Their society was organized around the principles of matrilineal clan membership, ranked social status, the potlatch as the central mechanism of wealth redistribution and status validation, and the cultivation of alliances through marriage, trade, and ceremony.

Tlingit oral traditions, ceremonial practices, and material culture were — and remain — among the most complex and sophisticated of any Indigenous tradition in North America.

The carved wooden totem poles, the elaborately painted and woven ceremonial garments, the exquisitely crafted boxes and dishes and tools, the songs and dances and stories that encode the history and meaning of the clans — all of this reflects a civilization of great antiquity and refinement.

Whether Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi was himself Tlingit, or Champagne and Aishihik, or someone whose connections spanned both traditions, is not established by the evidence.