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For information on the Harriman Retraced Expedition e-mail: harriman2001@science.smith.edu |
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Kai Monture, age
11 My name is Kai Monture. My
clan is the Kwaashkikwaan. Yakutat Bay and the area around
it was part of the 263 miles of land owned by the Tlingit
people. The area they owned was from Katalla to Lituya
Bay. The land was owned by five
clans. Each clan had their own area and they each knew from
what mountain to what mountain, from what river to what
river they owned. Each clan was under one of the two
moieties, Raven and Eagle. They all had their own crests and
each clan had houses under it. The northernmost clan, the
Beaver Clan, owned from Katalla to Icy Bay. The Beaver
Clan's Tlingit name is Galyax Kaagwaantaan. They were always
there, and they take Mt. Roberts as their crest. The area from Icy Bay to Yakutat
Bay and out to the Airport was owned by the Kwaash kikwaan
or the Humpy Salmon Creek Clan. The Kwaash kikwaan or
Gineixkwaan came from the Chitna and the Copper River area.
They're called the copper diggers. They brought copper or
tin to the area. Their houses are the Owl House and the Half
Moon house. From Lost River and on up to
Situk and the headwaters of the Aantlaan is owned by the
Teikweidei or the Brown Bear Clan. They migrated up from the
Ketchikan area. They saw the fire on Mt. Edgecombe when it
erupted 950 years ago and claimed it. The Silver Salmon Clan or the
L'uknax.adi owned from Akwe River to Lituya Bay. That is my
grandfather's clan. They have seven houses. The Far Out
House, the Canoe Prow House, the Frog House, the Mountain
House, the Sea Lion House, the Whale House, and the Sleep
House. The area right above them, the
Alsek River area, was owned by the Shangukeidee or the
Thunderbird Clan. The Thunderbird is their crest because
they left a boy behind while they were coming down through
the Alsek River. When they went back feathers were growing
on him. The Thunderbird had claimed him. That is the five clans and their
territories. Each clan was protective of their land. Land
ownership is one of the biggest laws in the Tlingit culture.
You did not fish or hunt on somebody else's land without
their permission. If you did your and you were caught your
equipment would be broken and you would have to leave. Two
areas in Yakutat were purchased because of these
incidents. Hunting &
Fishing The Tlingit people subsisted in
seasonal rounds. In the Yakutat area, they hunted black and
brown bear with spear and deadfall. For wolf, coyote, and
fox they used snares. They used traps to get mink, weasel,
and land otter. With bow and arrow, they hunted the mountain
goat. They fished Halibut, King salmon, Silver salmon, and
Humpy salmon. To fish Halibut they used wooden hooks or nawk
in Tlingit. They gathered roots and plants for medicines,
and picked berries. Children The jobs of young children long
ago depended on the mental and physical capabilities. They
had to do whatever they could. They had to pick berries,
gather roots and plants, and clean fish. The older they got
the harder the tasks became. This is how they
learned. From the time a boy was six or
seven he went to stay with his paternal uncle to be trained
in the Tlingit culture. He learned how to hunt, trap, set
snares, and fish. He also learned the many stories, dances,
songs, and the Tlingit laws. Dances &
Stories The Tlingit people had many
songs and dances for medicine, competition, stories,
religion, and to make you happy. In Yakutat our dance group
is the Mount St. Elias Dancers. We perform many songs and
dances for ceremonies and competitions. The Tlingit have many stories.
They have stories of the creation of the land, stories of
animals, great heroes, parables, and Kooshdakaa (Tlingit
monsters). Yakutat Now This is Yakutat now, 102 years
later. It is a modern, developed subsistence community. We
still have our traditions. We have a dance group. The elders
pass on the stories. We hold Potlatches to honor those who
have passed on. We still hunt and fish but we use modern
equipment like rifles. We go out into the bay to pull nets
on steel skiffs instead of kayaks. We have a school with
computers. We have an airport with daily flights. It's still
a Tlingit subsistence town 102 years later. I'd like to say gunacheech
(thank you) my grandfather, mother, grandma, and everyone
else who helped me write this essay.
Lydia Bogren, age
16 My name is Lydia
Bogren. The little boy who was left
behind The people were at the head of
the Alsek River. This river runs very swift so our people
pulled canoes with a rope. Along the way they stopped at a
camping spot to have lunch. During this time a 4-year-old
boy wandered off to go hunting for little birds. The clan
finished with lunch and decided to move on, forgetting that
the little boy was still out hunting. The clan didn't miss
the little boy until they reached the foot of the Alsek
River. It would take at least four days, fighting swift
currents, to get back to where the boy was. After much
discussion and deliberation the clan decided that the by the
time they would get back, the boy would not longer be alive.
The Shungukeidee decided that it would be dangerous to go
back only to find that the boy had perished so the made the
difficult decision to remain there and let him go. The
Shuggukeidee had a big potlatch when they knew they wouldn't
have the boy return to them. Everyone in the clan felt sad
that they had lost the boy and had heavy hearts. To heal
their hearts and so they wouldn't forget, they composed a
song about this sad event. Many years later they found out
that the Thunderbird took care of the boy. When the boy
could not find his family he cried. The Thunderbird heard
the boy crying, turned himself into a human being and raised
the boy in a cave near the mountains. The Thunderbird was
very proud of the boy that grew into a strong man, but the
Thunderbird realized the boy was very lonesome. The
Thunderbird decided to return this man to the Shungukeidee.
