When the Tlingit took to the Seas: a Pacific Northwest timeline
- Thread starter HyperMuscularDemon
- Start date
Maybe. I mean there is the dabbling duck, but I will have to think about this issue.
Weasels or foxes for vermin control.
If they do prepare nesting sites for hawks for vermin control that could lead to falconry.
Otters to help with fishing.
Wiki says they were fed mostly salmon.domesticate this
Salish Wool Dog - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
What if people started trying to supplement their diet with vegetable matter? And if some of the dogs mutated their gastrointestinal system a little bit to adapt to the less carnivorous diet? Dogs do have better tolerance for such than cats after all, and their bear cousins seem to like berries etc?
Give it a few centuries and the breed could deal ok with a change in diet?
Last edited:
Chapter 4.5 (1/2)
Chapter 4.5 (1/2):
*OTL Juneau*
*January 15, 715 AD*
Aching. Aching, aching, aching, aching. That was what the boy felt, right here, right now. He was tasked with digging and expanding the canals that help water the farms and fields of the village, and that entailed labor, labor, labor.
Right now, he was helping the men dig out the dirt with large clubs, with which they would pound the dirt after it had been soaked with water brought in bowls.
Currently, the boy and the men responsible for teaching him how to dig the canals were on a lunch break, as they could been seen lounging around, talking, enjoying their lunch and the sun.
The boy himself reached down and picked up his meal, which consisted of crushed acorns, baked bread, and some fried fish. The meal was laying on a mat of woven cedar bark, and the boy ate part of the bread and fish, nibbling on it as he watched the men relax.
“There has to be a better way to do this work” the boy thought, groaning internally as he thought back to the previous time when he had helped the men dig the canals.
It was back breaking brutal work, and even older Tlingit men felt it tiring, as evidenced by how eagerly they embraced food breaks. The boy had previously started working on the canals last summer, as he had just turned 15 that January, and now that he had turned 16 ten days ago, he was deemed able enough to keep working on the canal.
The boy understood that this work was necessary for the village to feed itself, but still, he wished there was a better and easier way to dig them. Suddenly, the sound of his name being called reached his ears and he turned around to see his cousin, a boy of the same age as him, 16 years old, smiling happily and eagerly running up the hill to meet him.
The boy in turn broke out grinning, and began to run towards his cousin. When they both got close enough, they hugged each other finally very tight for a few seconds, and then looked up and both said “cousin!” at the exact same time. This got them to chuckling for nearly a minute, and after that they got to talking.
“So,” his cousin began, “how is working on the canals going?” The boy groaned. “Don’t get me started!” He replied. “It’s hard, difficult work, and I dearly wish that there was a better way to dig these canals. But enough about me. How about you?”
The other boy sighed and frowned thoughtfully, as he talked: “Pretty good. Although, there is something that I would to resolve.” “Hmm? What is that?” The boy asked, curious. His cousin sighed, then replied: “I have gotten into the habit of racing alongside other boys who have outrigger canoes, with my catamaran, and I earned myself quite a reputation. However, just yesterday, I was out sailing in my catamaran, and I did not pay attention to the water, O struck a rock, and now my racing prospects are completely over unless I manage to repair my catamaran. See my predicament?”
The boy replied” that, in fact, is very sad and dreadful. Is there any way I can help?” His cousin started to reply: “No, I do not think there is-“ before his eyes lit up and the boy’s cousin asked: “Say, how about this? We try to solve each others problems: I will try to solve your problem, and you will try to solve mine. Sound good?”
The boy responded: “Sounds good, but the problem is, what solutions are we going to come up with?” His cousin, hearing this, sighed again: “You are right, but still, it is worth a try, right?” He patted his cousin’s back. “Don’t worry, I am sure we will come up with something. However, I am pretty sure that our lunch break is coming to an end, so I will get going soon in a few minutes. It was nice talking to you though.”
