Embedded Files
2.3.9.wavSoutheast Alaskans traveled great distances. In mid-summer, Tlingits traveled down the coast to trade with Haidas. Tlingit blankets might be exchanged for a cedar canoe. The Tlingit sometimes traveled as far as Puget Sound in Washington State to trade.
Some Tlingit groups blazed trails from the sea coast through the Coast Mountains to trade with Interior Natives. Each group jealously guarded its route. The Chilkat Trail that went inland through the valley of the Chilkat River was one such trade route. It was sometimes called the grease trail because Chilkat Tlingit carried seal bladders filled with eulachon oil over it to the Interior. There, they traded the oil and dentalium shells to Athabaskans for moose and caribou skins, and copper that had been beaten into sheets.
Warfare was common, mostly in the form of raids and ambushes. The motivation was normally obtaining wealth, such as slaves, and avenging perceived wrongs. War parties could travel great distances.
The Haida were considered the fiercest warriors of the Pacific coast, and their war canoes ranged from Washington to Alaska. Early European sailors called them the "Vikings of the Pacific Northwest," and military historians consider them the most developed naval power in all of native North America.
Tlingit War Canoe by Ulrich Biroth
To navigate through the textbook, click on the next page button or go to the navigation menu on the top left.
Report abuse