Long ago, like today, necklaces were popular with our people. They were worn mostly by women, although men wore them too. We had special necklaces and collars which were worn by specific people only at certain times. For example, teenage girls wore a purity necklace. These special necklaces and collars will be described in other parts of the book.

We did not wear necklaces of quills. Nor did we have necklaces of bone tubes and copper tubes like those worn by plains natives.

Some wealthy Tahltans wore large plates or pendants made from copper, with men's heads incised on them. These were bought from the Tlingit and were very, very expensive. When Teit visited Telegraph Creek in 1912, he was told that they were more expensive than similar plates of gold.

Dentalium shell necklaces were used by everyone. The necklaces we considered to be the best were made of very large, ivory white shells. These were much more valuable than necklaces made of medium, small, and poorly coloured shells. The shells were strung on sinew and caribou string. Our necklaces were of various sizes and lengths. None of them formed a breast plate or covered the chest in a series of necklaces connected with a single neck piece, like those of the plains natives.

Necklaces of lynx teeth were often used by women and children. Men who had bear, wolf, beaver, or other animals as manitous, wore claws of these animals as necklaces. After the traders came, bead necklaces became popular. Charms of stone, and other items which would protect the user, were put into leather and were used as pendants.

Nose ornaments were common. None of them were made of shells, but were cut out in a single piece from some kind of fine bone or ivory. They were circular in shape and resembled buttons or rings. The ends were not joined so they could be sprung apart and inserted into the septum of the nose. Teit did not know whether Tahltans made these or bought them.

In later years, after the ships began landing at the mouth of the Stikine, they brought different materials as trade goods. Silver nose rings were made by the Tlingit who brought them upriver as part of the trade goods. The Tlingit also used these nose rings.

Nose rings of bone or silver were used by both men and women, but more by women than men. Other nose ornaments such as those worn by other natives were not used.

Everyone, man, woman, and child, wore earrings. Almost all earrings were made of haliotis shells brought in from the coast. Boys and men had one to three shells in each ear. Many women and girls had as many as four.

The age at which the children had their ears pierced indicated the wealth of the family. Poor people pierced their children's ears and nose shortly after birth. Wealthy people pierced their children's ears at two or three year intervals. A daughter of wealthy parents had her fourth ear piercing when she was about ten or twelve years old.

Each time that her ears were pierced, her father or her parents had a potlatch and gave away many gifts. They also had a feast and gave gifts when her nose was pierced. Only people of wealth were able to do this.

There were rules to tell who would receive the gifts at the potlatch. If the child's father was a Crow (or, as others call it, Raven), then he gave gifts to the Crow Clan. If he was Wolf, he gave to the Wolf Clan. Another way to look at this is that if the father was Crow, then his daughter is a Wolf. Gifts would be given to the Clan opposite hers, that is to the Crow Clan.

Piercing of ears and nose was done with an awl or with a needle, and a quill or a sinew thread was inserted immediately afterward (to keep the hole open). Earrings were not put in until the hole healed. Sometimes a quill was used to make the hole. The quill was pulled part way through, then left there. The end was clipped.

Labrets (piercing of the lip) was not done by our people. The wealthy people of the Tlingit and Taku pierced the lip of their daughters. At the feast celebrating this event, one or two slaves were killed. Teit was told that labrets prevented early wrinkling.

Bracelets were used long ago, like they are today. These were made of leather and decorated with quill embroidery. Later on, the Tlingit brought metal bracelets of copper, silver, brass, and gold. Some of the metal bracelets had West Coast art designs. A wealthy woman might have as many as six on her arm. No horn or wooden bracelets were used. Finger rings were introduced later on. These were made of metal and bought from the Tlingit.

Most of our men cut their hair square across the back, about level with their shoulders. The length varied a bit with a few wearing their hair full length. If their hair was long, our men never braided their hair. They tied it at the back with a single string. Most people cut their hair with bangs in front. For dances and ceremonies, men often covered their hair with swansdown.

Young women wore their hair in a single braid down the back. Higher class women covered this braid with a strip of hide decorated with alternating rows of dentalium and beads. Sometimes a pendant was attached. Older women usually wore their hair in two braids with the ends turned up. Some boys and many girls wore their hair loose, hanging down at the back or tied with a string at the back of the neck. Young children had their hair full length or slightly trimmed at the back and cut in bangs at the front. Most men and women parted their hair in the middle, but a few parted them on the side. Many of our people painted the part in their hair red. The hair itself was never painted. The only kind of grease or oil used was bear grease.

Women's hair was typically parted in the middle

There were traditions regarding hair style for teenage girls and boys and for mourners. These will be explained in other parts of this book.

A very long ago, few of us used combs, but they became common later. The first ones were made of wood, bone and antler. Most of them were square-ish in shape and had only a few teeth, perhaps only four.

The combs made of caribou antler were well-made and the most common. Our combs were similar to those of the Chilcotin. No fan-shaped combs like those of the plateau were used.

Hair was cut by putting the head down on a small smooth board resting on something solid. It was spread out evenly and another person cut it with a sharp knife of shell, stone, obsidian, etc. Hair was never roached, shaved, singed or burned off.

The hair cut off was burned. If the hair of a young woman of high class was very long, it was sometimes kept by her people and used as a kind of wig by male relatives at dances, etc. In this case, the hair was sewn to the lower edge of a hat band and hung down full length all around. We did not shave or cut the hair of slaves to show that they were slaves. Nor did we take their hair for any purpose.

