EPW – Voices – 1-TEST – City and Borough of Juneau

Voices Project Banner Image - repeating pattern of Tlingit salmon design with the words "Haa Aani - Our Home Land"

1. Welcome to Juneau Voices

Instruction above audio player, the graphic says "Press" (there is another below the player that says "Play" so the user sees "Press Play" sandwiching the audio player.

Instruction below audio player, the graphic says "Play" (there is another above the player that says "Press" so the user sees "Press Play" sandwiching the audio player.

Come, take a walk with us. Frances Houston, Marie Olson, Benjamin Coronell, and Benjamin Schleifman welcome you, on behalf of this area’s original Tlingit clans.

More about this story

Juneau Voices #1 is located at several welcoming signs along the shore and seawalk of downtown Juneau.
The introductions you hear in this audio story follow traditional Tlingit protocols: identifying one’s name, moiety, kwáan, clan, clan house, and the names of one’s mother and maternal grandmother; and, honoring one’s father by sharing his name and clan.
There are 21 recorded ancestral territories in Lingít Aaní (Our Land). Each is called kwáan. These are core to the way Tlingits associate their relationships between peoples, clans and lands. The name for each kwáan refers to a place on the land. The City and Borough of Juneau includes Áak’w Kwáan, named for the lake near the Áak’w winter village (north of downtown Juneau); and T’aaḵú Kwáan, named for the Taku River (south of downtown Juneau).
Each kwáan includes several clans. A Tlingit’s clan membership is determined through their mother. Each clan has at least one crest. Local clan crests include the dog salmon, shark, wolf, and frog.
The broadest groupings in Tlingit society are the Ravens/Crows (Yéil/Ts’axweil) and the Eagles/Wolves (Ch’áak’/Gooch). Coastal Tlingits identify with “Raven” and inland Tlingits with “Crow.” Their opposites on the coast are “Eagles,” and “Wolves” for the inland Tlingit. A few coastal clans refer to themselves as Wolves.
In this audio story, you hear voices from the Áak’w Kwaan and the T’aaḵú Kwaan. From each kwaan, you’re greeted by a Raven and an Eagle/Wolf. In this way, this audio story observes the Tlingit cultural value of balance. Fran Houston is Raven and Marie Olson is Eagle from the Aak’w Kwaan. Benjamin Coronell is Eagle/Wolf and Benjamin Schleifman is Raven from the T’aaḵú Kwaan.
The Áak’w L’eeneidí clan were the first to settle the area around Dzantiki Heení (the Gold Creek area). Within a 36-mile radius from here, the Áak’w and the T’aaḵú people had villages, camps, and forts in their respective territories.
The narrators for Juneau Voices are David Katzeek, Kingeisti, an Eagle, and Erin Tripp, Xáalnook, a Raven.

1. Welcome to Juneau Voices

Come, take a walk with us. Frances Houston, Marie Olson, Benjamin Coronell, and Benjamin Schleifman welcome you, on behalf of this area’s original Tlingit clans.

More about this story

Juneau Voices #1 is located at several welcoming signs along the shore and seawalk of downtown Juneau.

The introductions you hear in this audio story follow traditional Tlingit protocols: identifying one’s name, moiety, kwáan, clan, clan house, and the names of one’s mother and maternal grandmother; and, honoring one’s father by sharing his name and clan.

Each kwáan includes several clans. A Tlingit’s clan membership is determined through their mother. Each clan has at least one crest. Local clan crests include the dog salmon, shark, wolf, and frog.

The Áak’w L’eeneidí clan were the first to settle the area around Dzantiki Heení (the Gold Creek area). Within a 36-mile radius from here, the Áak’w and the T’aaḵú people had villages, camps, and forts in their respective territories.

The narrators for Juneau Voices are David Katzeek, Kingeisti, an Eagle, and Erin Tripp, Xáalnook, a Raven.