Native American KNIGHTS were insane!

When the Russians first invaded America, they were defeated by Native American knights in armor.

These northern knights were trained from childhood by lifting driftwood weights, swimming in the icy ocean and getting whipped with hazel branches.

They wore elaborate hardwood armor with intricate war helmets and rode in giant 60 foot cedar war canoes.

Later they seamlessly integrated European weapons into their tactics, mounting cannon on their canoes and adding metal coins to their armor like scales to make themselves fully bulletproof.

Who were these Native American knights?

They were the elite warriors of the Tlingit tribe of Alaska.

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#Knights #indians #nativeamericans

[Banished-rxol]

Fun fact: Those little round shapes on the armor are Chinese coins because they traded fur with everybody. For example Tlingit cups were found with the Hawaiian royal family. The chinese really liked otter pelts and traded their coins for it but the tlingit has no real concept of money so used it as armor.

They lost and were almost exterminated by the Russians but fought on until russia sold their land in alaska to the US in 1867. They’re still around today and another fun fact were not the only native tribes to use armor. Many northern tribes did they just have the most surviving and well maintained examples.

[edg]

The Haida tribe used similar wooden armor and were even more warlike. They've been refered as the "Indian Vikings of the north west coast." And would often raid for revenge and to capture slaves.

[artfx]

What a flex to have foreign currency cover your battle vest because you a Chad at trading.

[connorparker]

I am from the UK and one of my friends is from Alaska is part Tlingit.
They are very interesting

[jamesstore]

50 years on this planet and I'm still learning new things I love history and knowledge in general ❤

[hansolo]

As a Tlingit man, I am proud of my peoples history.

[ivikhenry]

They even used gold for musket bullets. Didn't know what gold was but it was a lot like lead, they used gold when they ran out of lead for their pews. Can you imagine getting Got by a gold slug?

[ahmicqui]

“On the deepest night, before dawn, we were surrounded by many armed people [...] For a long time we fired from rifles without success, for they were dressed in three and four rows of wooden and wicker armor, and from above they were still covered with thick cloaks of moose skin and on their heads - with the image of the faces of various monsters - thick helmets, which no bullets or grapeshot of ours pierced. And they truly seemed to us in the dark more terrible than the most hellish devils; and watching perfect order in movements, according to the voice of one commander, they approached us harmoniously, and some of them only a separate one ran to and fro, causing harm to us" [Baranov, date unknown but his russian colonial forces did clash with the Tlingit and were forcefully repelled multiple times].

Absolutely badass.

[volfgangtwins]

Some of their ceremonial helmets were decorated with human hair. If you ever get the chance to visit the museum of Anchorage they have a great exhibit with amazing hand made weapons and art from this tribe and many others.

[justin-zxji]

I worked for the forest service and we were told not to touch any of their artifacts anywhere. This is the only tribe that I have been told DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING! and yes if you did you were fired, from the USDA Forest Service. I thought it was really weird at the time, but I was in my 20's...

[austinshirley]

I'm kinda mad they didn't teach this in school while I was living in Ketchikan

[bryant]

These guys look badass. Like a mix of Samurai and European Knight.

[bobsmith]

Fun fact: the Tlingit had a little brouhaha with Americans in Washington State in 1856 at Port Gamble and came down from Canada in their war canoe in 1857 for a revenge raid and then went back home with the head of a Washington state senator, Isaac N. Ebey, from Whidbey Island as their prize. A Tlingit chief had been killed in the Port Gamble attack and protocol required that they kill a chief in return so the next summer they did. They landed on Whidbey Island and made some inquiries and determined Ebey was the most important person on the island so they shot and decapitated him.

[usefulusinguser]

“When the Russians first invaded America, they were defeated by native American knights in armor” is a wild sentence

[mongraphic]

Ngl probably one of the coolest things ive seen from history

Like seriously, in the span of a couple decades they went from hunter nomads to incorperating chainmail, wooden plate armour and helmets along with beggining gunpowder weaponry? Absolutely sick

[tsoonklah]

Hi! Always cool to see Tlingits mentioned in stuff. I’m a direct descendant of Chief Shakes VII, named after Matilda Kinnon Paul Tamaree, am a tribal artist that designs and makes fiber art with traditional designs that my original patterns complement and illustrate the meanings or related to stories behind the traditional ones. Timing’s cool because I’ve been working on something that emulates what our warriors would wear.

[BumblebeeTuna]

The Haida and Tlingit are awesome Tribes, their Art is also impressive.

[OfDaSouth]

I literally said "Tlingit?" out loud when you said they fought the Russians. Have people really never heard of these badasses?

People should get out to the museum more. This country has so many incredible exhibits that so few people see.

[billfoster]

20 years ago in Ketchikan I heard the language being spoken behind the counter at the McDonald's. The entire staff was local Indigenous people. Also a lot of Haida people there too. Totem Bight State Park is great to learn about them.

[bigadamhilbilly]

I lived in Juneau and met and befriended a lot of Tlingit folks. Some real tough fellas. I was invited on a grizzly bear hunt with them, I’ll never forget them scrambling the bears brains out of its skull, then eating it as a delicacy!