Jobs of the Tlingit People

The Tlingit people had many jobs. They fished, hunted, gathered plants, cooked, cared for children, told stories  etc.

FIshing was a big part of the Tlingits’ everyday lives. The men would go out in canoes and catch salmon using salmon spears.

Tlingits loved salmon. The women would cook the salmon. Women would also gather pants to eat.

Women also did child care. Kids would play with each other and help out around the house. They did not go to school until the white people came and forced them to go.

Women did handy work all year long, especially in the winter.  This included making dance blankets, moccasins and other clothing.  In the summer, they farmed the potatoes.  During the fishing season, they were always busy storing and preserving the fish that were caught.  In the fall they would pick berries, gather bark, leaves and other plant materials.

In the winter, men set traps and tended them, cut wood or built canoes, made and repaired tools.

Both men and women told stories, did artwork, made music, and did traditional medicine.

One important job was a spiritual doctor.  This was usually a man, but sometimes it could be a woman.  This person, known as a “Shaman”, was able to predict the weather, tell the future, find out news from far away, and bring luck to hunt or battle.  They could also cure and heal people.  When they died, a younger relative would take the spiritual powers and would get dizzy and ill until he or she accepted these powers.

Here is a picture of a Tlingit indian in 2007 weaving a blanket like they used to. The patterns tell stories.

I can tell the difference between the patterns. can you?