Credits

I would like to thank the following Flickr followers for the wonderful pictures, mistersnappy, anemoneprojectors, Travis S, Stepol, mharrsch, catface3, and tiny tall. You can find all of these peoples photo streams on Flickr.com. They were the ones who took all of those great photos I contributed nothing to their work, so they deserve the credit. Thank You!

Photo Gallery

Women wore long deerskin dresses in the winter

They made canoes out of hollow cedar logs

They placed totem poles at the front of their houses

                                                                    

Chilkat blankets were woven from cedar bark and mountain goat hair

Basketry hats were woven from spruce roots and they displayed a persons status

 
Women went barefoot even in the snow
                                                                                                                                                     

The Tlingit people often ate seals

Women carried their babies in cradle boards like these

                

Tlingit Recipes

Indian Fry Bread

2 cups flour
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 TBSP shortening
3/4 cup warm water

Combine ingredients to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth.
Let rest for at least 30 minutes, covered. Roll out to about 1/4"thick.(For Navajo tacos, pat out with your hands until desired
shape is obtained instead of rolling out). Pinch off portions and roll
or shape each individual piece. Do not handle dough anymore than
necessary. Fry in hot cooking oil until puffy and golden brown.
Serve with honey,powdered sugar, or hot sauce.

 Alaska Sockeye Salmon

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup real mayonnaise
• 1 thinly sliced onion
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 thinly sliced lemons
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 1 Tbs. Lemon pepper
• 1 Tbs. Curry powder
• 1 Tbs. Onion salt
• Sea Salt
• Ground Black Pepper

Directions
Dress and clean freshly caught sockeye salmon (or any type whole fish), fins and head removed.

Set oven at 360 degrees.

Wash fish thoroughly and pat partially dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper on outside and in cavity. Cover fish on outside and inside with onions and lemons.

Mix rest of ingredients together. Mixture will be a yellowish color and medium thick. Spread the mixture gently over the upper side of the fish, from neck to lower fin. Push back into place the onions and lemons, if needed to do so.

Place fish in baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes, or when flaky when pierced by fork in the most fleshy part of fish.

Remove from oven and place on platter. Serve by slicing through backbone, and enjoy a whole new taste. This recipe is also delicious on fresh halibut cheeks, too.

When you become familiar with the recipe and it's taste, you can add or delete ingredients as you wish




              SALMON CAKES    

1 lb. canned salmon, flaked (drained, but reserve liquid)
4 juniper berries, crushed
1/2 cup corn meal
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup milk (easy does it)

Mix salmon, juniper berries, corn meal together.  Add eggs.

Add milk very slowly only as needed to moisten OR use the salmon can liquid for added flavor but be very careful not to add too much liquid overall.   Cakes should be just moist enough to spoon together or form into little cakes by hand (two inches across makes for a nice appetizer size).

Spoon onto a well-greased baking sheet.  Bake in a moderate oven, 350 degrees F, for 30 minutes.  You can also fry them with a little oil in a nonstick pan until golden brown.  Serve hot or cold.

Top each cake with a dab of mayonnaise or tartar sauce if you like.

Special Note: You can use a combination of corn meal and plain crumbs if you like, adding more dry ingredients as required to hold cakes together.  

Seminole Roast Rabbit

1 skinned and dressed rabbit
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Corn Stuffing

Heat oven to 425-degrees F.

Pat the rabbit dry and stuff with the corn stuffing. Place a piece of foil into the opening. Truss rabbit with a string, by tying together the hind and front legs.

Brush rabbit with oil. Let oil drip off. Mix together flour, salt and pepper and sprinkle the rabbit generously with the flour mixture. Place on rack on its side in a roasting pan.

Roast in oven for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 350-F and roast for 1 1/2 hours, turning frequently. Baste rabbit with pan drippings and oil 3-4 times during roasting.

Remove from oven and let rest before carving for about 10 minutes.

 BEAR CHOPS

INGREDIENTS

6 medium bear chops
1 clove garlic, halved
2 tablespoons bacon fat
1 large onion, chopped
4 large carrots, diced and cooked
4 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons chili sauce
½ cup dry wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Rub the chops with the halved clove of garlic. Melt the bacon fat in a heavy skillet and sear the chops on both sides. Place the chops in a lightly greased baking dish.