His cousin smiled and replied “It was nice talking to you as well, cousin.” Just then, a loud yelp startled them, and they turned their attention to see that a woman, walking with a bowl of food refuse and a woven cedar mat, had tripped on a large stick that had sent her sprawling with the bowl broken. As the boy and his cousin helped her up, his cousin noticed the boy staring at the large stick, which had fallen next to one half of the broken bowl along with the woven cedar mat.
“You need help?” The boy’s cousin asked, and the boy himself realized that he had been staring at the stick bowl and mat, and rapidly replied: “No, I am all good, it is just that I had a idea. Well, not so much an idea as it is a question. I do not know how to fully explain for now at least.” “Ah okay,” his cousin replied “ I am curious about your idea, but isn’t it time to work on the canals now? I would like to ask for your idea later though. See you at dinner!”
And with that, the cousin and the boy turned paths for the rest of the afternoon, the boy joining the stream of Tlingit men to start working on the canals again, but the idea that had been planted in his mind remained there, ready to wait until it was finally finished and ready to transform the Tlingit tribes again.
(Hi! I finally managed to finish something! This is just one half of an interlude meant to explain the invention of the sail and the shovel by the Tlingit, with the shovel and the sail helping to advance Tlingit society. And as always, I hope you enjoy this timeline!)
*OTL Juneau*
*January 15, 715 AD*
Aching. Aching, aching, aching, aching. That was what the boy felt, right here, right now. He was tasked with digging and expanding the canals that help water the farms and fields of the village, and that entailed labor, labor, labor.
Right now, he was helping the men dig out the dirt with large clubs, with which they would pound the dirt after it had been soaked with water brought in bowls.
Currently, the boy and the men responsible for teaching him how to dig the canals were on a lunch break, as they could been seen lounging around, talking, enjoying their lunch and the sun.
The boy himself reached down and picked up his meal, which consisted of crushed acorns, baked bread, and some fried fish. The meal was laying on a mat of woven cedar bark, and the boy ate part of the bread and fish, nibbling on it as he watched the men relax.
“There has to be a better way to do this work” the boy thought, groaning internally as he thought back to the previous time when he had helped the men dig the canals.
It was back breaking brutal work, and even older Tlingit men felt it tiring, as evidenced by how eagerly they embraced food breaks. The boy had previously started working on the canals last summer, as he had just turned 15 that January, and now that he had turned 16 ten days ago, he was deemed able enough to keep working on the canal.
The boy understood that this work was necessary for the village to feed itself, but still, he wished there was a better and easier way to dig them. Suddenly, the sound of his name being called reached his ears and he turned around to see his cousin, a boy of the same age as him, 16 years old, smiling happily and eagerly running up the hill to meet him.
The boy in turn broke out grinning, and began to run towards his cousin. When they both got close enough, they hugged each other finally very tight for a few seconds, and then looked up and both said “cousin!” at the exact same time. This got them to chuckling for nearly a minute, and after that they got to talking.
“So,” his cousin began, “how is working on the canals going?” The boy groaned. “Don’t get me started!” He replied. “It’s hard, difficult work, and I dearly wish that there was a better way to dig these canals. But enough about me. How about you?”
The other boy sighed and frowned thoughtfully, as he talked: “Pretty good. Although, there is something that I would to resolve.” “Hmm? What is that?” The boy asked, curious. His cousin sighed, then replied: “I have gotten into the habit of racing alongside other boys who have outrigger canoes, with my catamaran, and I earned myself quite a reputation. However, just yesterday, I was out sailing in my catamaran, and I did not pay attention to the water, O struck a rock, and now my racing prospects are completely over unless I manage to repair my catamaran. See my predicament?”
The boy replied” that, in fact, is very sad and dreadful. Is there any way I can help?” His cousin started to reply: “No, I do not think there is-“ before his eyes lit up and the boy’s cousin asked: “Say, how about this? We try to solve each others problems: I will try to solve your problem, and you will try to solve mine. Sound good?”
