Eagles Were Formerly Known

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02 Nov 2017

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There is no single Tlingit term to refer to moieties or clans. The Tlingit apply the term naa to moieties, clans and nations. Earlier ethnographers, such as (Oberg 1973), used the term phratry instead of moiety because of the assumption that Tlingit society was divided into three divisions or phratries. However, all concede that the third unit was small or inconsequential and that basically the society was divided in half or, into moiety system.

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The older term for Eagle was Wolf. In the northward migration, the northern Tlingit adopted the Eagle moiety designation. However, they continue to use the term Coach or Wolf in their ancient songs. In the present period, the use of the term Wolf refers to the Kaagwaantaan clan. The Inland Tlingit generally use the terms, Wolf and Crow, to refer to the moiety division (Dauenhauer and Dauenhauer 1944:5).

35Laayaneidi. However, the name of Shangukeidi as a reference to all Eagles has been abandoned, but has survived as the name of an Eagle clan. The term, Laayaneidi, has also been largely discontinued except for its use in potlatches when Raven clan leaders call out, "77eix' Laayaneidi," or "One Raven" to refer collectively to all Ravens.

Olson (1967:33-34) reports that Boas proposed that an archaic three-fold organization existed prior to the emergence of the dual or moiety system. The third entity was identified as the Neix.adi who were not classified as either Wolf or Raven, but were thought by the Tlingit and anthropologists alike to be outside of the moiety system. They claimed crests from both sides and intermarried with both Wolf or Eagle and Ravens. The Neix.adi were classified as both Wolf and Raven, however, they identified themselves as Eagle (prior to the widespread adoption of the term, Eagle, in place of the Wolf moiety designation, which is assumed to have occurred in the early 1900s). Olson suggests that the Neix.adi clan originated from a marriage between a Tlingit man and a Tsimshian woman who introduced clan exogamy (rather than the exogamous moiety marriages). Garfield (1947), who investigated the history of Angoon clans, found that clans often originated from a small number of individuals. If this were the case, it is highly plausible that a single woman could have had such a dramatic impact on Tlingit social organization. Data will be presented later in this chapter that suggest the Neix.adi are in fact related to other Eagle or Wolf clans and the moiety organization, rather than a tri-parte system, is the ancient social organizational form that has survived.

Members of one moiety refer to the other moiety as the "opposite side," (guneit

36kanaayi).'9 Marriage is exogamous between the two moieties, and descent is matrilineal. Individuals within each moiety consider themselves to be related as kin-related despite the absence of any biological relationship. Consistent with Leach's (1961) view in which he noted some societies, like the Tlingit, maintain a pattern of organizational ideas in which individuals do not consider themselves as kin if they are in opposite moieties even if biological ties should exist. Although the Tlingit acknowledge a special affiliation with father, the relationship is that of a yadi or "child of father's clan."20

The Tlingit conceive of themselves as an Eagle or Raven, but beyond the recognition of a common identity and relationship, moiety members do not recognize a single leader nor act collectively in any action except perhaps in informal situations or joking. This is evident during informal social gatherings and occasionally in potlatches when the solemn rites of "the removal of grief' transform into a joyful atmosphere. At this time, members of one moiety tell jokes about the other moiety which demands a playful response from the opposite moiety. The moiety division is also used as a basis to appoint teams in competitive games.

The most apparent function of the moieties is to regulate social interactions and marriage. When Tlingit meet for the first time, they attempt to identify the moiety membership of others to determine the appropriate relationship. The social relationship

19

Swanton (1908:424) translates guneit kanaayi as "opposites" and "my outside shell." The correct translation is "opposite;" "my outer shell" is daakanux'.00 and refers to maternal grandparents.

20

Under Tlingit law, if a child is hurt while in his or her father's care, the child' clan would hold the father's clan liable for the injury since they belong to different clans.

37among those who share a common moiety membership are kin-based while individuals of opposing moieties may pursue closer, intimate relationships. Even today, one of the first questions asked of an individual is his or her moiety affiliation. The marriage rules allowed only individuals from opposite moieties to marry. The preferential marriage was between cross cousins or with a member of the father's clan and house. While the members of each moiety were not unified, the exogamous system of marriage between Eagles and Ravens loosely unites all Tlingit throughout Southeast Alaska.