Sauté the onions and carrots in the skillet until the onions are transparent but not browned. Mix in the flour, chili sauce and wine. Cook until thickened.

On top of each chop, place an equal amount of the carrot mixture. Pour 1 cup of water into the baking dish; cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 60 to 70 minutes, or until tender.

BANNOCK

INGREDIENTS2-½ cups flour ¼ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons oil 1 cup milk 1 egg 2 teaspoons baking powder Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Mix together milk, egg and oil and add to flour. Mix well. Knead on a floured surface. Pat down the dough until it is about 1-inch thick. Cut into 12 equal pieces. Bake at 400 degrees until brown, approximately ½ hour, OR heat a frying pan using 3 tablespoons of oil to cook the pieces. Serve hot with jam.

A Journal Entry From a Young Tlingit Child

                                         Dear Diary,
Today was full of lots of hard work. Xoots my older brother, and pa went hunting at the crack of dawn. Ma and I left at about the same time they did to collect plants and herbs. At first ma and I didn't get much luck, but then we came across millions of spruce roots. Ma says she is going to use the spruce roots to weave basketry hats. A basketry hat is a hat with designs to display a persons status and family connections. By the time ma and I got home Xoots had left for school, and pa left us a deer for us to cook. Ma and I went inside our large house to cook the deer. Sometimes I'm jealous of Xoots because he is allowed to go to school. I'd much rather be at school than staying home to cook dinner. Ma and pa don't know this, but sometimes Xoots teaches me his lessons and lets me do his work. Pa walked in the front door of the large house. "Stop cooking, we were just invited over to the chiefs large house for dinner." Ma started to paint pa's face the way she does for special occasions. Ma put my hair into two long pretty braids. Pa wore his most valuable Chilkat blanket that ma wove him from cedar bark and mountain goat hair. Ma wore her hair in two pretty braids just like mine and she wore her basketry hats. We always bring something to give when we are invited to someone else's house. Ma and I finished the deer so we decided to bring the deer as a present. Ma and I both wore long deerskin dresses since it was cold and snowy outside. Most women go barefoot even in the snow, and that is exactly what ma and I did. Men are different though, pa wore snowshoes. When we got ther we ate the deer we brought, as well as whale the chief caught that morning. After dinner the chief told us the origin of the mosquitoes and then we went home for bed. Talk to you tomorrow,
                                                    Yeil

The Origin of Clouds

The Earth had been holding its breath for thousands of years. For it was a lonesome planet that had no life on it. The Earth could no longer take it so she took a deep breath in and exhaled. The Earth started to rumble and cracks were running against the Earth's surface. The Earth started to split and where the Earth split stood a canyon. It was the Grand Canyon. The breath rose high above the canyon and landed as one big clump in the sky. Although Earth's breath stayed together, it was broken up into three sections the Stratus, Cumulus, and Cumulo-nimbus. Cumulo-nimbus was not happy that the Earth had released him. He was now stuck in the middle of the sky with nothing to do. Stratus couldn't agree more with Cumulo-nimbus, for he also was mad at the Earth. Cumulus' opinion didn't matter for and was always happy  agreed with everyone. Everday Stratus and Cumulo-nimbus would talk about their revenge on Earth. This soon became a daily routine and they discluded Cumulus because he didn't have an evil enough mind. It was already that time of day. Cumulo-nimbus went first, "We can get all of the creature on Earth to blow down on Mother Earth the way she blew us into the sky." It was now Stratus' turn to say something. "Maybe we are taking this the wrong way. Earthwas lonely and had been holding her breath for thousands of years. Cumulo-nimbus was bubbling with rage , he couldn't believe Stratus had just turned against him. He could no longer stand to be next to Stratus, so he broke away into smaller clumps. Cumulo-nimbus now had two revenge plans to think of. Stratus knew he was in danger, so he thought the best thing to do was to scatter into several skinny wispy clumps. Cumulus couldn't let Cumulo-nimbus hurt Stratus, so  he broke up into big fluffy clumps to seperate hos two friends. Cumulo-nimbus to this very day pounds against the Earth as his revenge. When Cumulo-nimbus isn't out then Cumulus is with his nice fluffy look to make up for Cumulo-nimbus' destruction. Stratus is still up ther in scattered wispy clumps, and whenever you see Stratus. You will soon see Cumulo-nimbus chasing after him.