The boy responded: “Sounds good, but the problem is, what solutions are we going to come up with?” His cousin, hearing this, sighed again: “You are right, but still, it is worth a try, right?” He patted his cousin’s back. “Don’t worry, I am sure we will come up with something. However, I am pretty sure that our lunch break is coming to an end, so I will get going soon in a few minutes. It was nice talking to you though.”
His cousin smiled and replied “It was nice talking to you as well, cousin.” Just then, a loud yelp startled them, and they turned their attention to see that a woman, walking with a bowl of food refuse and a woven cedar mat, had tripped on a large stick that had sent her sprawling with the bowl broken. As the boy and his cousin helped her up, his cousin noticed the boy staring at the large stick, which had fallen next to one half of the broken bowl along with the woven cedar mat.
“You need help?” The boy’s cousin asked, and the boy himself realized that he had been staring at the stick bowl and mat, and rapidly replied: “No, I am all good, it is just that I had a idea. Well, not so much an idea as it is a question. I do not know how to fully explain for now at least.” “Ah okay,” his cousin replied “ I am curious about your idea, but isn’t it time to work on the canals now? I would like to ask for your idea later though. See you at dinner!”
And with that, the cousin and the boy turned paths for the rest of the afternoon, the boy joining the stream of Tlingit men to start working on the canals again, but the idea that had been planted in his mind remained there, ready to wait until it was finally finished and ready to transform the Tlingit tribes again.
(Hi! I finally managed to finish something! This is just one half of an interlude meant to explain the invention of the sail and the shovel by the Tlingit, with the shovel and the sail helping to advance Tlingit society. And as always, I hope you enjoy this timeline!)
Chapter 4.5 (2/2)
Chapter 4.5 (1/2):
*OTL Juneau*
*June 5, 715 AD*
They were up to something. That, the woman could be sure of. Her son, who was usually bright, energetic, and loved talking to her about everything, was being unusually quiet to her today, although he still talked to her, and did not seem to have any problems that he was keeping hidden for her.
The reason that she thought he was up to something, therefore, was the fact that he and his cousin, who were very close, were spending nearly half the day talking with each other, whispering to each other about something that they had planned going.
It was because of this planning with his cousin caused the boy to be late to lunch that the woman decided to find them and deliver them their lunch. Asking her sister, she was told that they were in the region of the warehouse, with the boy and his cousin seen carrying sticks, woven cedar mats, and a broken bowl with a stone.
Thanking her sister, the woman went on her merry way to the warehouse, where she quickly soon heard the sounds of whispering, which she clearly recognized as the voices of her son and his cousin. “Boys!” She called out “lunch is ready!” Immediately, she heard the sounds of boys excitedly whispering, then the sounds of running feet, and finally her son and his cousin came barreling out from behind the warehouse, stopping in front of the woman.
“Hey Mom!” Hey Aunt!” Were the greetings the boys gave to her. Once they stood in front of the woman, her son asked “So, what is for lunch? Me and my cousin are hungry, and thanks for bringing us the lunch.” The woman grinned at this, and she replied: “Don’t worry, lunch is on the way, it is being cooked up in the kitchens just now and you should go get some food to eat. Also, would you mind telling me what you are up to?”
At the last question, the boys turned to each other and then turned to the woman, with her son replying :”I do not know how exactly to explain it, it is just a idea I had where I will try to make my job of digging the canals much easier and at least put effort into fixing my cousin’s catamaran boat.”
The woman grinned at this, and said “That’s great sweetheart! In fact, if you are done, why don’t you tell me all about it? In the meanwhile, here is your lunch.” She ruffled her son’s hair, to which he blushed, and gave them a meal of bread, fish, and rice, and then turned and walked away. After she was gone, and they were finished eating their meals, the boy and his cousin turned once again to their problem.
“So, how do you plan to make your object that will help make your job digging canals easier?” To this, the boy replied: “You know how we carry food to the warehouse is bowls? Well, my idea is to use half of the bowl that was snapped in half and broken earlier, put two holes in one side, also put two holes in the stick, lay the stick on its side, then tie a bunch of woven cedar string to the stick and the bowl and see if that helps make digging the canals way more easier.”