With the imposition of American law beginning shortly after 1867 and acceptance of Christianity, which both prohibit first cousin marriage, the exogamous rule was slowly relaxed and the preferential cross cousin marriage was abandoned.' With the exogamous marriage rule no longer consistently practiced or enforced by clans, marriage between individuals within the same moiety began to occur in the early to mid-1900s. These marriages, which are referred to as "Double Eagle" or "Double Raven" marriages,'-'continue to carry a stigma in the present period. More often individuals who have

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A result of this prohibition, in my opinion, was the encouragement of Tlingit out-marriages to non-Tlingit. As the new legal and religious rules gained in prominence and strength, they co-existed with the Tlingit exogamous rules which also continued in force. The Tlingit continued to believe that they could not many members of their same moiety, and the western system prohibited marriages that under the Tlingit system were acceptable. As a consequence, the pool of eligible Tlingit marriage partners was reduced. A significant number of Tlingit marriages to non-Tlingit occurred although I would suspect that a number of those included slaves whom the Tlingit looked upon with disfavor.

22

In an attempt to persuade a community to accept a double marriage, a family reportedly disbursed over a thousand dollars during a potlatch held in the late 1960s. A similar incident occurred again in 1994. In the 1995 Hoonah Clan Conference, the issue of the "double" marriages was reluctantly discussed without any final conclusion.

38married within their moiety tend not to participate in ceremonial activities. In some cases, only one spouse will attend a party, or if both participate, they usually sit apart from one another. Under traditional practices, one spouse would be a member of a clan hosting a ceremony while the other would be a guest. Individuals who marry within their own moiety are generally not selected or appointed as clan or house leaders. However, this rule has not been absolute and indications are that this social norm may also be relaxing. Within the last several years, at least two clan leaders have married women who are within their moiety.23

Oberg (1973:50) has suggested that the phratry or moiety acts as the ceremonial unit. While ceremonial exchange occurs between the moieties, Tlingit practices indicate that ceremonial reciprocity occurs between specific interrelated clans of opposite moieties. One moiety within a community does not collectively host a potlatch or ceremony; rather, only one clan serves as the host. Clans belonging to the same moiety as the host may offer assistance, but they are not acknowledged as a host nor do they officially serve in this capacity during the potlatch. However, the guests may represent several clans from the opposite moiety, but not all clans from the opposite moieties are invited as guests. Members of the guest clans are likely to represent the paternal clan of the host clan or are affiliated with the host clan through marriage, i.e., a wife is a guest at the ceremony hosted by her husband's clan. These practices and the formal interactions and protocols within the ceremonies reveal that clan organization rather than moiety

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One of these men had been informally recognized as a clan leader for many years, but had not been officially appointed. It was only in 1997 that he was validated as a clan leader.

39membership, as was suggested by Oberg, regulate ceremonial exchange.

Oberg (ibid.38) did note a significant point in reporting that reciprocity occurred between paired "house groups of opposing phratries." Interrelated clans, or "paired house-groups," are those who have tended to intermarry as a result of the preferential marriage rule which encourages marriage to a member of one's father's clan and who are engaged in ceremonial reciprocal arrangements. This preferential marriage pattern or in Oberg's term, "paired house-groups" created alliances between two clans of opposing moieties and provided an economic benefit in assuring continued access to land and resources that were shared between the two intermarrying houses or clans.

