Dynamics of Changes in the Weapon Complex of the Tlingit in the Second Half of the 18th – mid-19th Centuries

Abstract

Based on the analysis of written sources and ethnographic data, the article traces the dynamics of changes that took place in the weapon complex of the Tlingit Indians under the influence of contacts with Europeans in the second half of the 18th – mid-19th centuries. Initially, it includes daggers, spears, war clubs and stone axes, bow and arrows. Defensive weapons are represented by shields, leather and wood armor and helmets. Since about the mid-1790s, due to the intensification of maritime fur trade with the Europeans, sharp changes have taken place in the weapon complex. First of all, this found expression in the widespread use of firearms. Shields, axes and clubs are falling out of use, and the importance of bows and arrows is decreasing. In the second quarter of the 19th century such trends are even more developed, various types of leather armor are spreading more widely, and firearms are of decisive importance for the conduct of hostilities.