KWÄDAY DÄN TS’ÌNCH! Long Ago Person Found

WINTER 2009 ! A CHAMPAGNE AND AISHIHIK FIRST NATIONS SPECIAL REPORT!

Upper Left - the knife he carried.

Lower Left: he wore this small bead made of native copper mounted on sinew.

Right: Sketch drawn by late 19th century traveller of Shäwshe (Neskataheen/Dalton Post) Chief Ick Ars who wears a robe and hat similar to those worn by the Long Ago Person Found.

Learning About the Life and Times of An Ancestor

Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnch! (Long Highlights of the numerous Ago Person Found in the Southern studies completed in the decade Tutchone language) refers to since the discovery in 1999 are human remains found eroding out presented in this newsletter, of a glacier in Tatshenshini-Alsek including revised information, such Park in British Columbia in 1999. as the time when he lived. We now Because the discovery was know, for example, that the Long located in Champagne and Aishihik Ago Person Found belonged to the First Nations traditional territory, Wolf/Eagle moeity or clan, and we the First Nation rightfully stepped have learned that while he spent forward to take responsibility for most of his life on or close to the find, establishing a co-operative saltwater, he also appears to have partnership with the B.C. travelled inland in the months Government to manage the before his passing. discovery. This arrangement The traditional stories of the ensured that First Nations and Tlingit and the Champagne and tribal values were respected, as Looking southeast from the discovery Aishihik people say that extensive studies proceeded to learn who site area. The Long Ago Person came trade and marriage took place the Long Ago Person Found was. from this direction, and would have between the two groups. The crossed the glacier in the distance. The The autopsy showed he was a stories also note that travels over Haines Road is located east of the healthy young man in good physical glaciers were part of such mountain on the left. shape at the time of his passing. No exchanges. The results of the Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnch! studies are obvious cause of death was He lived sometime betw een very much in line with these determined; he may have died from 1670 and 1800 A.D. - this is when trade betw exposure. een the stories and a clear indication of coast and the interior was at its our shared history. peak, and the Tlingit were marrying and moving in to the Tatshenshini basin. Spruce Root Hat Clothing, Artifacts

Gopher Robe Interestingly, while the robe started its life in the interior, it was repaired by someone with access to coastal species, including sinew from a blue whale. Champagne and Aishihik First Nations hosted a project in 2008 An incredible piece of workmanship, to learn more about its the hat is made of very finely woven Robes or blankets made from community’s gopher robe making spruce roots, and features an inner tradition. band, which was sized specifically to the skins of gophers (also known as ground squirrels) were once its wearer. The weaving pattern of the cherished items in all Southern hat is distinctly Tlingit in style. The hat also has a chin strap; the copper bead Tutchone households; lightweight but warm, they have been shown on the front cover may have described as similar to a down been tied to that strap. sleeping bag. Gopher robes or While the hat had been painted with blankets were also highly valued ochre, based on depictions of Tlingit by the coastal Tlingit, who men wearing similar hats in late 19th received them in trade from their century photographs, it appears to be interior neighbours. an everyday rather than a ceremonial The remains of the gopher hat. It had also been repaired. robe are very fragmentary (above photo). Detailed study has shown its similarity to a contemporary gopher robe/blanket, as modelled in the right photo. Blankets are usually made from nearly 100 individual gopher pelts, and feature a distinctive sewing style. Laurie Strand models a family gopher blanket.

Small Bag (not illustrated) In addition to the robe, the Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnch! individual was also carrying a small bag made of beaver skins. Knife (front page photo) was encased in its own hide sheath, and is very similar to examples of late 19th century “Men’s Knives” from Klukwan that were sold to various American museums. It is also similar to the knives used Spruce root weaving is a highly skilled by contemporary wood carvers. The knife blade, badly corroded, is made of and time-consuming art, traditionally European trade metal. practiced by women. Workshops were held at Klukwan and other locations to Numerous sticks and wooden artifacts have been found in the site area. rekindle the art of spruce root weaving. Most are made of woods like hemlock and sitka spruce that come from the coastal Here, the late Ruth Kasko, organizer of biotic zone. One group of stick fragments has been re-assembled into a 12 foot plus the September 2001 Klukwan long gaff pole; parts of other possible gaff poles have been recognized as well. Three finely carved sticks in the collection are similar to those used for carrying/hanging workshop, shows progress on her spruce salmon. A stick with a distinctive hooked end may have been used for setting snares. root hat. All of these artifacts are thought to have been left behind by others who travelled No evidence of footwear or this route. Only one wooden artifact, a painted stick of uncertain purpose, is clearly other clothing items were ever associated with the Long Ago Person Found. found. Chronology of Events

Discovery First Made August 1999

Remains Travel to Victoria for Autopsy September 1999

Consultations with Neighbouring First Nations and Tribes 1999, 2000

Medical Studies Completed in Victoria December 2000

Community DNA Study, Search for Living Relatives Initiated Winter 2001

Meeting Held With Representatives of Neighbouring First May 2001 Nations and Tribes to obtain advice on next steps