Moieties never acted collectively for any purpose, nor did they have recognized leaders of each moiety. Property was not held in common by all members of either moiety. However, moiety membership is represented by the use of an Eagle or Raven crest that signifies an individual's moiety affiliation. These designs are used on ceremonial clothing and hats, and today many Tlingit wear jewelry or everyday clothing such as jackets that display their moiety crest. The use of the Raven design is not exclusive to members of the Raven moiety since Raven is recognized as a supernatural benefactor of all Tlingit people, and Eagles are allowed to use a Raven crest, but only in two instances. Members of the Eagle moiety may use a Raven amulet for spiritual protection and assistance. In addition, it was not uncommon for an Eagle shaman to use Raven rattles. However, Eagles do not use Ravens on their clan ceremonial regalia, and it is unknown for Ravens to use an Eagle as a crest. The only institutionalized mechanism to prohibit an individual from using a moiety crest of the opposite side, outside of the two

40noted exceptions, is public pressure. Usually everyone knows the moiety membership of all individuals within their community, and an individual wearing the crest of the opposite moiety would be subject to questions and ridicule from both sides and direct pressure from his or her clan.

Maybury-Lewis (1989:2) suggests that moiety systems tend to disappear in the course of modernization. This may be the ultimate result for the Tlingit; however, if we apply the distinction between dual forms of social organizations and dualism to an analysis of contemporary Tlingit society, it is apparent that the binary social system remains fundamental to Tlingit religious ideologies, ceremonial activities and legal system despite the weakening of the exogamous marriage rule. Dualism is also evident in many other aspects of Tlingit life outside of the ceremonial sphere, and perhaps is best symbolized by the logos of the two regional organizations, Sealaska Corporation and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indians of both of which incorporate an Eagle and Raven. This duality may have appeared unimportant to the graphic artist who designed the first Sealaska logo that was immediately rejected because its design did not reflect the balance between the Eagle and Raven which is so critical to Tlingit thinking. The dualistic necessity is apparent in many social and political activities, i.e., insuring that Eagles and Ravens are represented on various committees. Even in play and sports, teams are divided between Eagles and Ravens. For some elders this requisite extends to many daily activities, e.g., even putting on eyeglasses for the first time. I was told of one elder who was unable to wear her glasses when she first received them because no one from an opposite clan was present to put them on her. One of the regional organizations

41is now examining a computer program that would allow it to classify and identify the moiety and clan membership of its current and descending generations.

Clans

The clan is the basic social unit in Tlingit society, and irrespective of biological relationship, all members of a clan view themselves as kin-related. Clans are comprised of separate but interrelated lineages that recognize a common ancestor, and descent is traced through the maternal line. Lineages were formed through a line of females and their brothers who maintained ongoing relationships and interactions. The Tlingit trace their descent through the matrilineal line, and a child is born into his or her mother's moiety and clan.

More often, animals play prominently in the founding of clans, and its members extend their kinship to include such animals. The living animals, which are portrayed as clan crests, are referred to as "Ax Shukaa," meaning my ancestors or relatives. These animals and the supernatural event which gave rise to the clan serve to unify its members and bond living clans people to their ancestor or Ax Shukaa. The clan is the enduring organization that unifies the Tlingit into cohesive functioning units. The clan provides them with a link to their animal and human ancestors and ensures their perpetuation into the future. Tlingit are born into a clan and remain members throughout their life and death. Individuals die, but the clan persists. Clans remain self-perpetuating through the birth of new members to replace those who have died.

Clans own a collection of names that are retained and jealously guarded. The

42names are often associated with the acquisition of a clan crest, or they signify an event in the history of the clan. The names may also refer to a physical characteristic of the crest animal. These names, which have been used by the clan since its origin or an early period of its history are ceremoniously given to new members at birth or shortly thereafter. A clan name, which is given to a new member, also carries the persona and kin relationship represented by the deceased member, and the child, irrespective of the age of the child or the speaker, may be addressed by those terms, i.e, "my aunt," "my mother." In one of the rites in memorial ceremonies in which the spirits of the deceased are beckoned and fed, the names of deceased relatives are recalled by clan members. The names are then called out by the Naa Kani (clan in-law), who acts in the capacity of a moderator, and then repeated in unison by the participants'''. One of the greatest punishments exacted on a Tlingit is the removal of his or her name from the symbolic roster of clan names. One such case was of a warrior who betrayed his clan by assisting the Russians during a military encounter. His clan agreed that his name would never be used again.

