Meet the Tlingit

WHO ARE THEY? The Tlingit (KLINK-it) are the original settlers of southeast Alaska. Like all Native Americans, the Tlingit are the descendants of the people who migrated to northwest North America from northeast Asia more than 10,000 years ago.

HOW MANY ARE THERE? There are about 30,000 Tlingit. Most live in 17 small cities and rural villages in Alaska's remote panhandle, a 400-mile stretch of mainland and outer islands known as the Inside Passage. In spring and summer, hundreds of cruise ships sail through the passage, carrying tourists to see glaciers, whales and bald eagles, and to visit coastal ports such as Ketchikan and Juneau, Alaska's capital. There are also Tlingit communities in Anchorage, Alaska, and Seattle.

WHAT DO THEY DO? In ancient times, the Tlingit were maritime hunters, harvesting the sea's bounty to survive. Many still fish for a living -- and because fish is the Tlingit's favorite food, especially salmon, halibut, crab and other shellfish. Herring eggs are a seasonal delicacy. The Tlingit dry, smoke and freeze salmon. In summer and fall, Tlingit villages smell deliciously of wood smoke as families smoke salmon for the winter.

WHAT DO HERRING EGGS TASTE LIKE? Crunchy and salty, like tiny potato chips. They're available for only a short time in early April during the spawning season. The Tlingit lay hemlock branches in the water, and the female herring deposit their eggs on them. The Tlingit then rush back to their villages to share the yummy treat, eating them right from the branch.

WHAT IS SAXMAN NATIVE VILLAGE? It's the Tlingit's living link to the past, a recreation of a traditional village, with a clan house, where songs and dances are performed; a wood shop with working carvers, and a gift store. The village's totem pole park is the world's largest, with about 20 colorful, hand-carved poles. Each pole tells a story. The village, which attracts thousands of tourists, is part of Saxman, a real Tinglit village near Ketchikan. About 500 Tlingit live in Saxman, which was founded in 1894.

WHAT IS A KOO.EEX? A koo.eex (coo-EES) is a ceremony held to honor ancestors or restore social balance after a Tlingit dies. The Tlingit are divided into two main groups, Eagles and Ravens. Each group has about 25 clans, each of which has a special relationship with one or two clans called an opposite, or clan from the other main group. When a member of one clan -- say the Thunderbird, part of the Eagle group -- dies, the Sockeye and Coho, both part of the Raven group, make the funeral arrangements, cook the food and even help pay the expenses. Later, the Thunderbird will hold a koo.eex to repay the Sockeye and Coho and honor the person who died.

DO OPPOSITE CLANS GET TOGETHER AT OTHER TIMES? Yes -- when a new totem pole or clan house is built and also when a clan member receives his or her Tlingit name. (Tlingits also have English names.) People sing and dance and tell traditional stories. There's also lots of gift-giving -- from the host clan to its opposite clan and out-of-town guests.

IS TLINGIT STILL SPOKEN? Yes, by about about 1,000 elders and a growing number of Tlingit children who take classes in elementary and middle school and sometimes in high school and college.

WHAT ELSE DO THE KIDS DO? In summer, they go to spirit camp, where they learn how to catch and preserve fish, make drums, dance and sing traditional songs. They also listen to ancient creation and clan stories.

By Patricia Chargot

Illustration by Martha Theirry/KRT

Source: Rosita Worl, a Tlingit anthropologist who lives in Juneau, and Irene Dundas, a Tlingit who has interviewed many Tlingit elders. Last June, Worl was named one of nine American "Women of Courage" by the National Women's Political Caucus in Washington, D.C.