The results of various scientific and community Cremated Remains Returned North July 2001 studies about the Long Ago Person Found were Funeral Service Held at Klukshu, Remains Returned to July 2001 presented at a conference in Victoria in the spring Mountain Where He Lost HIs Life of 2008. In this photo, Wayne Jim, right, pays respect as his father, Wolf Clan Elder Paddy Jim of Forty Day Party Held at Klukwan September 2001 Whitehorse drums to honor the Long Ago Person Missing bones found at site and buried on the mountain August 2003 Found at the Victoria Symposium. Last few bones found at site and buried on the mountain August 2004

Living Relatives of the Long Ago Person Found Identified & Spring 2008 His Travels Study Results Presented at Conference in Victoria A fascinating picture of the young His Last Meals - While the trip started somewhere near man’s life history and travels has young man was carrying dried saltwater. been assembled from various lines sockeye salmon, the remains of Where Did He Come From? of evidence. some type of shellfish, which is The plant remains on his clothing, We Are What We Eat - usually eaten fresh on the coast, as well as mineral grains in his were found in his digestive tract. Your body (bones, muscle, skin, digestive track from the water he His gut also contained the hair) keeps a record of the foods drank, provide additional clues on flowering parts of “beach you eat. The bones, muscle and his travels. His last trip started asparagus”, a plant which grows in skin show a longer-term record, somewhere in the Haines, Klukwan only a few places in Southeast your hair a shorter-term record. area. He approached the glacier Alaska. The latter two pieces of Study of his bones and tissue where he lost his life from the information suggest that his last showed that, for most of his life, southeast. The Long Ago Person Found ate Shäwshe/ Where Was He Heading To? shellfish and/or salmon. This Neskataheen While we have no idea as to the suggests that he was raised on the purpose of his last trip, or where coast, where a seafood diet is he was heading to, the traditional common. His hair, however, told a Other stories of the Chilkat and Yakutat different story, indicating that in Villages Tlingit and the Southern Tutchone the 1-2 months prior to his give us some ideas. Quite possibly Discovery passing, his diet included lots of he was heading to one of several Site meat. This may mean that he had Tutchone or mixed Tlingit- taken an extended journey to the Klukwan Tutchone villages that once existed interior. He spent his final days on on the Tatshenshini River. the coast, however, before heading off on his last trip to the Map made by Chilkat trading chief Kohklux in 1852, Tatshenshini country. which shows his Klukwan home, as well as the villages on the Tatshenshini River. The approximate location of Kwäday Dan Ts’inchi discovery site has been added. Who Are His People? Community DNA Study practice also specifies that they too the Tatshenshini River. Also known honor and pay respect to their by the Tlingit name Neskataheen In 2000, a study was initiated to father’s people. Consequently, it is a and as old Dalton Post, at the turn see if living relatives of the Long very large “living family” that of the 20th century, Shäwshe was a Ago Person Found could be found celebrates the life of the Kwäday mixed Tutchone/Tlingit village. through mitochondrial DNA Dän Ts’ìnchi individual. (mtDNA) analysis. The mtDNA is inherited through the mother’s Wolf / Eagle F Oles line, which matches the matrilineal The study results are a clan system the Tutchone and testimony to the integrity of the Tlingit both follow. traditional clan/moiety system of Over 240 citizens of Tribes and the native people of the region. All First Nations from Yukon, of the Relatives identified through northwest British Columbia and the DNA study belong to the Wolf southeast Alaska participated in the or Eagle clan or moiety, which by DNA study. The samples provided tradition means that the Long Ago Guna!chîsh by these individuals were compared Person Found was also Wolf/Eagle. to the mtDNA sequence of the Those relatives who are Champagne and Aishihik First Nations Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi individual. The Tutchone belong to the Wolf clan; wishes to thank its neighbouring First study found 17 individuals in the those who are Tlingit are member Nations and Tribes for their support in group of study participants with of either the Dakle’weidi the decade since the discovery was matching sequences, which means (killerwhale) or Yanyeidi (wolf) clans made. Their patience, as the results of that these individuals share a of the Eagle moiety. The history of the various studies slowly came to light, common female ancestor with the these two clans is connected. ensured that something positive came Long Ago Person Found. The relatives live in Southeast out of this long ago tragedy. We also Since each of the matched Alaska, B.C. and Yukon, which is not wish to acknowledge the project’s co-- relatives is related to many people unexpected given the close manager, the B.C. Government (Royal through the female line, the actual relationships between people of the British Columbia Museum and B.C. number of living maternal relatives two regions and our shared history. Archaeology Branch), as well as the likely number in the hundreds. project’s supporters, including the Yukon At least five of the relatives are Moreover, while the children of Government, and the many project descended from people who lived men who are from the Kwäday Dän researchers who contributed their at Shäwshe, a traditional Ts’ìnchi maternal line traditionally expertise and resources. Champagne and Aishihik village on belong to a different clan, cultural

Winter Event What’s Ahead? y of Artifacts Lectures, Displa Relatives Meeting 14th, 2009 Memor March 13th, ial or Headstone Potlatch unction Haines J Hosted by his Relatives and the Wolf /Eagle People BOOK September 2009 (Summarizing What Has Been Learned) to be Published Spring 2010 For Further Information Contact Champagne & Aishihik First Nations www.cafn.ca Sheila Joe-Quock [email protected] 867-634-4010 Sheila Greer [email protected] Heritage Programme