The Tlingit also have a strong belief in reincarnation that continues into the current period. Deceased clan members who are reborn are recognized by a physical mark or characteristic, behavioral patterns or knowledge that a deceased member possessed and that is expressed by the child. Ian Stevenson (1966), who studied

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This rite is replicated in ANB memorial services, which ironically adopted a position to abandon traditional customs when it was initially organized in 1912. During the memorial service, the name of the deceased member is called out three times and then removed from the roster of active members. Later in the ceremony, a new member is selected and appointed to take the place of the deceased member which also resembles the traditional pattern of transferring the name of a deceased to new clan members.

43reincarnation throughout the world and among the Tlingit, noted its widespread prevalence among the Tlingit in the mid-1960s. The beliefs associated with reincarnation and the system of naming mean, in essence, that clans are immortal and that they retain their original membership through the re-birth of the same individuals (de Laguna 1983) or the assignment of clan names to new members.

The ethnographic literature and oral traditions suggest that communities were originally inhabited by a single clan. For example, the Kaagwaantaan Clan and the L'uknax.adi Clan oral traditions acknowledge that Sitka was formerly the homeland of the Kiks.adi Clan before the two other clans migration into the area. Tollefson (1976:21) suggests that clan houses were formerly much larger and that number of clan members who lived in a single house was greater than the 50 that appeared to be the norm around the end of the 18th century. By this period, many clans had grown so large that they were dispersed through several houses. Larger clans had as many as eight to 10 houses in a single village, and some clans were dispersed among two or more communities, but not all clans were represented in every community. Swanton (1908:405) identified fourteen Kaagwaantaan houses in Sitka alone. Olson (1967:7-9) reports that in the 1880-1895 period, Klukwan was inhabited by two Raven clans and three Wolf [Eagle] clans living in 23 clan houses.

The growth and expansion of clans and the interrelationship among them are recorded in the oral traditions. Historical accounts of oral traditions and ongoing oral narratives are replete with migration stories that are well-known by clans. Clan migrants, often established themselves as separate and distinct clans after their separation from the

44parent clan. For example, the Caanaxteidi and the Qaanax.adi are recognized as related clans, just as the T'akdeintaan, X'aatkayi, and Xaasetaan are recognized as offshoots of the L'uknax.adi. These clans continue to recognize their common ancestry and relationships. They continue to use their original crest from the parent clan and more often they have adopted their own separate clan crests that they view as their exclusive property. The interrelationship among the clans that persist into the present will be further discussed in Chapter Four.

In some cases, clans which migrated to new communities and regions continued to maintain relationships with their parent clans. The Kaagwaantaan, which established localized clan groups in several communities including Hoonah, Sitka and Klukwan, represents a clan which remained unified. These clan members share common ownership of clan crests and property but their rights to use land within the territory of a localized clan were restricted. Members of a localized clan shared equally in their rights to use land within their territory. However, should they visit clan relatives residing in another community, they were required to obtain permission from the resident clan to utilize their land. Goldschmidt and Haas (1946:10) reported that visiting clan members had to obtain the consent of the local clan leader if they wished to engage in hunting and fishing activities if they were not in their home community. This requirement suggests that the Tlingit may have been moving away from a purely clan-based society and that the village, as a socioeconomic unit, was gaining prominence.

Tlingit values were oriented to ensure that members conceived of themselves as

45one with other clan members. They recognized a common ancestry and their kinship terms were based a classificatory system that reflected their clan organization and membership (Durlach 1928:60). They acted collectively in ceremonial labor and activities. They amassed their wealth to construct totem poles or other ceremonial objects and to sponsor potlatches. They warred as a single body and grieved over the loss of their members. Young clan members were socialized into their clans by learning the legendary feats of their ancestors whose names they carried. The clan rather than an individual was held responsible for legal offenses against individuals from other clans. Should an individual die as a result of a crime, the law required that someone of equal status from the offending clan had to be killed, and sometimes this meant that an individual other than the offender was obligated to die for the crime. Emmons (1991:46-53) describes a series of cases in which individuals other than the offender were to be executed as punishment for a crime. The sense of communal membership prevailed over individuality. However, the cases described by Emmons also reveal that while the communal identity was ideal, individuals in some cases demonstrated their reluctance to pay for their clan brother's crime.

