Art

Southeast Alaska Natives are perhaps best known for their very distinctive art motifs. Elaborate designs with symbolic natural forms, such as bears, ravens, eagles, whales, and humans, decorated nearly everything they made, from common household items to homes, canoes, and ceremonial pieces. Their society included artisans, people who focused on developing their artistic skills and who would trade items they made for food, clothing, and shelter. Although artisans used bone, horn, and ivory, they preferred to carve items from wood, particularly cedar.

The iconic totem poles are the Tlingit and Haida's most famous art pieces. These huge wood pieces served several functions. There were memorial poles to commemorate special events, mortuary poles to honor dead chiefs, and house posts to support roofs. All bore the symbols or crests that belonged to a particular clan, house, or family. The symbols tell the history and legends of the family or, in some cases, an individual. 

Another renowned Tlingit art form is weaving. The Chlikat robes are considered one of the most complex weaving techniques in the world. It is unique in that the Chilkat weaving style is the only weaving that can create perfect circles.  A Chilkat blanket can take a year to weave. Traditionally, mountain goat wool, dog fur, and yellow cedar bark are used in Chilkat weaving.