The Tlingit Indians: (The Tlingit Indians)

This is the comprehensive study of the Tlingit Indians by Lieutenant George Emmons, who was stationed in Alaska in the 1880s and 1890s. Drawing on her long personal experience with the Tlingit, noted anthropologist de Laguna has organized Emmons's unfinished manuscript and made significant additions. "A comprehensive and definitive work that will be of interest to the general reader and indispensable to students and specialists in the field. It is the most important single resource now available on the Tlingit people." - Richard L. Dauenhauer, Science

Table of Contents:
Abbreviations Preface: Editing The Tlingit Indians Transliteration of Tlingit Acknowledgments Editor's Introduction: George Thornton Emmons as Ethnographer A Biography by Jean Low: Lieutenant George Thornton Emmons, USN, 1852-1945 THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE Physical Features of Tlingit Territory Climate Flora and Fauna The Tlingit Name Origin of the Tlingit Physical Appearance Character Health and Disease Population SOCIAL ORGANIZATION Introduction Tlingit Tribes Phratry or Moiety Clan House and Household Kinship Crests Display of the Crest Painting of the Face Names Social Classes Chiefs Authority of Chiefs Slaves Law Trade VILLAGES, HOUSES, FORTS, AND OTHER WORKS Villages Houses Domestic Life Other Houses and Shelters Forts Petroglyphs Stone Cairns TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION Canoes Manufacture and Repair of Canoes Appurtenances of the Canoe Handling the Canoe Snowshoes Bags, Packs, Boxes and Sleds FISHING AND HUNTING Introduction Religious Aspects of the Food Quest Salmon Fishing Halibut Fishing Herring Fishing Eulachon Fishing Trout Fishing Other Fish and Marine Invertebrates Seal Hunting Porpoise, Sea Lion, and Whale Sea Otter Hunting Land Animal Hunting: Aboriginal Weapons Firearms Land Animal Hunting: Traps and Snares Bird Hunting Hunting Dogs FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION Introduction Salmon Halibut Herring and Eulachon Other Fish and Shellfish Land Animals Sea Mammals Birds Berries and Other Plant Foods Tobacco Drink Fire Making Domestic Utensils ARTS AND INDUSTRIES: MEN'S WORKS Division of Labor Work in Stone "Jade" Men's Tools Work in Horn, Ivory, Shell, and Inlays Work in Copper Copper Neck Rings "Coppers" Work in Iron Work in Silver and Gold Work in Wood Measurements Totem Poles Painting Art ARTS AND INDUSTRIES: WOMEN'S WORK Skin Dressing Sinew and Intestines Basketry Spruce Root Hats Basketry Designs Spruce Root Mats Cedar Bark Weaving The Chilkat Blanket DRESS AND DECORATION Personal Cleanliness Clothing Hair Dressing Ear and Nose Ornaments Labrets Bracelets and Necklaces Face Painting Tattooing THE LIFE CYCLE Birth Infancy and Childhood Naming Girl's Puberty Marriage Death Cremation Ceremonies after the Funeral Shaman's Graves Various Other Forms of Disposal of the Dead Recent Graveyards Inheritance of Property Afterlife, Spirits, Souls, Reincarnation CEREMONIES Music and Dance Tlingit Ceremonialism in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries House-Building Ceremonies Dedication of the House and Raising a Totem Pole Dick Sa-tan's Potlatch, 1891 A Major Potlatch Ceremony for the Children The Berry Potlatch Dance WAR AND PEACE Early Encounters with Europeans Interclan Warfare Encounters with Americans Aboriginal Warfare Aboriginal Arms and Armor Arms, Armor, and Tactics, Described by the Early Explorers Making Peace Early Accounts of Peace Ceremonies Peace Ceremonies in 1891 and 1877 ILLNESS AND MEDICINE Diagnosis of Illness Cures for External Ailments Medicines for internal Use Other "Medicines" Omens and Amulets SHAMANISM Spirits The Shaman Becoming a Shaman The Shaman's Outfit The Shaman's practice Stories about Shamans Death of a Shaman WITCHCRAFT The Origin of Witches Shaman and Witch Witches, Shamans, and the Authorities GAMES AND GAMBLING The Stick Game The Toggle (or Hand) Game The Dice Game Spinner Gambling in the Russian Era TIME, TIDES, AND WINDS Count Time: Seasons and Days "Moons" of the Year Tides Winds Tables Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Frederica de Laguna , professor emeritus of anthropology at Bryn Mawr College, is the author of the three-volume Under Mount Saint Elias (on the Tlingit of Yakutat) and numerous other works on Alaska archaeology and ethnography.

Review :
"A comprehensive and definitive work that will be of interest to the general reader and indispensable to students and specialists in the field. It is the most important single resource now available on the Tlingit people." Richard L. Dauenhauer, Science "The book deserves praise in the first place for its documentary value and the thorough use of archival sources by the author."--Anthropos, 103.2008