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Originally Posted by David

If we can count on oral tradition at all (and granted, it can be questionable at times) the "Killer Whale" dagger i posted in post #14 goes back 10 generations. If we count a generation as 20 yrs. that would place it's origins in the very beginning of the 1800's. If we look at the very competent crafting of this blade though, it is clear that the Tlingit did not learn to forge like this over night, so i think we need to look just a bit further back than that date for the introduction of this art form to the tribes.
I agree with Barry that we don't necessarily need to link this to the first European encounters. Chinese or other Asian explorers may well have made the voyage (or trek) across the Bering Strait years before the English or even the Russians arrived, though if the 1741 date for Russian encounters is correct blades like this may well have been made before the end of the 18th century.

Hi David,

While I agree that one does not learn to forge good blades over night, I do think that every good smith learns to forge good blades within his working lifetime, or a decade or two. Given that window, I'm not surprised that the Tlingit were making good blades early on.

As another example, think of the plains Indians. They went from a culture that had never seen a horse to being some of the best horsemen in the world in a generation or two. Change can happen quite rapidly, even in traditional cultures.

F