Tlingit
M. Kelley/AGE Fotostock
"KLING-kit"
The word Tlingit means “people.” Traditional Tlingit territory is the Southeastern Alaska panhandle, from Yakutat south to Ketchikan, and including the Alexander Archipelago, which consists of more than a thousand islands.
Population: Approximately 24,000 (as of 2016) Language: Lingít
The Beaver Returns
Alaska State Library Historical Collections ASL-P1-083
G. George
G. George
Tlingit Language
D. Finnin/© AMNH
A3-Powell_quote
From the Collections: Tlingit berry masher

Masher
Tlingit women would have used this masher to press summer berries into a flat “cake.” Similar to today’s nutrition bars, the berry cakes were then dried and packed into boxes for winter use. Another long-lasting recipe crushed fresh berries with salmon eggs and salmon grease.
This masher is from Tlingit territory in southeast Alaska.
AMNH E/936, acquired 1894
Indigenous Culture and the Capital City
M. Kelley/AGE Fotostock
B. Wallace, courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute, which sponsors Celebration.
Image credit: M. Penn/Juneau Empire
M. Penn/Juneau Empire
From the Collections: Tlingit bent-cornered bear dish

Bear dish
Bentwood boxes are a Northwest Coast specialty. To make one, an artist takes a single wood board, notches it, steams it and bends it into shape. This one is in the form of a grizzly bear, a revered animal in Tlingit culture that is considered an ancestor by some family lines. Touch the image of the box to rotate it and see the bear’s carved sides and hindquarters.
This food dish is from the Haines area in Tlingit territory in southeast Alaska.
AMNH 19/1086, acquired 1869–1890
In Tlingit Territory
University of Washington, Special Collections, NA2100
P57-018 Alaska State Library. Elbridge Warren Merrill Photo Collection.
M. DeYoung/AGE Fotostock
D. Paulson/AGE Fotostock
Alaska Stock/AGE Fotostock
Alaska Stock/AGE Fotostock
T. Mangelsen/Minden Pictures
Then and Now

University of Washington, Special Collections, NA2577

Hannah Smith Walker
(left) Decades before Alaska became part of the United States, colonial traders from Russia settled in the Kiks.adi Tlingit village of Sheet'ká. The Tlingit resisted, but in 1804, the Russians bombarded them, forcing a retreat. This 1900 image of Sitka shows St. Michael's Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church. (right) Fire destroyed the original St. Michael's Cathedral in 1966. The Orthodox church in Sitka's downtown today is a replica. Today Native people make up between 15 and 20 percent of the population of Sitka, including many descendants of its original residents.
From the Collections and Beyond
AMNH 16.1/1842, acquired 1889
Penn Museum, image #140236
AMNH 19/1032 and E/321, acquired 1869–1894
AMNH Library 13982
AMNH E/264, acquired 1894
AMNH E/1975, acquired 1894
AMNH Division of Anthropology Z/9J
AMNH Library 328740
AMNH 16/9680, 19/646, E/454; acquired late 1800s/early 1900s
S. Johnson
AMNH E/2715, acquired 1897
P87-0243. Alaska State Library & Pond Photo Collection