woman eats the remaining rice, she accepts his proposal. If she does not and instead puts it beside her, she rejects his proposal. When a man and woman become engaged or learn that their engagement has been arranged, they exchange gifts. The man sends her a small engraved knife, a workbox, a spool, and other gifts. She sends him embroidered clothes, coverings for the back of the hand, leggings, and other handmade clothes. The worn-out fabric of old clothing is used for baby clothes because soft cloth is good for their skin. Additionally, worn-out material was thought to protect babies from the gods of illness and demons, due to these entities’ abhorrence of dirty things. Before a baby is breast-fed, they are given a decoction of the endodermis of an alder and the roots of butterburs to discharge impurities.” ref

“Children are raised almost naked until about the ages of four to five. Even when they wear clothes, they do not wear belts and leave the front of their clothes open. Subsequently, they wear bark clothes without patterns, such as attush, until they come of age. Ainu babies traditionally are not given permanent names when they are born. Rather, they are called by various temporary names until the age of two or three. Newborn babies are named ayay (“a baby’s crying”), shipo, poyshi (“small excrement”), and shion (“old excrement”). Their tentative names have a portion meaning “excrement” or “old things” to ward off the demon of ill-health. Some children are named based on their behavior or habits; others are named after notable events or after their parents’ wishes for their future. When children are named, they are never given the same names as others.” ref

“Men traditionally wear loincloths and have their hair dressed properly for the first time at age 15 to 16. Women are also considered adults at the age of 15 to 16. They traditionally wear underclothes called mour and have their hair dressed properly, with wound waistcloths called raunkut and ponkut around their bodies. When women reached the age of 12 or 13, the lips, hands, and arms were traditionally tattooed. When they reached the age of 15 or 16, their tattoos would be completed, indicating their qualification for marriage.” ref

“The Ainu are traditionally animists, believing that everything in nature has a kamuy (spirit or god) on the inside. The most important include:

• Kamuy-huci, goddess of the hearth
• Kim-un-kamuy, god of bears and mountains
• Repun Kamuy, god of the sea, fishing, and marine animals
• Kotan-kar-kamuy, regarded as the creator of the world in the Ainu religion” ref

“Ainu craftsmen, and the Ainu as a whole, traditionally believed that “anything made with deep sincerity was imbued with spirit and also became a [kamuy]”. They also held the belief that ancestors and the power of the family could be invoked through certain patterns in art to protect them from malignant influences. The Ainu religion has no priests by profession. Instead, the village chief performs whatever religious ceremonies are necessary. Ceremonies are confined to making libations of sake, saying prayers, and offering willow sticks with wooden shavings attached to them. These sticks are called inaw (singular) and nusa (plural).” ref

“They are placed on an altar used to “send back” the spirits of killed animals. Ainu ceremonies for sending back bears are called Iyomante. The Ainu people give thanks to the gods before eating and pray to the deity of fire in times of sickness. Traditional Ainu belief holds that their spirits are immortal and that their spirits will be rewarded hereafter by ascending to kamuy mosir (Land of the Gods). The Ainu are part of a larger collective of indigenous people who practice “arctolatry”, or bear worship. The Ainu believe that the bear holds particular importance as Kim-un Kamuy’s chosen method of delivering the gift of the bear’s hide and meat to humans. John Batchelor reported that the Ainu view the world as being a spherical ocean on which many islands float, a view based on the fact that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. He wrote that they believe the world rests on the back of a large fish, which, when it moves, causes earthquakes.” ref

“Ainu assimilated into mainstream Japanese society have adopted Buddhism and Shintō; some northern Ainu were converted as members of the Russian Orthodox Church. Regarding Ainu communities in Shikotan and other areas that fall within the Russian sphere of cultural influence, there have been a few churches constructed, and some Ainu are reported to have accepted the Christian faith. There have also been reports that the Russian Orthodox Church has performed some missionary projects in the Sakhalin Ainu community. However, there are only reports of a few conversions to Christianity. Converts have been scorned as “Nutsa Ainu” (Russian Ainu) by other members of the Ainu community. Reports indicate that many Ainu have kept their faith in their traditional deities.” ref

