ALASKA THE GREAT COUNTRY CHAPTER XII The Majesty of Lynn Canal: Glaciers, Legends, and the Legacy of the Chilkat

Explore the breathtaking beauty and rich cultural tapestry of Lynn Canal, one of Alaska’s most majestic waterways. From the haunting story of the Clara Nevada wreck to the proud legacy of the Chilkat people, this narration unveils the hidden stories, glaciers, and vibrant native traditions of the North. A deep dive into history, geography, and native artistry awaits in this captivating tale of exploration and endurance.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twelve. The Davidson Glacier was named for Professor George Davidson,
who was one of its earliest explorers. A heavy forest
growth covers its terminal moraine and detracts from its lower beauty.
Pyramid Harbor, at the head of chilcot Inlet has an
Alaska packer's cannery at the base of a mountain which

(00:22):
rises as straight as an arrow from the water to
a height of eighteen hundred feet. This mountain was named
Labouchere for the Hudson Bay Company steamer, which in eighteen
sixty two was almost captured by the Hoona Indians at
Port Frederick in icy strait. Pyramid Harbor was named for

(00:42):
a small pyramid shaped island which now bears the same name,
but of which the Indian name is Schlehatch. The island
is but little more than a tiny cone, rising directly
from the water. Indians camp here in large numbers in
the summer time to work in the canneries. The women

(01:03):
sell berries, baskets, chilcut blankets of deserved fame, and other curios.
It was this harbor which the Canadians and the Joint
High Commission of eighteen ninety eight unblushingly asked the United
States to seede to them, together with Chilcot Inlet and River,
and a strip of land through the Lezier owned by US.

(01:24):
The Chilcot River flows into this inlet from the northwest.
At its mouth, it widens into low tide flats, over
which at low tide the water flows in ribbonish loops. Here.
During a run, the salmon are taken in countless thousands.
The Chilcots and Chilcoots are the great Indians of Alaska.

(01:47):
They comprise the real aristocracy. They are a brave, bold,
courageous race, saucy and independent, constantly carrying a chip on
the shoulder or a feather pointing forward in the head deer.
They are looked up to and feared by the thlinkets
of inferior tribes. Their villages are located up the Chilcot

(02:12):
and Chilcoot rivers, and their frequent mountain journeyings have developed
their legs, giving them a well proportioned athletic physique and
marked contrast to the bowed and scrawny legged canoe dwellers
to the southward and westward. They are skillful in various
kinds of work, but their fame will eventually endure in

(02:32):
the exquisite dance blankets known as the Chilcot blanket. These
blankets are woven of the wool of the mountain goat,
whose winter coat is strong and coarse at shedding time
in the spring. As the goat leaps from place to place,
the woolf clings to trees, rocks and bushes and thick festoons.

(02:53):
These the indolent Indians gather for the weaving of their blankets,
rather than take the trouble of kill the goats. This
delicate and beautiful work is like the thlinket and Chocod basket,
in simple twined weaving. The warpangs loose from the rude loom,
and the wool is woven upward as inn att to

(03:15):
and hide a basketry. The owner of one of the
old Chocoud blankets possesses a treasure beyond price. The demand
has cheapened the quality of those of the present day,
but those of Bearnoff's time were marvels of skill and coloring.
Considering that Indian women's dark hands were the only shuttles. Black, white, yellow,

(03:37):
and a peculiar blue are the colors most frequently observed
in these blankets, and a deep, rich red is becoming
more common than formerly. A wide black or dark band
usually surrounds them border wise, and a fringe as wide
as the blanket falls magnificently from the bottom, a narrower
one from the sides. The The old and rare ones

(04:01):
were from a yard and a half to two yards long.
The modern ones are much smaller and may be obtained
as low as seventy five dollars. The designs greatly resemble
those of the Haida hats and basketry. The full face,
with flaring nostrils, small eyes, and ferocious display of teeth

(04:22):
is the bear. The eye which appears in all places
and in all sizes as that of the thunderbird, or
with the haidas the sacred raven. There is an Indian
mission named Klokwan at the head of the inlet. The
Chilcots were governed by chiefs and sub chiefs at the
time of the transfer. Ko Klux was the great chief

(04:45):
of the region. He was a man of powerful will
and determined character. He wielded a strong influence over his tribes,
who believed that he bore a charmed life. He was
friendly to Americans, and did everything in his power to
assist Professor George Davidson, who went to the head of

(05:05):
Lynn Canal in eighteen sixty nine to observe the solar
total eclipse. The Indians apparently placed no faith in Professor
Davidson's announcement of approaching darkness in the middle of the day, however,
and when the eclipse really occurred, they fled from him
as from a devil, and sought the safety of their
mountain fastnesses, the passes through these mountains they had held

(05:29):
from time immemorial against all comers. The Indians of the
vast interior regions and those of the coast could trade
only through the chilcots, the scornful aristocrats and powerful autocrats
of the country.