﻿INDIAN 
  VILLAGES 
  OF 
  SOUTHEAST 
  ALASKA 
  

  

  By 
  Hebbebt 
  W. 
  Krieqeb 
  

   United 
  States 
  National 
  Museum 
  

  

  [With 
  16 
  plates] 
  

  

  Along 
  the 
  island-studded 
  coast 
  of 
  southeast 
  Alaska 
  and 
  of 
  British 
  

   Columbia 
  are 
  numerous 
  villages 
  of 
  native 
  Americans 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  

   northwest 
  coast 
  Indians. 
  The 
  native 
  Indian 
  and 
  Eskimo 
  popula- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  Alaska 
  to-day 
  scarcely 
  exceeds 
  27,000 
  in 
  number, 
  but 
  of 
  this 
  

   number 
  approximately 
  4,000 
  occupy 
  the 
  narrow 
  fringe 
  of 
  islands 
  

   and 
  mountainous 
  coast 
  of 
  southeast 
  Alaska. 
  This 
  region 
  extends 
  

   from 
  the 
  lower 
  Copper 
  River 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  to 
  the 
  open 
  waters 
  of 
  

   Dixon 
  Entrance 
  and 
  the 
  mouths 
  of 
  the 
  Skeena 
  and 
  Nass 
  Rivers 
  on 
  

   the 
  south, 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  700 
  miles 
  from 
  north 
  to 
  south. 
  

   The 
  greatest 
  width 
  is 
  but 
  140 
  miles, 
  in 
  latitude 
  56° 
  N., 
  and 
  extends 
  

   from 
  the 
  upper 
  reaches 
  of 
  Portland 
  Canal 
  to 
  the 
  southern 
  portion 
  

   of 
  Prince 
  of 
  Wales 
  and 
  Dall 
  Islands. 
  

  

  Southeast 
  Alaska 
  is 
  the 
  traditional 
  home 
  of 
  the 
  Tlingit 
  (Kolus- 
  

   chan) 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  Haida 
  (Skittagetan) 
  Indians. 
  Their 
  villages 
  and 
  

   temporary 
  settlements, 
  fishing 
  camps 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  part, 
  are 
  small, 
  

   rarely 
  exceeding 
  a 
  population 
  of 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  hundred. 
  Many 
  of 
  

   the 
  so-called 
  " 
  winter 
  villages 
  " 
  are 
  now 
  deserted, 
  their 
  former 
  oc- 
  

   cupants 
  having 
  taken 
  up 
  new 
  homes 
  in 
  the 
  commercial 
  towns 
  or 
  in 
  

   the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  recently 
  introduced 
  fish 
  canneries, 
  where 
  they 
  

   establish 
  new 
  villages. 
  Their 
  former 
  homes 
  show 
  evidence 
  of 
  neg- 
  

   lect 
  because 
  their 
  owners, 
  imitating 
  the 
  white 
  man's 
  ways, 
  are 
  now 
  

   living 
  in 
  new 
  houses 
  constructed 
  of 
  sawed 
  boards, 
  which 
  are 
  too 
  

   often 
  fashioned 
  from 
  makeshift 
  or 
  flimsy 
  materials. 
  The 
  abandoned 
  

   ancestral 
  home, 
  which, 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  painted 
  war 
  canoe 
  and 
  

   carved 
  totem 
  pole, 
  represents 
  the 
  highest 
  skill 
  of 
  the 
  northwest 
  

   coast 
  Indian, 
  is 
  allowed 
  to 
  fall 
  into 
  decay. 
  

  

  Area 
  occupied 
  l>y 
  the 
  Tlingit. 
  — 
  All 
  of 
  southeast 
  Alaska 
  from 
  

   Prince 
  William 
  Sound 
  and 
  the 
  lower 
  Copper 
  River 
  country 
  on 
  the 
  

   north 
  to 
  the 
  Queen 
  Charlotte 
  Islands 
  and 
  the 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Nass 
  and 
  

   Skeena 
  Rivers 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  was 
  formerly 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  Tlingit. 
  

  

  467 
  

  

  