Our people did not think beards were attractive. To get rid of unwanted facial hair, most men pulled out the hairs of their beards and moustaches as they grew. They were fortunate that as a group, natives do not usually have heavy beards and/or moustaches.

Tweezers of bone and copper were used to remove the hair. Today men shave and begin shaving when their first facial hair begin to grow. Long ago, our boys began to remove their facial hair with tweezers as soon as the hair appeared on their face.

Neither our men nor our women pulled out any eyebrows. These were allowed to grow in the natural way. Hair on other parts of the body were never removed.

Today, the custom is that our men shave if they wish. Their beards still do not generally grow very fast. Our men do not pluck their eyebrows or shave other body hair. Women often pluck their eyebrows and shave underarms and the legs. Instead of shaving, some women use chemical hair removers.

We did not paint our faces except at dances and special occasions. No body painting was done except at those times, either. Only our women painted their faces as a regular, daily practice. Faces were painted with a mixture of grease, pitch, and charcoal to prevent sunblindness, to protect against insects, and to show mourning.

Our men did not usually paint their faces, except at certain times. However, every so often a man might take a notion to paint his face. The designs were usually stripes or spots of red or black. These were informal and did not have special meaning. A shaman's designs were different, they had special meaning. Sometimes men painted special, symbolic designs on their faces at special occasions. A few young men who wanted to preserve their complexion in the spring when stronger winds blew, might paint their faces similar to the women's. Teenage boys had designs that they used at puberty. These will be described in that section of the book.

Our women painted their faces much more than men. They used red ochre to make designs of spots or to cover their face with the red paint. Most times the paint was used to prevent sunburn and preserve their complexion.

At dances and for ceremonies, men painted designs on their faces and bodies. According to Teit's informants, these were usually designs related to their Clan (Teit calls them "totemic emblems") and were put on the face and/or on the body. This type of design was used mainly by the Nanaai. (The Nanaai Clan were the clan which had intermarried with the Tlingit.) It is interesting to note that Emmons says that "no figures, totemic or otherwise, were known."

Ages ago, so long ago that our great grandparents cannot remember seeing tattoos, our people tattooed their faces, arms, wrists, and lower legs. Our people only know about tattooing, we have never seen it, nor have we tattooed like our ancestors did. We stopped tattooing so long ago that we have all forgotten the reasons for this. We have also forgotten if the designs had any particular meaning beyond the obvious, that is, related to our Clan membership.

The old people say that the tattoos were mainly simple designs of lines, dots, and arrows. Sometimes the design showed the Clan of a person. For example, Crow Clan might have a raven or toad. Wolf Clan might show the tail of a wolf. The Nanaai used the bear's foot and the killer whale.

Our tattoos were done by a team of two people. A design was drawn on the skin with a charcoal stick. Then one person used a fine bone to puncture the skin and lift it slightly. The other person tapped the bone a little, then rubbed moist charcoal into the wound. They continued this process until the design was completed.

Later on, when metal needles were brought into our country, we used a needle and thread. The thread was dipped in moist charcoal. The needle was then passed under the skin and the charcoal-filled thread drawn through. Teit was told that this method resulted in a design with sharper, clearer lines than the old method.

We had no custom regarding the age or sex when it came to tattooing. Anyone at any age could have a tattoo. Or maybe not. Many of our people did not have tattoos, ever. Today, of course, our people, like any others, have had tattoos, but these are usually done in a tattoo parlour. Some honour their heritage by choosing a design which represents their Clan.

When Teit was among our people (1912-1915), he collected information about the characteristics our people considered to be beautiful. He included the following explanation and chart in his notes. The chart indicates both sexes unless otherwise noted. He also said that "individual tastes varied to some extent".

Strength and endurance, especially in men, were considered very desirable and of more importance that the stature and shape of body. Tall men were considered good looking, but not equal to short men for strength and endurance. Some tall men were very good walkers, but short men were better than tall men as workers and packers. They could carry heavier loads without becoming fatigued.

Men who were skillful hunters, good-tempered and of kindly disposition were most desired by women. These ualities were more considered by women that good looks, etc.

Some men considered a light, smooth skin preferable to fine features. Some would say, "That woman has a beautiful face and fine features, but her skin is too rough".

It is said that women (or all persons) of the Raven (that is, Crow) phratry (Clan) had rougher skins than women or people of the Wolf phratry. This is said to be owing to their descent from Big Raven who, like the raven bird, had rough skin, especially the legs.

A very wide head or a very flat nose was considered ugly. People having these features were said to resemble slaves. A man would say of a wide-face, flat-nosed person, "That woman is ugly; she resembles a slave."

Teit's Beauty Chart
Feature	Desirable	Not So Good Looking	Undesirable or Ugly
Skin	white, light, smooth	medium colour, smoothness	dark skin, rough
Mouth	medium size	very small	very large
Nose	straight, slightly hooked	very convex	concave, very flat
Cheek bones	slight	medium	very prominent
Head	common shape	very wide	deformed
Feet (women)	small	medium	large
Feet (men)	small or medium	large	n/a
Hands (women)	small	medium	large
Knuckles (women)	small	medium	large
Bones (women)	small	medium	large
Hair (head)-women	long, thick	short, very thin	n/a
Hair (head)-men	short	very long	n/a
Beard (women)	none	any	n/a
Beard (men)	none	any	n/a
Bodyhair (women)	none	a little	very much
Bodyhair(men)	does not matter	n/a	n/a
Body (women)	plump	slightly thin	very thin
Body (men)	medium	slightly fat	very fat
Stature (women)	medium	short or slightly tall	very tall