If a man commits suicide, a cause is always sought, and he who is regarded responsible for the cause is blamed and his tribe made to pay damages…
A man committed suicide simply to make trouble for one who offended him. According to native custom, if a person commits suicide because someone has offended him, or opposed a wish of his, heavy damages or a life must be given to the tribe of the suicide by the tribe of the one giving the offense. So suicide is sometimes resorted to in order to harass and burden others. The threat of suicide is sometimes used as a bluff to get one’s way.
[#46] Livingston F. Jones, A Study of the Thlingets of Alaska. New York: Fleming Revell, 1914, pp. 195, 218.