Book

Art of the northern Tlingit

University of Washington Press • Seattle • Published In 1986 • Pages:

By: Jonaitis, Aldona.

Abstract

This is an art historian's interpretation of the art of the northern Tlingit. (70 plates depicting Tlingit artworks are appended to p. 2). Jonaitis outlines several theoretical approaches to the interpretation of ethnographic art specimens. Jonaitis has taken one of the more sociologically oriented approaches in an attempt to show how Tlingit art might be related to social structure, and to religious ideology and experience. More specifically, she relates the artworks to Tlingit sibs and moieties and the exchange relations among these groups (including the potlatch). Art used in this context is classified as secular art. Also included in the book is a detailed discussion of shamanism and shamanistic art, which Jonaitis describes as sacred art. This piece is highly interpretive and relies on the metaphor of binary oppositions to explain the relation of the works of art to Tlingit symbolism and rites of passage.

HRAF PubDate

1997

Region

North America

Sub Region

Northwest Coast and California

Document Type

Book

Evaluation

Creator Type

Art Historian

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

Analyst

Christopher Latham ; 1988

Field Date

no date

Coverage Date

not specified

Coverage Place

northern Tlingit Alaska, United States

Notes

Aldona Jonaitis

The 70 plates depicting the works of art can be found in Represetntative Art (532), with the exception of plates 10, 21, 33, 34, 54 and 69, which are indexed for Decorative Art (531). Information on the potlatch generally was indexed for both Gift Giving (431) and Accumulation of Wealth (556). Where either gift giving, or ostentatious display and consumption of wealth is stressed, the information has been indexed for Gift Giving (431) or Accumulation of Wealth (556), respectively. Finally, for information on Tlingit animal-spirits (YEK) see Fauna (136), Spirits and Gods (776) and Ethnozoology (825).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-177) and index

LCCN

85040353

LCSH

Tlingit Indians