Subsistence Patterns

Fish, shellfish, and land animals were abundant in southeast Alaska. Because of this and the moderate coastal climate, the people could hunt and gather food year-round. The ocean provided most of the food. In the Tlingit language, Tlingit means "people of the tide." Like other Alaskan Native groups, the Tlingit did not practice agriculture.

In February or March, eulachon runs began. The Tlingit and Haida took these fish in large numbers for their oil, which they ate, traded, and burned for light during winter. They used nets of rawhide or cedar bark twine to fish for eulachon. Two people in a canoe drifted the nets downstream. One person paddled while the other worked the net. 

In March, Southeast Alaskans gathered shellfish, such as clams, crabs, mussels, cockles, snails, and several kinds of seaweed. They began sea fishing for halibut and cod and inland fishing for Dolly Varden at the end of March. They used wooden hooks tipped with bone barbs to fish for halibut and cod. 

In April, sea mammals migrating north passed through Southeast Alaska waters. Sea otters were taken for their pelts. The Southeast Alaska Natives also hunted hair seals, fur seals, sea lions, and porpoises for their meat and pelts.

During spring, Tlingits and Haidas also harvested herring for their eggs and oil. They collected herring with rakes, dip baskets, and nets. A herring rake was a long pole with one end flattened. Sharp bones were set about an inch apart along one edge of the flat end. When the rake was plunged into the water, toothed end down, and drawn through a school of herring, many fish were caught on the teeth. Dip baskets were woven grass baskets, often with a long handle, that the people plunged into the water to scoop out fish. Many of the nets had lines with several hooks attached.

In summer, salmon returned from the ocean to spawn in freshwater streams. Fish traps were the most common method of catching salmon. Salmon and other seasonal foods were preserved for the winter months by smoking in smokehouses or drying by wind or sun. In late summer, women and children gathered berries.

With the coming of fall, the Tlingit and Haida peoples hunted deer, black bears, brown bears, mountain goats, and sheep. They used bows and arrows, snares, and spears. Occasionally, they set deadfall traps. An animal that fell victim to one of these traps would fall either into a deep hole from which it could not escape or over a bank or cliff to its death. Tlingits and Haidas also trapped smaller animals, including foxes, porcupines, marmot, otters, mink, beavers, squirrels, lynx, marten, rabbits, weasel, muskrats, and raccoons. They also hunted birds, ducks, geese, and their eggs. 

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