According to a 2012 survey conducted by Hokkaidō University, a high percentage of Ainu are members of their household family religion, which is Buddhism (especially Nichiren Shōshū Buddhism). However, it is noted that, similar to the Japanese religious consciousness, there is not a strong feeling of identification with a particular religion, with Buddhist and traditional beliefs both being part of their daily lives. The Ainu religion consists of a pantheistic animist structure in which the world is founded on interactions between humans and kamuy. Within all living beings, natural forces, and objects, there is a ramat (sacred life force) that is an extension of a greater kamuy. Kamuy are gods or spirits that choose to visit the human world in temporary physical forms, both animate and inanimate, within the human world.” ref

“Once the physical vessel dies or breaks, the ramat returns to the kamuy and leaves its physical form behind as a gift to humans. If the humans treated the vessel and kamuy with respect and gratitude, then the kamuy would return out of delight for the human world. Due to this interaction, the Ainu lived with deep reverence for nature and all objects and phenomena in the hopes that the kamuy would return. The Ainu believed that the kamuy granted humans objects, skills, and knowledge to use tools, and thus deserve respect and worship. Daily practices included the moderation of hunting, gathering, and harvesting to not disturb the kamuy. Often, the Ainu would make offerings of an inau (sacred shaved stick), which usually consisted of whittled willow tree wood with decorative shavings still attached, and wine to the kamuy. They also built sacred altars called nusa (a fence-like row of taller Inau decorated with bear skulls), separated from the main house and raised storehouses and often observed outdoor rituals.” ref

“The Ainu observed a ritual that would return kamuy, a divine or spiritual being in Ainu mythology, to the spiritual realm. This kamuy sending ritual was called Omante. A bear cub would be captured alive during hibernation and raised in the village as a child. Women would care for the cubs as if they were their children, sometimes even nursing them if needed. Once the bears reached maturity, they would hold another ritual every 5 to 10 years called Iomante (sometimes Iyomante). People from neighboring villages were invited to help celebrate this ritual, in which members of the village would send the bear back to the realm of spirits by gathering around it in a central area and using special ceremonial arrows to shoot it. Afterwards, they would eat the meat. However, in 1955, this ritual was outlawed as animal cruelty. In 2007, it became exempt due to its cultural significance to the Ainu. The ritual has since been modified; it is now an annual festival. The festival begins at sundown with a torch parade. A play is then performed, and this is followed by music and dancing.” ref

“Other rituals were performed for things such as food and illness. The Ainu had a ritual to welcome the salmon, praying for a big catch, and another to thank the salmon at the end of the season. There was also a ritual for warding off kamuy that would bring epidemics, using strong-smelling herbs placed in doorways, windows, and gardens to turn away epidemic kamuy. Similarly to many religions, the Ainu also gave prayers and offerings to their ancestors in the spirit world or afterlife. They would also pray to the fire kamuy to deliver their offerings of broken snacks and fruit, as well as tobacco. Traditional dances are performed at ceremonies and banquets. Dancing is a part of the newly organized cultural festivals, and it is even done privately in daily life. Ainu traditional dances often involve large circles of dancers, and sometimes there are onlookers that sing without musical instruments. In rituals, these dances are intimate; they involve the calls and movements of animals and/or insects.” ref

“Some, like the sword and bow dances, are rituals that were used to worship and give thanks for nature. This was to thank deities that they believed were in their surroundings. There was also a dance in Iomante that mimicked the movements of a living bear. However, some dances are improvised and meant just for entertainment. Overall, Ainu traditional dancing reinforced their connection to nature and the religious world and provided a link to other Arctic cultures. Funerals included prayers and offerings to the fire kamuy, as well as verse laments expressing wishes for a smooth journey to the next world. The items that were to be buried with the dead were first broken or cracked to allow spirits to be released and travel to the afterlife together. Sometimes a burial would be followed by burning the residence of the dead. In the event of an unnatural death, there would be a speech raging against the gods.” ref

“In the afterlife, recognized ancestral spirits moved through and influenced the world, though neglected spirits would return to the living world and cause misfortune. Prosperity of family in the afterlife would depend on prayers and offerings left by living descendants; this often led to Ainu parents teaching their children to look after them in the afterlife. Since late 2011, the Ainu have developed cultural exchange and cooperation with the Sámi people of northern Europe. Both the Sámi and the Ainu participate in the organization for Arctic indigenous peoples and the Sámi research office in Lapland (Finland).” ref