The Whale House Of The Chilkat Part 1

The Whale House of the Chilkat.

by George T. Emmons.

PREFACE.

The material here presented has been gathered from the most reliable native sources throughout a period of twenty-five years of intimate personal acquaintance and a.s.sociation with the Tlingit, and treats of their past, before the exodus from their old villages to the mining camps and salmon canneries of the white man so reduced their numbers that communal life in the large old houses, upon which their social customs and practices depended, was rendered impossible, and the seed of a new life was sown.

I first visited the Chilkat in 1882, when little influenced by our civilization. They were a comparatively primitive people, living under their own well-established code of laws, subsisting on the natural products of the country, clothed in skins, furs, and trade blankets, practising ancestor worship in their elaborate ceremonial, cremating the dead, dominated by the superst.i.tions of witchcraft and the practice of shamanism, proud, vain, sensitive, but withal, a healthy, honest, independent race, and friendly when fairly met.

Their villages then represented the best traditions of the past in both architecture and ornamentation. The houses of heavy hewn timbers, split from the giant spruces, were fortresses of defense, with narrow doorways for entrance and the smoke hole in the roof for light and ventilation.

But today this is all changed. The old houses have disappeared, the old customs are forgotten, the old people are fast pa.s.sing, and with the education of the children and the gradual loss of the native tongue, there will be nothing left to connect them with the past. So on behalf of native history and my deep interest in the people, I offer this paper, describing in accurate detail one of the last relics of their culture. Had the Chilkat been able to work stone instead of wood, their country would now be the archaeological wonder of the Pacific Coast.

The ill.u.s.trations in color are from sketches made upon the ground and are reasonably accurate both as to form and color. For their final form I am indebted to Mr. S. Ichikawa. To Winter and Pond I am under obligations for permission to use the photograph of the two Chilkat chiefs.

GEORGE T. EMMONS.

Princeton, New Jersey, April, 1916.

INTRODUCTION.

Upon the discovery of the Northwest Coast of America, the Tlingit were found in possession of Southeastern Alaska with possibly the exception of the southernmost portion of Prince of Wales Island, which had been wrested from them by invading Haida from Ma.s.set on the Queen Charlotte Islands, during the latter half of the eighteenth century. From the testimony of the early explorers, this occupation seems to have been of sufficient age to have developed a racial type, speaking the same tongue, acknowledging established laws, and bound by like conventions.

What knowledge we can gather of their origin and early life from their family traditions, songs, and geographical names, although fragmentary and vague, consistently tells of a uniform northward migration by water, along the coast and through the inland channels from the Tsimshian peninsula and Prince of Wales Island, which was constantly augmented by parties of Interior people descending the greater rivers to the sea.

An indefinite belief in an earlier coast population is current among the older people, and in confirmation of this, they refer to some family songs and local names still used but not understood. As the Tlingit are unquestionably a mixed race, this aboriginal element must have been absorbed and contributed its racial characteristics to the evolution of the present race.

The social organization of the Tlingit is founded on matriarchy and is dependent upon two exogamic parties, the members of which intermarry and supplement each other upon the many ceremonial occasions that mark their intercourse. The one claiming the Raven crest is known particularly among the northern Tlingit as Klar-de-nar, "one party,"

the other, more generally represented by the Wolf emblem has several names, local in character, referring to old living places, as Shen-ku-ka-de, "belonging to Shenk," Sit-ka-de, "belonging to Sit,"

said to refer to the separation of the people after the flood when this branch settled at Sit, Gee-ya-de, etc. Outside of these there is one family claiming the Eagle crest that has no phratral standing, the members of which, as strangers, marry indiscriminately in either division, but in all cases the children belong to the mother's clan.

The two parties are subdivided into fifty-six existing consanguineal families or clans, and the names of some other's now extinct are remembered. Each of these, while retaining its phratral functions and privileges, is absolutely independent in government, succession, inheritance, and territory, and besides the phratral crest common to all, a.s.sumes others that are fully as prominent and often more in evidence. Within the family there is a well-defined aristocracy wholly dependent upon birth, from which the chiefs are chosen, an intermediate cla.s.s consisting of those who have forced themselves to the front, through wealth, character, or artistic ability, and the poorer people.

In earlier days there were many slaves who had no recognized rights.

Geographically considered, there are sixteen tribal divisions known as kwans, a contraction of ka (man) and an (land-lived on or claimed).

These are purely accidental aggregations, with little cohesion, a grouping of one or more families of each phratry through migratory meeting or continual intermarriage, that live together in fixed villages for mutual protection and social advantages, but recognize no tribal head or authority, each family being a unit in itself. Very often the bitterest feuds existed between families within the tribe and of the same phratry, although if attacked by a stranger people all would unite for mutual protection.