His cousin turned this reply over in his mind: “ That sounds like a good idea- wait, a minute, tying the stick and bowl with cedar bark woven into string…..”. The boy, curious at his cousin’s change of tone, asked, “You thought of something?”
The cousin nodded, and said: “Since you were talking about tying the bowl half and the stick together with cedar bark, why not try weaving together a cedar bark blanket to a stick tied to the center of my catamaran canoe?”
As the cousin finished saying this, the boy was thinking it over, his mind already bursting at all the change that they would cause. “That sounds like a great idea!” He said, “but first let us try to work on my idea. Are you okay with that.” His cousin nodded. “I am okay with that. Are you ready?” “Yes” the boy replied, and together they bent down to the bowl half and the stick, to tie them together.
They had no idea just how far they would advance the Tlingit tribes that day.
(Hi! I once again finished! Phew that took a long time! I am still working on this timeline, and you can expect great things for the Tlingit tribes up ahead! And as always, enjoy this timeline!)
*OTL Juneau*
*June 5, 715 AD*
They were up to something. That, the woman could be sure of. Her son, who was usually bright, energetic, and loved talking to her about everything, was being unusually quiet to her today, although he still talked to her, and did not seem to have any problems that he was keeping hidden for her.
The reason that she thought he was up to something, therefore, was the fact that he and his cousin, who were very close, were spending nearly half the day talking with each other, whispering to each other about something that they had planned going.
It was because of this planning with his cousin caused the boy to be late to lunch that the woman decided to find them and deliver them their lunch. Asking her sister, she was told that they were in the region of the warehouse, with the boy and his cousin seen carrying sticks, woven cedar mats, and a broken bowl with a stone.
Thanking her sister, the woman went on her merry way to the warehouse, where she quickly soon heard the sounds of whispering, which she clearly recognized as the voices of her son and his cousin. “Boys!” She called out “lunch is ready!” Immediately, she heard the sounds of boys excitedly whispering, then the sounds of running feet, and finally her son and his cousin came barreling out from behind the warehouse, stopping in front of the woman.
“Hey Mom!” Hey Aunt!” Were the greetings the boys gave to her. Once they stood in front of the woman, her son asked “So, what is for lunch? Me and my cousin are hungry, and thanks for bringing us the lunch.” The woman grinned at this, and she replied: “Don’t worry, lunch is on the way, it is being cooked up in the kitchens just now and you should go get some food to eat. Also, would you mind telling me what you are up to?”
At the last question, the boys turned to each other and then turned to the woman, with her son replying :”I do not know how exactly to explain it, it is just a idea I had where I will try to make my job of digging the canals much easier and at least put effort into fixing my cousin’s catamaran boat.”
The woman grinned at this, and said “That’s great sweetheart! In fact, if you are done, why don’t you tell me all about it? In the meanwhile, here is your lunch.” She ruffled her son’s hair, to which he blushed, and gave them a meal of bread, fish, and rice, and then turned and walked away. After she was gone, and they were finished eating their meals, the boy and his cousin turned once again to their problem.
“So, how do you plan to make your object that will help make your job digging canals easier?” To this, the boy replied: “You know how we carry food to the warehouse is bowls? Well, my idea is to use half of the bowl that was snapped in half and broken earlier, put two holes in one side, also put two holes in the stick, lay the stick on its side, then tie a bunch of woven cedar string to the stick and the bowl and see if that helps make digging the canals way more easier.”
His cousin turned this reply over in his mind: “ That sounds like a good idea- wait, a minute, tying the stick and bowl with cedar bark woven into string…..”. The boy, curious at his cousin’s change of tone, asked, “You thought of something?”
The cousin nodded, and said: “Since you were talking about tying the bowl half and the stick together with cedar bark, why not try weaving together a cedar bark blanket to a stick tied to the center of my catamaran canoe?”
