Symbolic Immortality: The Tlingit Potlatch of the Nineteenth Century, Second Edition

by Sergei Kan

Overview

Decades after its initial publication, Symbolic Immortality retains its status as the most comprehensive analysis of the mortuary practices of the Tlingit Indians of southeastern Alaska—or any other indigenous culture of the Northwest Coast. This updated and expanded edition furthers our understanding of the potlatch (koo.éex’) as a total social phenomenon, with emotional and religious as well as economic and sociopolitical dimensions. The result is a major contribution to both Northwest Coast ethnology and theoretical literature on the anthropology of death.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295994895
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	12/01/2015
Series:	Naomi B. Pascal Editor's Endowment Series
Edition description:	second edition
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sergei Kan is professor of anthropology and Native American studies at Dartmouth College. He is the author of Memory Eternal: Tlingit Culture and Russian Orthodox Christianity through Two Centuries and A Russian American Photographer in Tlingit Country: Vincent Soboleff in Alaska, and editor of Sharing Our Knowledge: The Tlingit and Their Coastal Neighbors.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Tlingit Alphabet xvii

Tlingit Technical Sound Chart xix

Map of Southeast Alaska, the Land of the Coastal Tlingits xx

Introduction 3

Chapter 1 Outline of the Mortuary Rites 32

Part 1 The Person and the Social Order

Chapter 2 The "Outside" and the "Inside": The Tlingit View of the Human Being 53

Chapter 3 Shagóon and the Social Person: The Cultural Ideal 68

Chapter 4 The Aristocrat as the Ideal Person 79

Part 2 The Funeral

Chapter 5 Cosmology, Eschatology, and the Nature of Death 107

Chapter 6 The Deceased, the Mourners, and the Opposites: Actors in the Ritual Drama 126

Chapter 7 Grief, Mourning, and the Politics of the Funeral 163

Part 3 The Potlatch

Chapter 8 The Potlatch as a Mortuary Ritual 177

Chapter 9 Competition and Cooperation, Hierarchy and Equality 211

Part 4 Death In Northwestern North America and Beyond

Chapter 10 The Tlingit Mortuary Complex: A Comparative Perspective 253

Conclusion: The Tlingit Mortuary Complex and the Anthropology of Death 281

Epilogue 293

Notes 319

Glossary 363

References 367

Index 389

Editorial Reviews

"[Kan] argues that a belief in immortality lay at the core of Tlingit ideology, and that the potlatch effectively symbolized the relationship between the living and the dead. . . . Historians of American Indian cultures can read Symbolic Immortality with much profit. The writing is clear, and the scholarship rests as strongly on documentary evidence as on field notes gathered from oral respondents. Kan’s analysis is creative and imaginative."

Journal of the West

"A sensitive and comprehensive study of the mortuary complex among the Tlingit Indians of southeastern Alaska. . . . This book will become one of the few classics in the literature of the North Pacific Coast."—American Indian Quarterly

"Kan's work is a welcome addition to . . . literature on the potlatch, and provides fresh insights into traditional Tlingit culture as it survived into the nineteenth century through the window of mortuary rites....Kan's work must be recommended for its innovative approaches to the study of the Tlingit and the study of their mortuary rites which provide much food for thought for comparison with other societies."—Anthropos

"Kan's presentation of rich and complex data on many aspects of the Tlingit mortuary attests to his sensitivity as a fieldworker (and to the perhaps surprising strength of Tlingit tradition). What is more, Kan is the first to make such extensive use of archival and ethnohistorical sources to present as complete as possible a picture of the nineteenth-century Tlingit potlatch. . . . The book is a welcome addition to the literature on the Northwest Coast, ritual exchange, ethnopsychology, and mortuary practices, and deserves a wide and lasting audience."—Arctic Anthropology

"There is a beauty and rhythm to the Tlingit mortuary complex which makes compelling reading. Most simply, this monograph is an anthropological study of death. . . In their mortuary rites, culminating in the memorial potlatch, the Tlingit transformed death from a threat to the social order into the major opportunity for imposing a sense of order on the flow of social life."—Arctic and Alpine Research

"Kan goes far beyond description to explore reasons for and meanings of the customs. . . . [He] is dealing with extremely complex issues, yet his arguments are stated with absolute clarity. . . . The most exciting aspect of Kan's book—apart from the specific information he presents—is his discussion of theory and methodology. He integrates these themes skillfully into his text. . . . [arguing] strongly in favor of a holistic approach to cultural studies."—Alaska History

"[Kan] argues that a belief in immortality lay at the core of Tlingit ideology, and that the potlatch effectively symbolized the relationship between the living and the dead. . . . Historians of American Indian cultures can read Symbolic Immortality with much profit. The writing is clear, and the scholarship rests as strongly on documentary evidence as on field notes gathered from oral respondents. Kan's analysis is creative and imaginative."—Journal of the West

"[Shows] that the entire process from death, to funeral, to the final memorial is more than an economic, political, or social affair; it is a way to commemorate the deceased and all of one's ancestors and what they represent. . . . For anyone seriously interested in the history and culture of this region, [this book] will . . . stand as one of the major publications in anthropology for many years to come."—Tundra Times

"Sergei Kan has done a fine job of synthesizing source materials in Symbolic Immortality. This book will undoubtedly become a standard reference on the Tlingit."—Sharing Our Pathways

From the Publisher

"Kan goes far beyond description to explore reasons for and meanings of the customs. . . . [He] is dealing with extremely complex issues, yet his arguments are stated with absolute clarity. . . . The most exciting aspect of Kan’s book—apart from the specific information he presents—is his discussion of theory and methodology. He integrates these themes skillfully into his text. . . . [arguing] strongly in favor of a holistic approach to cultural studies."

Alaska History

"[Shows] that the entire process from death, to funeral, to the final memorial is more than an economic, political, or social affair; it is a way to commemorate the deceased and all of one’s ancestors and what they represent. . . . For anyone seriously interested in the history and culture of this region, [this book] will . . . stand as one of the major publications in anthropology for many years to come."

Tundra Times

"Kan’s presentation of rich and complex data on many aspects of the Tlingit mortuary attests to his sensitivity as a fieldworker (and to the perhaps surprising strength of Tlingit tradition). What is more, Kan is the first to make such extensive use of archival and ethnohistorical sources to present as complete as possible a picture of the nineteenth-century Tlingit potlatch. . . . The book is a welcome addition to the literature on the Northwest Coast, ritual exchange, ethnopsychology, and mortuary practices, and deserves a wide and lasting audience."

Arctic Anthropology

"There is a beauty and rhythm to the Tlingit mortuary complex which makes compelling reading. Most simply, this monograph is an anthropological study of death. . . In their mortuary rites, culminating in the memorial potlatch, the Tlingit transformed death from a threat to the social order into the major opportunity for imposing a sense of order on the flow of social life."

Arctic and Alpine Research

"Kan’s work is a welcome addition to . . . literature on the potlatch, and provides fresh insights into traditional Tlingit culture as it survived into the nineteenth century through the window of mortuary rites....Kan’s work must be recommended for its innovative approaches to the study of the Tlingit and the study of their mortuary rites which provide much food for thought for comparison with other societies."

Anthropos