Of these several tribes the Chilkat-kwan has been the most prominent since our acquaintance with Alaska. The relative importance of a primitive people measured by an abundant food supply, natural resources and geographic position as to favorable trade conditions was fully satisfied in their case. In their country about the head of Lynn Ca.n.a.l, with its two river systems flowing from lakes, the sp.a.w.ning beds of countless salmon furnished a nutritious and limitless staple food which was augmented by various other sea fish and seal in the inlets; bear, goat, and smaller mammals on the land; and exhaustless berry patches on the mountain sides. Their commanding position at the head of the inland channels controlling the mountain pa.s.ses to the interior, gave them the monopoly of the fur trade of the upper Yukon Valley, and the placer copper fields of the White River region. These products, unknown to the coastal area, were economically important in primitive days, and after the advent of Europeans the increased demand for furs, and their greater value, made this trade even more lucrative. That they fully realized its value is demonstrated by their determination to retain control of it, for when the Hudson's Bay Company established the factory of Fort Selkirk at the mouth of the Pelly River in 1852, a war party under the celebrated Chief Chartrich, trailed in some three hundred miles, surprised, captured, and burned the post, and warned the occupants against any further encroachment upon their established zone of trade, and they continued to enjoy these rights until the discovery of the Klondike gold fields, when the influx of whites over-ran the country and destroyed their industries.

The earliest mention of this people occurs in a report of the Russian Pilot Ismalof who, when visiting Yakutat in 1788, notes the presence of a large body of Chilkat. In 1794 a boat expedition from Vancouver's vessels, while exploring the head of Lynn Ca.n.a.l, met with a hostile reception from a considerable number of natives and only averted trouble by a hasty retreat. Lieutenant Whitby, the commander of the party, was told of eight chiefs of great consequence who had their homes on and about the Chilkat River, indicating an extensive population.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 2. An Old House, Kluckwan.]

Under the Russian regime, beyond the mere claim of sovereignty, no jurisdiction was exercised over this people except the distribution of national flags and Imperial medals. All trading was guardedly carried on from the decks of armed vessels, and long after the American occupation they were permitted to live unmolested, until their country became the highway of travel to the interior.

The Tlingit were a canoe people and might be termed semi-nomadic, as they were on their hunting grounds in the early spring and late fall, while the summer season was spent in the fishing camps by the salmon streams, but notwithstanding these long absences they built substantial villages where, except for social activities, they spent the winter in comparative idleness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 3. Con-nuh-ta-di Grave Houses, Kluckwan.]

As they looked to the sea for their princ.i.p.al food supply, their villages were directly on the sh.o.r.e just above the high water mark, in sheltered coves where they could land and launch their canoes in any weather and at any stage of the tide. But the Chilkat, differing from all of the other Tlingit, lived just beyond the open water, in a rather restricted territory, on rivers that were veritable storehouses of food, bringing their abundance of fish life to their very doors, and so permitting them to remain at home throughout the year, except when on their trading trips to the interior, which gave their habitations a more permanent character, and contributed to the unity of communal life.

Of the four princ.i.p.al old villages, all of which have survived the ravages of constant strife and the still more deadly by-products of civilization--liquor and disease--Kluckwan (mother town) has always held the first place in size, wealth, and the character of its people.

It retained its supremacy long after the larger of the more southern coast villages had gone to decay, as its more interior and isolated position and the independent and aggressive reputation of its population kept white traders at a distance. The discovery of gold near Juneau and the establishment of the several salmon canneries at the mouth of the river drew away its people, and communal life in the large old houses, that was dependent upon the united efforts of the whole household was made impossible by the absence of many, and the want of cooperation of others who elected to live by themselves. With the introduction of schools and the efforts of missionaries to break up the old customs, the village has undergone a complete change and the old houses have disappeared or have been modernized.

The village lies at the edge of a gradual slope on the north bank of the Chilkat, twenty miles from its mouth, where the swift current concentrated in a single channel forms a strong eddy that permits the landing of canoes at any stage of the river. The houses in a single and double row follow the trend of the sh.o.r.e for upwards of three-quarters of a mile, but far enough back to allow for the smoke houses, fish drying frames, and canoe shelters, and in the rear are the grave houses (Fig. 3) and the now disused cremation grounds strewn with charred logs and partly burnt funeral pyres. Just beyond the village at either end, in the cottonwood groves, hidden in the underbrush and covered with moss, are the crumbling remains of the shaman's dead houses, guarded by elaborately carved spirit figures and decayed canoes.

