Thlingit Thling
Thlingit Thling was chief, or dän nozhi, for the Northern Tutchone groups on the lower Pelly and Macmillan rivers and around Tatlamain Lake in the mid-nineteenth century. The Northern Tutchone chief was chosen in the existing system of social ranking based on wealth and prestige. Each local group was directed by a chief (dän cho or he tchi). The larger regional group was dominated by a senior man among the dän nozhi families of the area.1)
The chief was always a rich man with as many as twenty wives and up to six bound servants. These marriages would allow the chief to form alliances and the development of a large unified kin group. The position of chief was hereditary to some degree as long as he was able to maintain the wealth and prestige of his family.2)
Many of the powerful Northern Tutchone chiefs were also great doctors and their knowledge of medicine and spiritual matters enhanced their status and influence as chief. Selkirk was the most powerful group among the Northern Tutchone due to the power and fame of Thlingit Thling. A duel chief system was in effect when Robert Campbell met Thlingit Thling and his son Hanan at Fort Selkirk.3)