When he returned to his people, he noticed that he had grown
quill on his legs down to his ankles and from his elbows to
his wrists. After he returned to his people, he wanted them
to belong to the Thunderbird. That is how the Shungukeidee
got the Thunderbird Crest.
Carl Bogren, age
11 My name is Carl Bogren My great great grandfather was
Lituya Bay George. He was the last to leave Lituya Bay.
Lituya Bay George had such strong feelings about not wanting
to lose it, he had laid claim to it. Later on he moved on to
Dry Bay. There, he and his daughters worked in the cannery.
Lituya Bay George packed mail for miners. His daughter
Jennie worked in the cannery from the time she was eleven
years old. In order for her to work there they said she was
older than she really was. During that time the first house
was built in Dry Bay in 1909. When the cannery shut down the
children were required by the Territory of Alaska to get an
education. My great great-grandmother Jennie was sent to
Sheldon Jackson school to get an education but didn't stay
very long because they forbid her from speaking her own
language. Dry Bay was pretty much
abandoned after the shut down of the cannery, and then the
people migrated to Yakutat. In Yakutat, John Peterson and
others set out to build one of Yakutat's first tribal
houses, which was the Thunderbird house. Before the people
moved from Dry Bay to Yakutat, they traveled along the
beaches in the summer, and inland over frozen lakes during
the winter. When they covered new territory they would drag
a stick behind them to mark the trail or make carvings in
the trees to keep from walking in circles.
John Patrick Buller, age
15 The Tlingits of the Yakutat area
occupied all of the Gulf of Alaska, from Cape Fairweather to
between Dry Bay and Lituya Bay. The Galyix Kagwantan claimed
Controller Bay and the shore almost to Icy Bay. Icy Bay was
an important hunting area for the Galyix Kagwantan. They
hunted mountain goat, seal and sea otter. The Galyix
Kagwantan originally spoke Eyak and settled the Kaliakh
River after the flood. Chugach Eskimos claimed Controlled
Bay during the 18th century but they were driven off by
Tlingits. The Galyix Kagwantan got the name Galyix from
their villiage called Galyix at Kaliakh River, and the name
Kagwantan was attached to them when a Galyix man married the
Kagwantan Chief's daughter. The Galyix Kagwantan is in the
Eagle Clan and their crest is the beaver and the
wolf.
Martha Mallott, age
13 My name is Martha Mallott.
I am raven from the frog house and the child of
Gulyeil'Kaagwaantaan Long ago Luk'na-axdi people
lived in a big clan house in the Gusex village. Around the
1800s the Luk'na-axdi people stayed in Dry Bay for some time
and made a clan house. Gusex is an Athabascan name.
Athabascan people came from the interior and traveled the
Alsek River into Dry Bay. They were known as the Gunana
people or "foreigners" or "Stick Indians." The Guanana
people from the interior were one of the first to settle in
Gusex. The Gunana people were
Luk'wa-axdi's, Sockeye people. Because the Luk'wa-axdi were
only seasonal people, the Luk'na-axdi's migration into the
area was permanent and they eventually acquired Gusex as
their own. Gusex grew into the largest Luk'na-axdi village
in the Gunaaxoo area. The Luk'na-axdi people would
mainly fish for sockeye, silver salmon, and chum. The main
berries that they would pick were salmon berries,
strawberries, blueberries, high-bush cranberries and chalk
berries. The furs that they would collect were lynx, mink,
marten, and land otter. The main crests that they would use
were the Frog, Mt. Fairweather, Coho and Boulder. This is how life was for the
Luk'na-axdi in Dry Bay. After the Luk'na-axdis migrated to
Yakutat. Life in Yakutat was much different; there were
canneries and schools for the children. But they managed to
adjust to the change and life in Yakutat was
great.
For information on the Harriman Retraced Expedition e-mail: harriman2001@science.smith.edu
Expedition
Log
Kaakutkeich Yoo xat
du wasaakw Tlingit tleina.
Kwaash kikwaan naa aya xat Tiskw Hit dax.
My house is the Owl house. My land is from Icy Bay down
to Yakutat.
Kaa too wu kin yoo
xat du wasaakw
Shugkeidee aya xat
Xeitl hit dax
Kwaashi Kwaan yadi aya xat
My clan is shungukeidee
I come from the Thunderbird House
I am the grandchild of Kwaashki Kwaan
Yaan Duein yoo xat
duwsasakw
Shungukeidee aya xat
Xeitl hit dax
Kwaashki kwaan yadi aya xat
My clan is shungukeidee
I come from the thunderbird house
I am the grandchild of kwaashi kwaan
Chash'tlaa yooxaat
dooisaak Yei'l ayaxaat Luk'na-axdi axaat
Gulyeil'Kaagwaataan yatgee
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