Tlingit

This article is about the Alaskan Native group. For the Siberian people, see Telengit.
For other uses, see Tlingit (disambiguation).

Tlingit
Łingít

Chief Anotklosh of the Taku Tribe, wearing a Chilkat blanket, Juneau, Alaska, c. 1913
Regions with significant populations
United States (Alaska)22,601 (2020)[1][2]
Canada (British Columbia, Yukon)2,110[3][2]
Languages
English, Tlingit, Russian (historically)
Religion
Christianity, esp. Russian Orthodox
Traditional Alaska Native religion
Łingít
"People of the Tides"
PeopleTlingit
LanguageŁingít
CountryTlingit Aaní

The Tlingit or Lingít (English: /ˈtlɪŋkɪt, ˈklɪŋkɪt/ ⓘ TLING-kit, KLING-kit) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America and constitute two of the 231 (As of 2022)[4] federally recognized Tribes of Alaska.[5] Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; however, some are First Nations in Canada.

Their language is the Tlingit language (Łingít, pronounced [ɬɪ̀nkɪ́tʰ]),[6] Tlingit people today belong to several federally recognized Alaska Native tribes including the Angoon Community Association, Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes,[7] Chilkat Indian Village, Chilkoot Indian Association, Craig Tribal Association, Hoonah Indian Association, Ketchikan Indian Corporation, Klawock Cooperative Association, the Organized Village of Kasaan, the Organized Village of Kake, the Organized Village of Saxman, Petersburg Indian Association, Skagway Village, the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, and the Wrangell Cooperative Association.[8] Some citizens of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation in Yukon and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska are of Tlingit heritage.[9] Taku Tlingit are enrolled in the Douglas Indian Association in Alaska and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation in Canada.

The Tlingit have a matrilineal kinship system, with children born into the mother's clan, and property and hereditary roles passing through the mother's line.[10] Their culture and society developed in the temperate rainforest of the southeast Alaskan coast and the Alexander Archipelago. The Tlingit have maintained a complex hunter-gatherer culture based on semi-sedentary management of fisheries.[11] Hereditary slavery was practiced extensively until it was outlawed by the United States Government.[12] The Inland Tlingit live in the far northwestern part of the province of British Columbia and the southern Yukon in Canada.

  1. ^ "Detailed Data for Hundreds of American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b As of the 1990s. Pritzker, 209
  3. ^ "Aboriginal Population Profile, 2016 Census". Statistics Canada. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs" (January 28, 2022), 87 FR 4636
  5. ^ Pritzker, 162
  6. ^ "Lingít Yoo X'atángi: The Tlingit Language." Sealaska Heritage Institute. (retrieved 3 December 2009)
  7. ^ Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior. (8 January 2024). "Notice Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". Federal Register. 89 (944): 944–48. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Yakutat". Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Culture". Visit Sitka. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  10. ^ Pritzker, 210
  11. ^ Moss, p. 27
  12. ^ Administrator (8 February 2024). "SHI publishes about slavery in Alaska -". sealaskaheritage.org. Retrieved 31 October 2024.