Being and Place Among the Tlingit (Culture, Place, and Nature) [Paperback]

Thomas F. Thornton (Author)

Book Description

Series: Culture, Place, and Nature | Publication Date: November 30, 2007

In "Being and Place among the Tlingit", anthropologist Thomas F. Thornton examines the concept of place in the language, social structure, economy, and ritual of southeast Alaska's Tlingit Indians. Place signifies not only a specific geographical location but also reveals the ways in which individuals and social groups define themselves. The notion of place consists of three dimensions - space, time, and experience - which are culturally and environmentally structured. Thornton examines each in detail to show how individual and collective Tlingit notions of place, being, and identity are formed. As he observes, despite cultural and environmental changes over time, particularly in the post-contact era since the late eighteenth century, Tlingits continue to bind themselves and their culture to places and landscapes in distinctive ways. He offers insight into how Tlingits in particular, and humans in general, conceptualize their relationship to the lands they inhabit, arguing for a study of place that considers all aspects of human interaction with landscape. In Tlingit, it is difficult even to introduce oneself without referencing places in Lingit Aani (Tlingit Country). Geographic references are embedded in personal names, clan names, house names, and, most obviously, in k-waan names, which define regions of dwelling. To say one is Sheet'ka K-waan defines one as a member of the Tlingit community that inhabits Sheet'ka (Sitka). "Being and Place among the Tlingit" makes a substantive contribution to the literature on the Tlingit, the Northwest Coast cultural area, Native American and indigenous studies, and to the growing social scientific and humanistic literature on space, place, and landscape.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book will be a model for Native Alaskan cultural ecology. Case studies are illustrated with the lives of traditional Tlingit elders and the naming of particular places, showing how names, stories, songs, myth, legend, history, artistic designs, food gathering, and material culture (such as boat design) are specific to place." Richard Dauenhauer, University of Alaska Southeast

From the Publisher

"Thomas Thornton has written an excellent book: adroitly conceived, carefully researched, rewardingly informative. It provides a compelling example of how cultural constructions of geographic places shape and pervade experience, not only among the Tlingit - whose places, one discovers, are both plentiful and arresting - but also, by implication, among indigenous peoples elsewhere in the world." - Keith H. Basso, Regents Professor, and Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; University of New Mexico

"This remarkable and fine-grained ethnography . . . speaks to broad environmental questions and provides a powerful vision of the roles that place and landscape play in cultural systems." - Julie Cruikshank, professor emerita, Anthropology, University of British Columbia

"This book is a powerful testament to the complexity, durability, and sensitivity of Tlingit ethnoecology that allows us to appreciate more fully what it means to be a 'child of the land' as Tlingit characterize the relationship between clan members and the particular places to which they belong." - Eugene Hunn, professor emeritus, University of Washington

"This book will be a model for Native Alaskan cultural ecology. Case studies are illustrated with the lives of traditional Tlingit elders and the naming of particular places, showing how names, stories, songs, myth, legend, history, artistic designs, food gathering, and material culture (such as boat design) are specific to place." - Richard Dauenhauer, University of Alaska Southeast

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (November 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295987499
• ISBN-13: 978-0295987491
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Discussion of a Complex Subject, November 22, 2008

By 

oxalis (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being and Place Among the Tlingit (Culture, Place, and Nature) (Paperback)

This is an excellent ethnographic work that makes significant arguments in a quiet, accessible, and confident way. Thornton demonstrates the interconnectivity of language, history and memory, ecology, and economics in Tlingit society and in doing so builds a robust claim for the value of cultural preservation and autonomy. It is difficult to read this and not draw comparisons with the dominant models of economic, environmental, and cultural practice. In doing so this reader gained much in the way of analytical tools with which to approach the problems associated with the models mentioned above.

'Being and Place Among the Tlingit' is also a fine example of social science methodology and ethics. An ideal read for students of anthropology, and perhaps disciplines as varied as economics, ecology, and phenomenology. Outstanding.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, Respectable service, November 20, 2008

By 

Michael S. Queen (Kasaan, Alaska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Being and Place Among the Tlingit (Culture, Place, and Nature) (Paperback)

A worthy scholarly treatment of SE Alaska Tlingit sensibility. Respected in both cultures, Thornton is possessed of insight valuable to all non-Tlingit seeking to understand how intimately place is tied to personal and cultural identity.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars dull, March 6, 2011

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College Student - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being and Place Among the Tlingit (Culture, Place, and Nature) (Paperback)

I had to read this book for a class and it was extremely difficult to read. There was nothing to capture my attention longer than 3 minutes. The book was full of useful information that I would have remembered if it had flowed better and was more understandable.