58°N 135°W Alaska
58°N 135°W Alaska
58 Degrees North: Alaskan C-Fur Apparel & Northwest Coast Formline Jewelry
Some History
Culture/heritage
Descendants of the Huna Tlingit from Glacier Bay:
Clans: Chookaneidee, T'akdeintaan, Wooshkeetaan, Kaagwaantaan
Excerpt from Glacier Bay National Park Service https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/historyculture/early-peoples.htm
Early Peoples
Lt. Whidbey was not the first to see Glacier Bay. His record includes mention of the natives who paddled out in their canoes from what is now Pt. Carolus to meet his boats and offer to trade. Tlingit oral history is corroborated by modern science...Glacier Bay was habitable for many centuries up until about 300 years ago, when a final glacial surge forced the human inhabitants to flee their homeland. A rich oral tradition and detailed place names speak volumes of the history of the area.
Natives were at Lituya Bay, on the park's wild outer coast, to greet Lapérouse in 1786. Although a series of earthquake-triggered tidal waves, the latest in 1959, devastated most of the shoreline of Lituya Bay, a pocket of undisturbed forest still harbors archeological evidence of their life there.
The Huna Tlingit Today
The Tlingit have traditionally occupied much of Southeast Alaska, from Yakutat in the North to Ketchikan in the South. Oral history and scientific findings corroborate that the ancestors of the Huna Tlingit occupied Glacier Bay long before the last glacier advance. This place was their home and was known as S'e Shuyee or "edge of the glacial silt." Beginning around 1700, the long-stationary glacier surged forward and overran their settlements. The clans survived this time of extreme hardship by dispersing throughout the Icy Strait, Excursion Inlet, and northern Chichagof Island areas. Eventually they settled in the village of Xunniyaa "shelter from the north wind, today known as Hoonah. Later, as the ice retreated they returned to their ancestral homeland, it had been transformed and scraped clean by the glacier. Now it was known as Sit' Eeti Gheeyi or "the bay in place of the glacier."
Through glacial advance and western expansion, the Huna Tlingit have experienced setbacks, sadness, and cultural loss. Despite these changes, the Huna Tlingit persevere and embrace a sense of renewal. Today, the Huna Tlingit enjoy a modern life, while also embracing their homeland, its resources, and retaining strong connections to their culture and tradition.