As the cousin finished saying this, the boy was thinking it over, his mind already bursting at all the change that they would cause. “That sounds like a great idea!” He said, “but first let us try to work on my idea. Are you okay with that.” His cousin nodded. “I am okay with that. Are you ready?” “Yes” the boy replied, and together they bent down to the bowl half and the stick, to tie them together.
They had no idea just how far they would advance the Tlingit tribes that day.
(Hi! I once again finished! Phew that took a long time! I am still working on this timeline, and you can expect great things for the Tlingit tribes up ahead! And as always, enjoy this timeline!)
Chapter 5:
Chapter 5: (700 AD-800 AD)
The eight century was a century when the Tlingit naval revolution really took off. Sure, the outrigger canoe had been steadily spread slowly across various Tlingit Tribes, helping to encase the Tlingit tribal world in a ever increasing and expanding trade network that helped advance the Tlingit tribal world, but it was the eight century that saw the Tlingit tribes fully embrace the effects of the naval revolution, which helped change the social, political, economic, and cultural region of the Pacific Northwest and leave a distinct mark on the Pacific Northwest region.
The mini technological and naval revolution of the Tlingit world in the eight century was facilitated by two things: the shovel and the sail. These two inventions helped the Tlingit tribes further evolve and develop, and it was further during this century that a third innovation was introduced: the use of deliberate trade routes.
The Tlingit continued to domesticate new crops, with bitterroot-because it grew in the same areas as camas,-and comb tooth mushrooms, which helped Tlingit population growth, and the catamaran, farming, and agroforestry continued to spread, but it was the sail and the shovel that helped the evolution of the Tlingit tribes. (I will go over all the innovations below):
The shovel: The invention of the shovel by the Tlingit tribes came at a midpoint in the technological advancement of the Tlingit tribes. The main reason that the invention of the shovel revolutionized the Tlingit tribes was that it made labor and work a whole lot easier.
Prior the the shovel making its way into the world of the Tlingit tribes, the main way of digging the canals that pumped water to the rice farms was done by hand. This required lots of working men to labor for a long time, just to dig these canals.
The need for canal digging increased in the Tlingit world as farming spread, and the population rose.
The farming of Indian rice- the main crop upon which the Tlingit tribes depended, although this is not to say that other crops were gaining in food importance, they were- was reliant upon water delivered from small lakes or slow moving streams that fed the rice farms.
As the population grew, so did the number of rice farms, and farmland next to small lakes became valuable as rice farms continued to expand.
The only problem was, this kind of farmland needed for rice agriculture was getting more scarce as rice farms popped up on any place where they could be found.
Therefore, to help rice farmers, the Tlingit peoples began to dig canals and extend these canals around plots of land with dug rows of holes to plant rice seeds and a bundle of sticks to prevent too much water from getting in, with the watering of the rice farms being done by groups of women who would have large bowls to help them carry the water into the rice farms.
The problem was, the canals required hard laborious work, and this work put a lot of stress on to the bodies of the Tlingit men who labored to build the canals. Injuries such as sprained wrists and sprained ankles became increasingly common by the time that the shovel came along.
Then the shovel was invented. At first, shovels were just broken bowl bits tied a bit poorly to various sticks. However, as the shovel proved to be advantageous, Tlingit craftsmen began to apply higher standards of craftsmanship to shovels, creating higher quality shovels which were made out of finely carved V shaped or U shaped pieces of wood tied to a long wooden stick whittled away somewhat to make it smooth by two tightly tied pieces of woven cedar bark blankets through two sets of two holes on both the carved wood and the wooden stick.
The main advantage of the shovel was the fact that the shovel made laboring to dig the canals way more easier than it had been. As a result, more canals could be dug in a shorter amount of time, which in turn increased the number of rice farms, which increased the population, which increased the number of canals, and etc… The shovel allowed for easier labor, and it also gave the Tlingit tribes valuable experience in organizing labor and beuractratic organization, as digging the canals required a hithero unknown degree of coordination.