The clan was the basic property-holding unit, and individuals within a clan held rights to property because they were members of a clan. Prior to the imposition of American jurisdiction and the expropriation of Native land, clans owned land, fishing and harvesting areas, trails and sacred sites. They demarcated their territories with property marks. They owned hunting and fishing equipment, canoes and other utilitarian items, and rights to trade. They owned trading routes and the exclusive rights to trade with the

46Athabascans as well as ceremonial objects, crests, names, songs, stories, and shamanic paraphernalia. It was only after the extinction of aboriginal title to lands in Alaska by the United States that the clans reluctantly acknowledged that they could no longer protect their legal claims of ownership to the land, and their hunting and fishing areas. However. clans continue to claim a symbolic ownership of their former lands, and this traditional relationship is still acknowledged among the Tlingit. The clans continue to maintain ownership of clan houses, ceremonial objects, and intangible and intellectual property.

Houses

The interrelated lineages of a clan occupy one or more houses whose membership includes several closely related families. The house or hit is a sub-unit of a clan much like a subsidiary of a parent corporation, and it is identified by a formal name, such as Kawdliyaayi Hit or House Lowered for the Sun or Yeil Hit or Raven House. The term hit refers to both a physical structure or a residential building, and the matrilineage associated with a house. A house was presided over by a house leader, who was referred to as the Hits 'aati or the Naa Shadeihani if he were also the clan leader. The house was both a social and a residential unit whose membership did not coincide.

The occupants of Tlingit households were composed of extended families representing several generations. The house group as a residential unit was basically a close body of (1) matrilineally-linked males related as members of the same clan; (2) their wives who belonged to the opposite moiety and different clans; and (3) sons under the age of 10 years who belonged to their mother's clan and unmarried daughters. Under this

47system, boys left their parents and went to live with their maternal uncle when they reached the age of 10. More often daughters remained in the house since they more than likely married a member of the house since the preferential marriage was to someone of their father's clan.

Slaves, who had been obtained in warfare or trade and who were considered to be outside the social organization, also resided in the house. According to Donald (1997:191), the number of slaves living in a house ranged from 10 to 40 during the 1830s. Until Donald's work, the role of slaves in Northwest Coast societies has largely been underestimated. Their labor and their value as an item of exchange contributed significantly to the economic production and wealth of the Tlingit. Donald contends that slavery supported the ranking and stratification system of Northwest Coast societies. They also played a prominent role in ceremonies and legal processes and the ritual killing of slaves served to validate claims of property ownership and transference of the office of clan leaders. The Tlingit held slaves even after slavery had been outlawed, and a few were held until the 1900s.

The number of residents in a house totaled approximately 50 or more individuals. Should the number of relatives who occupied a house expand or conflicts develop among its members, additional houses were built. The new house was given its own name, but its ties to the parent house generally persisted, particularly if it was built in the same community as the parent clan house. In this case, individuals may claim multiple house affiliations, including both their former and new house. Oberg (1973:39) provides an example of such segmentation through the history of the Qaanaxteidi of Klukwan. Its

48original house was the Whale House. They then built the Raven House and later the Frog House. The Gaanaxteidi expanded ultimately into nine houses, but only the first three could show genealogical relationship.

When a boy reached the age of eight or 10 as noted above, he left his parents and went to live in his mother's clan house with his maternal uncle. From that period on, he resided with his uncle. He was a member of his uncle's clan house rather than that of his own father. The mother's brother or maternal uncle assumed the same relationship, authority and responsibility over his sister's son that fathers in patrilineal societies have with their children. However, the son continued to maintain a special relationship with his father that was expressed primarily in the ceremonial context. He and his sisters were identified as a "child" of his father's clan. For example, if the father belonged to the Kaagwaantaan clan, the son and daughter were Kaagwaantaan yadi (yatx 'i pl.) or Child of the Kaagwaantaan clan.

The Tlingit house as a social unit included the matrilineage of all who did not necessarily live in the residential unit. For example, a married woman who is a member of the house lived in her husband's house as did her female children. Her son, however, who was also a member of his mother's house moved to his and his mother's clan house when he reached the age of ten.

