Book

Social structure and social life of the Tlingit in Alaska

University of California Press26Published In 1967 • Pages: x, 123

By: Olson, Ronald L. (Ronald Leroy).

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The author's objective in this ethnography was to do a '…study of the structure and functioning of the complex social life,…' (p. V-A). The range of topics covered is broad, including political organization, clan legends and property, social classes, potlatches, feuds and warfare, religion, and historical narratives of several of the clans. The book is primarily a 'memory' ethnography of the Tlingit, based on interviews with old people who could remember back to the period before 1880 or 1890, before intensive White contact. Consequently the book consists mainly of legends, tales, and the historical and semi-historical narratives of the elders as related to Olsen, who was an adopted member of the Ganaxtedi Clan of the Raven moiety.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Traditional history
Gift giving
Literary texts
Accumulation of wealth
Ingroup antagonisms
Moieties
Revelation and divination
Organized ceremonial
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Tlingit
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
1997
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Northwest Coast and California
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Marlene Martin ; Martin Malone ; 1974
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1933-1954
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
ca. 1880-1900
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
southeastern Alaska, United States
NotesAdditional notes
by R. L. Olsen
Includes bibliographical references (p. 123)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
68002894
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Tlingit Indians