Jilkáat Kwáan

Jilkáat Kwáan belongs to the Tlingit world of southeastern Alaska, where rivers and mountain passes connect coastal inlets with the interior. The Chilkat people drew on local foods and traded with communities to the north and south.

The Chilkat Indian Village's own history emphasizes the routes its people guarded into the interior of Alaska and Canada. Clan houses accommodated multiple families and reflected Tlingit social relationships. Trade, local resources and community ties together sustained life in the Chilkat country; the tribal account describes these traditions broadly rather than dating each to a particular year.