﻿476 
  ANNUAL 
  EEPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  The 
  nuniber 
  of 
  permanent 
  winter 
  towns 
  among 
  the 
  Tlingit 
  and 
  

   Haida 
  Indians 
  of 
  southeast 
  Alaska 
  varied 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time. 
  In 
  

   many 
  sections 
  of 
  southeast 
  Alaska 
  several 
  of 
  these 
  villages 
  may 
  be 
  

   grouped 
  together 
  as 
  a 
  geographical 
  unit. 
  Such 
  towns 
  are 
  located 
  

   near 
  enough 
  to 
  one 
  another 
  to 
  permit 
  visiting 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  their 
  

   inhabitants 
  during 
  the 
  winter 
  months. 
  This 
  grouping 
  is 
  not 
  totemic 
  

   but 
  is 
  merely 
  geographical 
  in 
  the 
  sense 
  that 
  a 
  certain 
  neighborliness 
  

   is 
  always 
  fostered 
  between 
  near-by 
  groups 
  living 
  in 
  comparative 
  

   isolation 
  from 
  the 
  Avorld. 
  There 
  were 
  20 
  or 
  more 
  population 
  groups 
  

   in 
  southeast 
  Alaska 
  before 
  their 
  disruption 
  by 
  the 
  establishing 
  of 
  

   new 
  population 
  centers 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  white 
  man's 
  industrial 
  needs. 
  

   iMost 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  population 
  is 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  incorporated 
  towns, 
  such 
  

   as 
  Ketchikan, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  canneries. 
  

  

  Early 
  exploration 
  and 
  trade. 
  — 
  The 
  house 
  architecture, 
  sculpture 
  in 
  

   wood, 
  horn, 
  and 
  slate, 
  and 
  the 
  wood 
  carver's 
  arts 
  of 
  the 
  tribes 
  of 
  

   southeast 
  Alaska 
  have 
  aroused 
  wonder 
  and 
  admiration 
  from 
  the 
  time 
  

   of 
  their 
  discovery 
  by 
  the 
  Russian 
  explorer 
  Behring 
  in 
  1741. 
  Some 
  

   of 
  the 
  earlier 
  accounts 
  of 
  their 
  peculiar 
  arts 
  date 
  back 
  to 
  descriptions 
  

   and 
  observations 
  of 
  Captain 
  Cook 
  Avritten 
  in 
  1778. 
  In 
  1775 
  Fran- 
  

   cisco 
  Antonio 
  iMaurella, 
  sea 
  captain 
  and 
  scribe, 
  participated 
  in 
  a 
  

   Spanish 
  expedition 
  that 
  reached 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  Alaska 
  as 
  far 
  north 
  

   as 
  Sitka. 
  This 
  expedition 
  also 
  traded 
  with 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  Prince 
  of 
  

   Wales 
  Island. 
  Other 
  Spanish 
  expeditions 
  are 
  recorded 
  by 
  iMaurella 
  

   as 
  having 
  traded 
  with 
  the 
  Tlingit 
  of 
  Prince 
  of 
  Wales 
  Island 
  in 
  1779. 
  

  

  The 
  French 
  expedition 
  under 
  J. 
  T. 
  C. 
  de 
  la 
  Perouse 
  reached 
  Cook'-^i 
  

   Inlet 
  in 
  1786. 
  A 
  far 
  more 
  valuable 
  narrative 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  explorer 
  

   Capt. 
  Urey 
  Lisianski, 
  of 
  the 
  Imperial 
  Russian 
  Navy, 
  who 
  began 
  a 
  

   voyage 
  around 
  the 
  world 
  from 
  Leningrad 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  

   and 
  the 
  North 
  Pacific 
  in 
  1803. 
  iHe 
  made 
  keen 
  observations 
  upon 
  

   native 
  life 
  as 
  he 
  saw 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Sitka 
  and 
  Lituya 
  Bay. 
  

  

  Tlie 
  South 
  Sea 
  Co. 
  was 
  organized 
  in 
  England 
  to 
  carry 
  on 
  fur 
  

   trade 
  in 
  the 
  Northwest 
  during 
  the 
  three 
  years 
  following 
  1785. 
  

   George 
  Dixon 
  was 
  a 
  captain 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  vessels 
  of 
  this 
  expedition 
  

   and 
  wrote 
  a 
  journal 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  Haida 
  and 
  the 
  Tlingit 
  are 
  described 
  

   at 
  length. 
  The 
  extensive 
  surveys 
  of 
  George 
  Vancouver 
  on 
  the 
  north- 
  

   west 
  coast 
  were 
  undertaken 
  for 
  the 
  English 
  Government 
  in 
  1791. 
  

   iHis 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  life 
  and 
  culture 
  of 
  the 
  Bella 
  Bella, 
  Tlingit, 
  and 
  

   Tsimshian 
  tribes 
  are 
  extensive 
  and 
  valuable. 
  

  

  At 
  an 
  early 
  date 
  American 
  and 
  English 
  trading 
  ships 
  visited 
  the 
  

   northwest 
  coast 
  to 
  obtain 
  furs. 
  Skins 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  otter 
  were 
  at 
  first 
  

   more 
  highly 
  esteemed 
  than 
  were 
  furs 
  from 
  the 
  interior, 
  although 
  the 
  

   mainland 
  is 
  much 
  more 
  plentifully 
  supplied 
  with 
  fur-bearing 
  animals 
  

   than 
  are 
  the 
  islands. 
  Fox 
  farming 
  in 
  southeast 
  Alaska 
  has 
  thus 
  far 
  

   been 
  unprofitable 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  poor 
  quality 
  of 
  fur 
  from 
  animals 
  reared 
  

   in 
  the 
  environment 
  of 
  the 
  mild 
  coast 
  climate 
  of 
  southeast 
  Alaska. 
  

  

  