The houses of each of the four resident totemic families are grouped about that of the chief for mutual protection, giving the appearance of three separate villages, as the two centrally located families through increase of numbers, have been brought into closer union. In each group the houses of the aristocracy and those of the poorer cla.s.ses are of like construction, differing however in size, strength of material, interior appointments, and ornamentation.

Of the five totemic families that form the Chilkat-kwan, not including a sixth subdivision, four are resident here, while individuals of the others through intermarriage are scattered through the village but without house standing. The traditions of all of these speak of a migration from the southern border northward through the inland channels.

The Wolf phratry is represented by three families: the Kagwantan, Tuck-este-nar, and Duck-clar-way-di. The first two are closely related and claim to be offshoots of a parent stock and to have migrated north from the coast between the mouths of the Na.s.s and the Skeena rivers and in earlier times they lived inland on these rivers. The last-named is unquestionably of interior origin and it is possible that all three are of like ancestry.

The sole representative of the Raven party is the Kon-nuh-ta-di with which this paper deals. Their legendary history, so imaginary and interesting, is closely a.s.sociated with the wanderings and antics of "Yehlh," the Raven creator, while the earliest family traditions are centered about the south and west coast of the Prince of Wales and contiguous islands. There is a hazy belief in the minds of the older people, handed down through generations, that in the earliest days there came to these sh.o.r.es from seaward, a people of unknown origin who landed and lived on Dall Island, and later spread along the southern coast of Prince of Wales Island. The descendants of one of the two original women, represented as sisters, later crossed Dixon Entrance and peopled the Queen Charlotte Islands, founding the Haida, while those who remained, uniting with migratory bands from the Interior were the progenitors of the Tlingit.

The three princ.i.p.al families forming the Tanta-kwan that lived thereabouts in the eighteenth century, until expelled by the Haida invasion from Ma.s.set, and then crossed over to the mainland where they are still found, are the Ta-qway-di, Kik-sat-di, and Kon-nuh-hut-di, all of which have formed factors of great importance in peopling the coast of Alaska as far north as Comptroller Bay, and are still represented in all of the more important Tlingit tribes. The tribal name Tanta, was taken from their country, the Prince of Wales Island, Tan, "Sealion" so named from the abundance of this animal on the seaward coast. The Kon-nuh-hut-di are said to have removed, at some early day, to Port Stewart within the mainland entrance of Beam Ca.n.a.l, which they called "Con-nuh," (safe, sheltered) and from which they derived their family name (people of, or belonging to, Con-huh), but finding the climate more severe than that of the islands, and with no compensating advantages of food, they returned to their former home. A slight variation of the name Kon-nuh-ta-di which is not accounted for, distinguishes the Chilkat and more northern branches of the family from the Tanta and Taku. Another name seldom used, but very pretentious and tribal in character, is Shuck-ka-kwan "highest or first-man tribe" or Shuck-ka-kon-nuh-ta-di, claiming superiority through a relationship with Yehlh, in reference to his struggle with Gun-nook, the supernatural keeper of fresh water, when in his efforts to escape through the smoke hole of the house with what he had stolen he was caught and held fast until he was smoked black.

At a very early period they must have lived on the central west coast of Prince of Wales Island, near Klawak, in a village or country called Tuck-anee "outside town" where the people were known locally as Tuckanadi "outside town people" as the scene of one of their princ.i.p.al hero tales is laid hereabouts (the struggle of Duck-toolh with the sealions) which it is claimed was the cause of one of the northward migrations of a body of the family. It was certainly after this happening, and possibly connected with it, that a considerable party separated and traveled north through the inland channels to the head of tidewater, and then up the Chilkat River until they reached the site of Kluckwan where they finally settled and have ever since remained. This movement must date back many years, for the Russian Pilot Ismalof, as previously noted, in visiting Yakutat in 1888 met "a chief Ilk-hak with a large force of one hundred warriors who had journeyed up the coast from their winter home on the Chilkat River to trade."

Ilk-hak or Yehlh-kok "Raven fragrance or smell" is an hereditary name belonging strictly to the Kon-nuh-ta-di family (and as a coincidence it happens to be that of the present chief to whom I am indebted for certain information herein contained), and to have extended their commercial activities to such a distance and with such a numerous retinue would bespeak a considerable age and settled state in their new home.

Other migrations northward are known to have occurred at later periods; One party following the outside coast settled in a bay above Cape Spencer where much glacial ice collected and they took the name Tih-ka-di (people of or belonging to the icebergs) but of these none remain.

Another body, taking a more easterly course among the islands, stopped at Chyeek on the Chatham Straits sh.o.r.e of Admiralty Island with the Hootz-ah-tar-kwan, but trouble with the Dasheton clan arose over a woman and they removed in a body to Stevens Pa.s.sage and joined the Taku-kwan of which they form an integral part today under the original name Kon-nuh-hut-di.