The sail: The sail was the second innovation of the Tlingit tribes during this period and it was a innovation that helped the Tlingit tribes further embrace the naval revolution started by the invention of the outrigger canoe in 250 AD. Prior to the invention of the sail in 715 AD (along with the shovel,) all naval transport on the rivers and water surrounding the islands of what later people would call the Alexander Archipelago was all done by hand.
Sure, the outrigger and the catamaran canoes did bring greater advantages over the simple canoes that had been used by the Tlingit tribes before 250 AD -the outrigger canoe did help the Tlingit tribes become more complex and sophisticated-, but they still had the same reliance on hand power. With the invention of the sail, all of that changed.
Now, Tlingit sailors, merchants and traders could rely on the wind to ensure that a high speed could send them even more quickly to where they wanted to go to. However, learning to control wind power and effectively use the sail took quite some time to learn to even be competent, but this provided a silver lining in that the Tlingit tribes’s naval guilds learned how to sail with the wind and utilize wind power.
The sail also caused major changes in the Tlingit tribes socio-cultural realm. Because the sail allowed for much easier travel and trade, communication and transportation between each Tlingit tribes became more common. This is turn prompted the Tlingit tribes to further expand the facilities available to Tlingit merchants and traders, which mostly consisted of building more houses and creating docks -which first appeared in this century- with poles which Tlingit merchants and traders could tie to their boats to stop the boats from drifting away. The sail, combined with the third innovation, (which I will cover down below) helped the Tlingit tribes evolve, advance, and make their mark on the Pacific Northwest.
Deliberate Trade Routes: This was the third innovation of the Tlingit tribes during this period, and in a way, it was almost more important than the other two innovations. According to Tlingit history (which may be legend, but may be not*) deliberate trade routes came about around 735 AD, when a man, a member of a tribe on the southern tip of Admiralty Island that had the outrigger canoe but not the catamaran canoe, farming, and agroforestry (although these were steadily being adopted by more and more Tlingit tribes) decided to visit another nearby tribe to trade.
However, the man decided to go to this nearby tribe late in the year, and a sudden unexpected storm kicked up, driving the man across the waters to the coast of Kuiu Island, where the storm continued to drive him across the coast, where the man finally took shelter in the bay on the north side of the Prince of Wales Island, where a Tlingit tribe welcomed him and sheltered the man, although they were very astonished at his outrigger canoe.
Sensing a opportunity, the man took the chance in the following weeks and months while the storm raged and was followed by more storms, to explain how the outrigger canoe was constructed, with the Tlingit tribe paying very close attention.
Finally, in the early months of 736 AD, the man departed the Tlingit tribe with a thank you and finally returned to his own tribe, which greeted the man with much cheers and happiness. After the man explains what happened, he speaks about an idea of his: deliberate trade routes, both to the Tlingit tribe that rescued him, and to the other Tlingit tribes in the area.
The tribal community agreed, and deliberate trade routes came into creation that day. It is uncertain where exactly the man landed, or what Tlingit tribe he belonged to, but it is clear that from 740 onwards, regular trade began between Admiralty Island, Kuiu Island, and Prince of Wales Island, a trade that quickly spread to other Tlingit tribes.
The other Tlingit tribes in the areas quickly embraced the idea, and by the year 800 AD, trade routes were extending all around the Tlingit world, allowing for greater spread of information. It is also likely that these trade routes brought the outrigger canoe and all the other innovations that had been developed far more quickly to the Tlingit tribes that did not have them before.
Overall, the Tlingit tribes from 700 AD to 800 AD continued to grow and develop, evolving to leave their legacy in the Pacific Northwest.
(Hi everyone! I finally finished a chapter again! It was long, but a new chapter is finally here! If you see any writing mistakes I made, or neglected fields of technology I forgot to put in, feel free to point them out to me! And as always, enjoy my timeline!)
The eight century was a century when the Tlingit naval revolution really took off. Sure, the outrigger canoe had been steadily spread slowly across various Tlingit Tribes, helping to encase the Tlingit tribal world in a ever increasing and expanding trade network that helped advance the Tlingit tribal world, but it was the eight century that saw the Tlingit tribes fully embrace the effects of the naval revolution, which helped change the social, political, economic, and cultural region of the Pacific Northwest and leave a distinct mark on the Pacific Northwest region.
