The fourth group inustrate the Chilkat Indian family of the North Pacific ethnic province. They live on Lynn Canal, or channel, in southeastern Alaska, and belong to the same family as the better-known Tlinkits. They are selected to stand as a type of the region because they are the only tribe that stin retains in a measure the aboriginal costume. They are in commercial contact with the Athapascan family over the mountains to the east, from whom they obtain horns and wool of the aretic goat. The wool is used in making the famous Chilkat blankets, which are not woven in a loom but the foundation strands are suspended from a bar of wood and fall free at the ends or are tied up in bundles. The figures of the design are inserted separately, as in a gobelin tapestry. The men of the tribe carve the utensils and ceremonial objects from wood and horn. In this group we see, sitting on the floor, a man carving it wooden mask. He is dressed in a buckskin suit whose decorations show contact with the Tinne tribes over the mountains. The woman opposite is engaged in making a basket, with her babe in its cradle by her side. Standing behind is a young girl offering food in a carved wooden dish to a man who wears one of the fine Chilkat blankets over his shoulders. Usually the food is placed on the ground and the men sit or squat about it, the women eating separately. The costumes are of buckskin made in the primitive style and numerous articles pertaining to the household or employed in the arts are scattered about the group.
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