In the latter portion of the eighteenth century, the Tanta-kwan including this family, was driven out of the southern portion of the Prince of Wales Island by the Haida and crossing Clarence Straits settled on Annette and adjacent islands. Their princ.i.p.al village was Tark-an-ee (winter town) at Port Chester where New Metlakatla now stands, and was a very large settlement, a totem pole village, as the decayed remains showed thirty years ago. In war with the Stickheen, this village was destroyed and also a later one across the island, Chake-an-ee (Thimble berry town) at Port Tamga.s.s, when they crossed to Cat Island and then to the mainland and made a last stand at Tonga.s.s where they remained until the founding of Saxman and Ketchikan.

None of this family is found today on Prince of Wales Island, their original home. The princ.i.p.al branch lives at Chilkat where they have always been accorded the highest place with the Ka-gwan-tan, with whom they have so intermarried through generations, that it often happens that the chiefs of each family are father and son.

The personal names more frequently refer to the Raven, their most honored crest, as they claim to be the first family of this phratry, and it is the more conspicuously displayed on the totemic headdress and ceremonial paraphernalia. They claim and use a great many other emblems as the whale, frog, wood-worm, silver salmon, hawk, owl, moon, starfish, and in their house carvings and painting they ill.u.s.trate the hero deeds and conquests of their ancestors in their early struggles with mythical animals and supernatural beings.

Facial painting played an important role in Tlingit life. The several pigments differently applied in various characters depended upon the purpose and the occasion. As a protection against s...o...b..indness, the glare of the sunshine on the water, the bite of insects and as a cosmetic to preserve and whiten the complexion, a hemlock fungus was charred, powdered, and applied to the face, which had previously been covered with a mixture of melted suet and spruce gum, to which it adhered and hardened, forming a red-black covering impervious to water.

For mourning and anger the face was blackened with charcoal.

When on war parties, the painting was in red or black or both, in fanciful and hideous characters, but if suddenly surprised, they would grab a piece of charcoal from the fire and rub it over the face to disguise their personality and hide any expression of fear.

The most elaborate painting was used in the winter ceremonials and dances. The designs were almost entirely totemic in character even when improvised for the occasion and apparently expressionless. They were either geometric and symbolic in figure, or represented the animal form in profile or some characteristic feature which distinguished it. In the latter case the figure was stamped on the cheek or forehead with a wood die. The primitive colors were black, from powdered charcoal, and red, from pulverized ocher, but after the advent of Europeans, vermilion of commerce took the place of the duller mineral red. Yellow, white, and greenish blue were occasionally used, more particularly by the southern tribes, but seldom, if ever, by the Chilkat.

The most important painting of the face was that of the dead when placed in state awaiting cremation, and this represented the crest of the phratry rather than one of the a.s.sumed emblems of the family or subdivisions. Most all of the Raven party, certainly all of the older and more important families, and particularly the Kon-nuh-ta-di used Yehlh-thluou, "Raven's nose," in the form of an isosceles triangle, in black, the apex at the bridge of the nose, the sides enclosing the nose and mouth, the base extending across the chin. This painting seems to have been the right of all of the Raven families and was almost universally used by them, although minor crest figures were sometimes employed, as the Kon-nuh-hut-di of the Southern tribes are said to have painted the starfish figure although I have never seen it so used, although it was a festival decoration.

It was an old custom, but rather a privilege claimed by the chiefs and house masters of the aristocracy, to give names to the communal houses upon the occasion of their dedication, after the walls were up and the roof was on, when those of the opposite phratry who had a.s.sisted in the construction were feasted and compensated. Of course, in the evolution of society, men of strong character, successful in war, with wealth and many followers would compel such recognition as would permit them to found a house and give it a name, but in order to do so, the potlatch would have to be of undue proportion. The strongest characteristics of the Tlingit are pride, vanity, and a dread of ridicule, so unless one was absolutely a.s.sured of more than a formal acceptance of the act by both his own and the other tribal families he would hesitate to place himself in a false position, subject to criticism. The highest and most honored names thus given, were those of the totemic emblem, or referring to some particular feature of the crest figure, as "Raven house," "Brown bear house," "Eagle nest house," "Killer-whale dorsal fin house," etc. Other names meaning less were those of position, shape, material, etc., as "Point house," "Box house", "Bark house,"

"Drum house," "Big house," "Lookout house," etc. In any case a name once given survived the mere structure. It was a dedication of the site and without any further ceremony belonged to all future houses built thereon.