The mini technological and naval revolution of the Tlingit world in the eight century was facilitated by two things: the shovel and the sail. These two inventions helped the Tlingit tribes further evolve and develop, and it was further during this century that a third innovation was introduced: the use of deliberate trade routes.
The Tlingit continued to domesticate new crops, with bitterroot-because it grew in the same areas as camas,-and comb tooth mushrooms, which helped Tlingit population growth, and the catamaran, farming, and agroforestry continued to spread, but it was the sail and the shovel that helped the evolution of the Tlingit tribes. (I will go over all the innovations below):
The shovel: The invention of the shovel by the Tlingit tribes came at a midpoint in the technological advancement of the Tlingit tribes. The main reason that the invention of the shovel revolutionized the Tlingit tribes was that it made labor and work a whole lot easier.
Prior the the shovel making its way into the world of the Tlingit tribes, the main way of digging the canals that pumped water to the rice farms was done by hand. This required lots of working men to labor for a long time, just to dig these canals.
The need for canal digging increased in the Tlingit world as farming spread, and the population rose.
The farming of Indian rice- the main crop upon which the Tlingit tribes depended, although this is not to say that other crops were gaining in food importance, they were- was reliant upon water delivered from small lakes or slow moving streams that fed the rice farms.
As the population grew, so did the number of rice farms, and farmland next to small lakes became valuable as rice farms continued to expand.
The only problem was, this kind of farmland needed for rice agriculture was getting more scarce as rice farms popped up on any place where they could be found.
Therefore, to help rice farmers, the Tlingit peoples began to dig canals and extend these canals around plots of land with dug rows of holes to plant rice seeds and a bundle of sticks to prevent too much water from getting in, with the watering of the rice farms being done by groups of women who would have large bowls to help them carry the water into the rice farms.
The problem was, the canals required hard laborious work, and this work put a lot of stress on to the bodies of the Tlingit men who labored to build the canals. Injuries such as sprained wrists and sprained ankles became increasingly common by the time that the shovel came along.
Then the shovel was invented. At first, shovels were just broken bowl bits tied a bit poorly to various sticks. However, as the shovel proved to be advantageous, Tlingit craftsmen began to apply higher standards of craftsmanship to shovels, creating higher quality shovels which were made out of finely carved V shaped or U shaped pieces of wood tied to a long wooden stick whittled away somewhat to make it smooth by two tightly tied pieces of woven cedar bark blankets through two sets of two holes on both the carved wood and the wooden stick.
The main advantage of the shovel was the fact that the shovel made laboring to dig the canals way more easier than it had been. As a result, more canals could be dug in a shorter amount of time, which in turn increased the number of rice farms, which increased the population, which increased the number of canals, and etc… The shovel allowed for easier labor, and it also gave the Tlingit tribes valuable experience in organizing labor and beuractratic organization, as digging the canals required a hithero unknown degree of coordination.
The sail: The sail was the second innovation of the Tlingit tribes during this period and it was a innovation that helped the Tlingit tribes further embrace the naval revolution started by the invention of the outrigger canoe in 250 AD. Prior to the invention of the sail in 715 AD (along with the shovel,) all naval transport on the rivers and water surrounding the islands of what later people would call the Alexander Archipelago was all done by hand.
Sure, the outrigger and the catamaran canoes did bring greater advantages over the simple canoes that had been used by the Tlingit tribes before 250 AD -the outrigger canoe did help the Tlingit tribes become more complex and sophisticated-, but they still had the same reliance on hand power. With the invention of the sail, all of that changed.
Now, Tlingit sailors, merchants and traders could rely on the wind to ensure that a high speed could send them even more quickly to where they wanted to go to. However, learning to control wind power and effectively use the sail took quite some time to learn to even be competent, but this provided a silver lining in that the Tlingit tribes’s naval guilds learned how to sail with the wind and utilize wind power.