A house as a social unit persists through its name and matrilineage even if the physical structure is destroyed or vacated. The name remains the property of surviving house members, and their matrilineal descendants and the clan. If its members so elect, the name may be transferred to a newly constructed house. However, even in the absence

49of a physical structure, its members continue to identify themselves as associated with the house.

The residential house unit acted autonomously in economic activities, but not for the purposes of political and ceremonial activities which were the prerogative of the clan. Residential or individual houses did not sponsor or host potlatches independent of the clan (unless the house and clan were coincident). The house served as the basic economic unit in Tlingit society. Its occupants worked together to produce the food and supplies for its consumption and utilization. However, any surplus belonged to the resident members of the matrilineage and localized clan. The wives and their children were residents of their husbands' and fathers' house, but not members since they retained their own clan and house membership. They were, however, entitled to use their husbands' clan land for hunting, fishing and gathering purposes.

A married woman had no legitimate claim to membership in her husband's house, nor could she claim ownership of her husband's clan property. She was a member of another clan and could not claim or exert interest in any of her husband's clan property, including land, clan house or ceremonial regalia and objects. Although she could cite her husband's clan names, sing his songs, and knew his clan stories, she could not claim ownership of any of his property. The knowledge that she might gain of her husband's clan including their stories, songs, names, kin relations, and ceremonial protocols, however, was invaluable to his clan, and she was held in high esteem by members of her husband's clan. She was described by the elders during the 1981 Tlingit Property Law Forum as a "clan treasure." If her husband should die, his oldest nephew was expected to

50marry her despite the age difference between them and the probability that he already had a wife. Her value was evident in the knowledge she had gained from her husband, and she was able to teach her new, young husband his clan stories and songs that she had learned as a young bride. However, should no one in her husband's clan and house marry her, she was expected to leave and return to her own clan house. The practice of a nephew marrying his uncle's wife has disappeared, but it continued well into the middle of the twentieth century.

Women learned their own clan history and songs, and they continued to maintain membership and affiliation with their clan house despite their physical absence and residence in their husband's house. Despite a woman's membership in her own clan house, it was possible that she might never actually live in it. She was born in her father's house. After her marriage, she lived with her husband in his clan house. Conceivably her father's and her husband's clan house were the same since the preferential marriage was for a woman to marry into her father's clan.

A woman was in a tenuous position in Tlingit society with her membership in a house in which she never lived, and her residency in a house in which she could claim no ownership of property. Although she could influence her husband's actions, her authority was limited.' A woman's position was reconciled only after her death when she was

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Although the status of women has improved, their political influence remains constrained. An indicator of the political status of women is reflected in the makeup of the Sealaska Corporation Board of Directors. Sealaska was organized to implement the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act of 1971, and in the last twenty-eight years, only four of the forty-four directors who have been elected to the board of directors are women. Currently only three of the thirteen member board are women.

51physically and ceremoniously returned to her clan house or as noted, she might return to her house after her husband's death should no one in his clan marry her.

Until the introduction of new diseases brought by Westerners in the 1800s, the Tlingit population was expanding, and new clans and houses were becoming established. However, after contact, the Tlingit population was severely reduced because of the diseases to which they had no immunity. The population decline together with other factors related to changing social and economic conditions and pressures by missionaries to abandon tribal life and communal residency, led to a decrease in the number of clan houses. Today a single house may represent or hold title to two or three house names that were once used by its clan but for which no clan house exists. Extended families no longer live in communal tribal houses, and modern-day Tlingit live in households that are similar to other American households or nuclear families. The clan houses which exist today are in some cases inhabited by nuclear families, and they are used by the clan for ceremonial purposes. Despite the absence of the physical structures, the Tlingit continue to identify themselves as members of house groups.

Geographic Units

Tlingit territory was divided among 16 or 17 geographical regions. These geographical divisions have often been identified as tribes, however, while they interacted socially, they were not political units. Within the regional units were permanent settlements, temporary hunting, fishing and gathering camps, defensive sites and fortifications, and the ceremonial and sacred sites or shamanic burial sites which were



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