Being and Place among the Tlingit

Bibliography

3. In addition to these fundamental units other important dimensions of Tlingit social structure during the pre- and early contact period included slavery , shamanism, gender, and confederations (de Laguna 1983; Thornton 2002). Shamans were especially important in shaping senses of place because of their acute perception of the cosmos and abilities to mediate between the human and spirit worlds to achieve important ends such as protecting and healing people and places, locating precious resources, controlling weather, battling enemies, and the like. Even in death shamans remained powerful: they were not cremated like ordinary Tlingits, but instead were placed on remote islands, caves, or bluffs, which themselves became potent shamanic landscapes that were respected, if not taboo, among the living. Shamanism declined in the postcontact era, as it proved less effective in maintaining human-place relations in the face of non-Native incursions and the introduction of new technologies, medicines, and religion. 4. With one anomalous exception, the Neix.ádi (probably of southern origin ; see Olson 1967), who called themselves Eagles and intermarried with both Raven and Wolf. 5. The content and use of metaphor and other tropes in Tlingit oratory have been carefully analyzed by Dauenhauer (1975) and Dauenhauer and Dauenhauer (1987, 1990). 6. In addition to at.óow names, original pet names were also given, often by the father’s side of the family; generally these names were inspired by unique characteristics of the child. 7. For a comparative perspective on “the embrace of names,” see Richard Nelson’s (1994) article, with that title, on Inupiaq and Athabascan place-names and Howard Morphy’s work (e.g., 1995) on Yolngu personal naming in relation to place. 8. In certain ways, these leaders resembled the so-called Big Men of Oceanic societies (Johnson and Earle 1987). In return for some measure of economic control, Tlingit elites provided their clan members with security, prestige, social networks, and valuable nonlocal goods. If they failed in these duties, or otherwise shamed their clan, status could also be taken away. 9. SeeThornton (2004a) for an extended discussion ofTlingit character. Hillman ’s emphasis on the individuality of character offers an important corrective to the more totalizing national character studies that tended to portray character as a reflection of dominant personality traits, which, in turn, were molded in cookie-cutter-like fashion by certain cultural institutions or enculturation practices . A good example of this in the Tlingit literature is Ronald Olson’s (1956) study on howTlingit character is “channeled.”Alternatively, Hillman (1999:197) argues, “Unlike ‘personality,’ character is impersonal. Rocks, paintings, houses, 212 Notes to Pages 42–59 even kinds of bacteria and logical propositions demonstrate character. The discourse of personality is human psychology; of character, imaginative description .”To the extent that his conceptualization of character extends beyond persons to aspects of the natural and built environment, it is well suited to the study of indigenous peoples, for whom character is typically viewed not merely as a manifestation of humanity but also as a force of nature. 10. In addition there is a Chookaneidí version of the story. See Willie Marks’s story in Dauenhauer and Dauenhauer (1987:152–65). Interestingly, his story begins at Gathéeni (Sockeye Creek), a stream at Cape Spencer, rather than at Dundas Bay. 11. Archeological investigations have shown Ground Hog Bay, the location of the Grouse Fort remains, to be one of the earliest Native settlements in Southeast Alaska, dating to 9,000–10,000 BP (Ackerman 1968; Ackerman, Hamilton , and Stuckenrath 1979). 12. Wayne Howell, personal communication, Gustavus, Alaska, 1996. 3 what’s in a name? 1. The place-name data come from a gazetteer I compiled of more than three thousand place-names in Tlingit territory from primary and secondary sources. A small percentage of these names are not Tlingit, especially at the northern and southern extremes, where Chugash, Eyak, Haida, or Tsimshian intersect . My interest in Tlingit place-names began with research on Sitkoh Bay in 1989 (Thornton, Schroeder, and Bosworth 1990), where I first learned that Tlingit elders had extensive undocumented toponymic knowledge. This was followed by further ethnogeographic work with elders from Angoon, Hoonah, Kake, Sitka, and Yakutat in the course of mapping projects and other research between 1990 and 1994, which yielded approximately 650 additional placenames in Northern Tlingit country. Between 1995 and 2001 I coordinated a comprehensive survey of indigenous place-names for the Southeast Native Subsistence Commission (sensc) in collaboration with tribal governments in the region (Thornton 1999c). This project yielded...