Passages The land was there. It had simply changed. Raven came, releasing the Sun, Moon, and Stars. His cunning creations, the elders say, changed the world... The earth warmed and the glaciers began to melt. Streams carried silt and gravel out from the glaciers down to the sea, constantly layering new land upon the old. And, even as the seas rose, the earth rebounded, lifting forests of lodgepole pine, hemlock and spruce, and created new beaches. In this cool dry climate the early maritime people moved out along the newly formed beaches, pursuing seals and sea lions. They hunted with bone harpoons, some tips lined with deadly sharp microblades of obsidian, a natural glass. By their fires, families roasted and ate the rich oily meat of seals and fish. Discarded seal and fish backbones remain as links, still connecting past to present, still supporting the strongest evidence that these were early maritime people. Fishing in deep water required boats, and hooks and line, but none of these remain. Blades, pollen, shells, bones and charcoal are the sole reminders of an ancient Siberian tradition. In a cycle of warming and cooling, glaciers melted and advanced for thousands of years, the land continued to change. What happened to these families? Where did they go? Perhaps they kept moving south, or up the rivers into the interior, or perhaps they remained on uplifted land precariously pocketed between sea and lobes of ice. The Elders tell in the oral histories of the Flood: that the families prepared for uncertainty, filled seal stomachs with water, and climbed to high stone fortresses they had built. Twisting tree limbs into ropes, they anchored themselves to juts of mountains as the waters rose and swirled. And when the waters receded, the families came down. Gradually the natural forces that shaped the islands and mainland valleys began to subside. A cool wet land cradled the cedar; it welcomed the salmon. The families gathered to harvest, building houses to last over time. With greenstone adzes, the men smoothed planks of cedar to wall and roof their families' homes. With slate and mussel shell knives, the women stripped the bark from the cedar and split the roots of the spruce. With these they wove clothes and baskets which held seaweed and herring roe and their infants. The Elders tell of migration histories, of families returning to the coast. Some came from the southern coast. Some came out of the interior, and as they moved down the rivers, they were stopped where the rivers ran under the glaciers. Some families climbed over the glaciers; others went under and they came down to the salt water. The sea and the land grew riches, and the families harvested at traditional camps. With weirs and traps they gathered the returning salmon. With nets they scooped up the eulachon. Wood and bone hooks brought halibut up from the bottom. Rich red meat added variety. Sumptuous furs and wools were woven into elaborate robes. Families grew, creating larger villages with many Big Houses. Some family members, seeking more resources, moved on, carrying with them their histories and crests. Within each Big House, master artists were hired to carve and paint and weave each family's crest. Ceremonial regalia and coppers, houses and poles, all of these proclaimed each family's prerogatives and magnified the families' crests. And as the winter's darkness settled, invited guests gathered in the Big Houses. In elaborate ceremonies, the hosts brought honor to the families' birthrights. From the islands to the south, more families migrated northward. As they sailed, they sought good fishing. In 1741, Captain Chirikof sailed into waters near Sitka. Other explorers followed, seeking the Northwest Passage. They traded iron and metal for sea otter pelts. When the merchants of Europe heard of the fur prices, their interests in trading ventures were kindled. Yet, the European traders were dependent on the people's whims and needs: iron or blankets, potatoes or gunpowder, molasses or cloth. By 1830 the sea otters were depleted and the traders shifted to land mammal furs. Of all that had been introduced, disease was the most devastating. Smallpox killed thousands; it ripped the families and the villages apart. Yet, the identity of one's mother's kinsmen and recognition of one's ancient birthrights remained. Russia's sale of Alaska to the United States increased western development in the region. People from all parts of the world came to Alaska to seek their fortune, to see the sights of the new frontier, to build homes and to invest in business. Commercial fish traps spread along families' traditional fishing areas. Miners extracted gold and marble, copper and zinc. Government regulated the resources. Lumber mills sawed the timbers for continual construction. Fox farms sprang up on small islands. Houses perched on beach pilings and bedrock slopes. Towns grew. The fishing industry kept crews working through winters and into the long summer days. These were the foundations of our commerce today. And Raven tried to make People out of a Rock so they would not die and a Leaf so that they would change. Rock was too slow. So People were created from the Leaf. It was light, it was quick, it changed.... A timeline summarizes the history of humans in Southeast Alaska as it has been pieced together. A series of pictures depicts the changes brought about by the passages of time. Home | Forest Facts | History and Archeology Technologies Through Time | Future of our Past