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Researched by Conner O.
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Research Summary
The Northwest Coastal Indians have a unique culture. There are 41 tribes.
They are the Suislaw, Coos, Umpqua, Fututni, Chasta, Eyak, Tlingit, Tongass,
Haida, Niska, Tsimshian, Gitksan, Hiasla, Bella Coola, Bella Bella,
Heiltsuk, Nootka, Kwakiutl, Comox, Nanaimo, Nooksack, Cowichan, Skagit,
Wuileute, Wuinault, Humptulips, Chehalis, Skokomish, Chimakum, Duwamish,
Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Coast Salish, Chinook, Cowlitz, Clatsop, Glatskanie,
Tillamook, Siletz, Yaquina costa, and Makah.
Of these 41 tribes there are seven main groups. They are the Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Kwakiutl, Inut, Bella Bella, Nootka, Salish and Chinook.
The Northwest Coastal Indians speak in 11 main languages. The most common language spoken is the Athabascan language. The other 10 main languages are the Tsimshian, Chinook, Tlingit, Haida, Chemmakuan, Wakashan, Kwakiutul, Nootka, Makah, and Salish languages. Those are only 11 out of the 45+ languages spoken in the Northwest.
The Tribes have all the food they need because the Northwest Coastal region is very plentiful due to rain, water, sunlight. They have salmon and shellfish from the sea, meat from land animals like deer and bear, berries, roots, and much, much, more.
The Indians believed if they threw back the bones of the first salmon caught each year, those bones would re-grow into a spiritual ‘salmon man’. Keeping the salmon man alive would mean the salmon would keep coming back each season. That was their most important food. They would eat the salmon by smoking, drying, fresh, and stored for later.
The tribes would interact by trading with each other. They would trade copper and wood to make canoes.
The Indians would have potlatches in which they would feast, name children, talk, marry, and have fun. Potlatches are very important to them.
If you were 6 and you were an Indian, you would not even have a name yet. By now you are probably thinking, "What would they call me?" Well good question, they would simply call you "young one" or "child." When you were 8 or 9 you’d get named, at a potlatch.
Many of the northwest tribes lived in large ‘longhouses.’ The winter house (or longhouse), was partly underground, and could fit up to 6 families. They were usually built with cedar. The planks would be grooved or notched so they would fit together without nails. The frame would stay at their winter site or spring site but the walls and roof would not. They would carry them as they moved.
Sometimes one house would hold a village. Sometimes a village had several houses. The front of the house would show that family’s symbolic creature.
The NW Coastal region was first occupied 11,000 years ago.
About 1,500 B.C. pit houses were built, and by 1,000 B.C. the Northwest coast culture was flowering. Carving in stone and wood was common and rain cloaks were woven from shredded bark.
By 1,000 A.D. heavy woodworking tools were commonly used in the splitting of tall cedars, firs, and redwoods into planks for large canoes and houses.
Their economy was based on catching Salmon, Halibut, Candle-Fish, Herring, Smelt, Cod and other fish with nets, lines, spears, traps, and weirs.
Besides salmon, their most important resource was red cedar. They used cedar for longhouses, canoes, baskets, totem poles, baskets, and many other things.
Europeans first contacted Northwest Coast people in 1741, but it wasn’t until 1778 that intense trade between Europeans and Northwest Indians began.
The Northwest Coast Indians had more time for art and ceremonies than other early American tribes because their food was so plentiful.
Their artwork is beautiful. The totem poles represent their families
and tell stories. They also create beautiful canoes by getting logs, burning
them, carving them and painting them.
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