The sail also caused major changes in the Tlingit tribes socio-cultural realm. Because the sail allowed for much easier travel and trade, communication and transportation between each Tlingit tribes became more common. This is turn prompted the Tlingit tribes to further expand the facilities available to Tlingit merchants and traders, which mostly consisted of building more houses and creating docks -which first appeared in this century- with poles which Tlingit merchants and traders could tie to their boats to stop the boats from drifting away. The sail, combined with the third innovation, (which I will cover down below) helped the Tlingit tribes evolve, advance, and make their mark on the Pacific Northwest.
Deliberate Trade Routes: This was the third innovation of the Tlingit tribes during this period, and in a way, it was almost more important than the other two innovations. According to Tlingit history (which may be legend, but may be not*) deliberate trade routes came about around 735 AD, when a man, a member of a tribe on the southern tip of Admiralty Island that had the outrigger canoe but not the catamaran canoe, farming, and agroforestry (although these were steadily being adopted by more and more Tlingit tribes) decided to visit another nearby tribe to trade.
However, the man decided to go to this nearby tribe late in the year, and a sudden unexpected storm kicked up, driving the man across the waters to the coast of Kuiu Island, where the storm continued to drive him across the coast, where the man finally took shelter in the bay on the north side of the Prince of Wales Island, where a Tlingit tribe welcomed him and sheltered the man, although they were very astonished at his outrigger canoe.
Sensing a opportunity, the man took the chance in the following weeks and months while the storm raged and was followed by more storms, to explain how the outrigger canoe was constructed, with the Tlingit tribe paying very close attention.
Finally, in the early months of 736 AD, the man departed the Tlingit tribe with a thank you and finally returned to his own tribe, which greeted the man with much cheers and happiness. After the man explains what happened, he speaks about an idea of his: deliberate trade routes, both to the Tlingit tribe that rescued him, and to the other Tlingit tribes in the area.
The tribal community agreed, and deliberate trade routes came into creation that day. It is uncertain where exactly the man landed, or what Tlingit tribe he belonged to, but it is clear that from 740 onwards, regular trade began between Admiralty Island, Kuiu Island, and Prince of Wales Island, a trade that quickly spread to other Tlingit tribes.
The other Tlingit tribes in the areas quickly embraced the idea, and by the year 800 AD, trade routes were extending all around the Tlingit world, allowing for greater spread of information. It is also likely that these trade routes brought the outrigger canoe and all the other innovations that had been developed far more quickly to the Tlingit tribes that did not have them before.
Overall, the Tlingit tribes from 700 AD to 800 AD continued to grow and develop, evolving to leave their legacy in the Pacific Northwest.
(Hi everyone! I finally finished a chapter again! It was long, but a new chapter is finally here! If you see any writing mistakes I made, or neglected fields of technology I forgot to put in, feel free to point them out to me! And as always, enjoy my timeline!)
Interesting TL so far. With the naval innovations, will there an American equivalent of the sea peoples/vikings? Seafaring (possibly also river-faring) nomadic raiders can stir a lot of chaos among established civilizations like in Mesoamerica, accelerating exchanges of technology, crops, and livestock and acting as a pressure for civilizations to evolve technologically and politically to combat the threat. Also, there’s always the possibility the raiders do a reverse Leif Erikson and accidentally stumble into old world by either island hopping the Aleutians or crossing the Bering Straits.
Related to the Viking question, what is the likehood of the Native Americans initiating contact with Eurasia?
Related to the Viking question, what is the likehood of the Native Americans initiating contact with Eurasia?
Last edited:
It would definitely be interesting to see them encounter East Asia in a sort of Reverse Kelp Highway.
I do plan for Tlingit merchants to make contact with Kamakatcha at the least. I do want them to trade with the people in the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island, Hokkaido, and maybe even Manchuria, But I will think about it. Regarding your point about Native American versions of the Vikings/ Sea peoples, I do want the Haida to play a big role in this timeline.