Northwest Coast Indians

The Northwest Coast Indians Native American History Brad Jones

Environment  The

Northwest Coast is a 2,000 mile long, 150 mile wide mountainous coastline.  It stretches from the Alaskan Panhandle to the Redwoods of Northern California.  From here to Seattle, Washington is around 2,000 miles.

 The

Environment

Northern Section: Includes Alaska and British Columbia and consists of glaciers and steep, granite mountains up to 18,000 feet.  The coastal ranges are 80 miles wide.  The island topography features fjords and inlets.  Fjords are long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.  An inlet is a narrow body of water between islands or leading inland from a larger body of water.

Environment  The

Southern Section: Includes Washington and Oregon. The mountains are less forbidding, meaning they are not as high or steep.  The mountains are bisected by the Fraser, Columbia, and the Klamath rivers.

Environment  The

rugged mountains of the Northwest Coast did not allow the Northwestern Coast Indians an easy entry into the interior of the mountains.  Rivers and oceans were the primary routes of transportation.  The rivers consisted of flat beaches along the river mouths.

Environment The flora consisted of a rich coniferous forest that included Pine, Red/Yellow Cedar, Maple, Service, Crabapple, and Redwood trees.  Averaged 100 inches of rainfall each year.  50 -55 degrees was the mean annual temperature.  Coniferous is a needle leaved, scale leaved, or cone-bearing trees and are for the most part evergreen. 

Language Families & Tribes  Athabaskan:

Eyak, Tlingit, Haida.  Wakashan: (Northern)- Kwakiutl, Bella Bella.  Wakashan: (Southern)- Nootka, Makah.  Salishan: Tillamook, Dwamish, Pullayup.  Penutian: Tsmishian, Chinook, Coos, Takelma.

Subsistence  Fishing,

supplemented by hunting and gathering.  Meat: Deer, elk, mountain sheep as well as caribou and moose in interior tundras.  Furs: Bear, wolf, ermine, mountain lion, fox, otter and beaver.  Maritime: Sea otters, seals, and whales (only for the Nootka and Olympic Peninsula tribes)

Tlingit Seasonal Rounds  March:

Eulachon, smelt, and halibut appear in bays and rivers and thus begins the seasonal cycle.  Spring fishing settlements are near the river mouths.  July-September: Runs of red, white, and humpback salmon (most valued fish).  Late summer fishing settlements relocated at shallow bays when fish migrated back towards ocean; spearing from canoes, hooks traps, and weirs.

Tlingit Seasonal Rounds Spring: Otter camps are set up on offshore rocky areas.  June: Sealing camps are set up along bays(seals, sea otters, and dolphins were nearly extinct in Tlingit waters by 1880)  Mainland animals were hunted using steel traps, firearms, and dogs.  Furs were obtained by Athabaskan Subarctic tribes.  The Tlingit were shrewd traders and used as middlemen in the fur trade. 

Tlingit Subsistence  Other

sources of food the Tlingit had been what they called “beach food.”  This included things like razor clams, clams, oysters, mussels, crabs, seaweed, limpets and other sea plants on the beach.  Since food is so easy to gather from the beaches, a person who can’t feed himself at least enough to stay alive is considered to be a fool, perhaps mentally incompetent or suffering from very bad luck.  Though eating off the beach would provide a fairly healthy and varied diet, eating nothing but “beach food” is considered contemptible among the Tlingit, and a sign of poverty.  Shamans and their families were required to abstain from all food gathered from the beach, and men might avoid eating beach food before battles or strenuous activities in the belief that it would weaken them spiritually and perhaps physically as well.

Tlingit Subsistence The primary food source for the Tlingit was the salmon.  The harvesting of the salmon was done in a variety of ways. The most common being the fishing weir or trap to restrict movement upstream.  These traps allowed hunters to easily spear a good amount of fish with little effort. It did, however, required extensive cooperation between the men fishing and the women on the shore doing the cleaning. 

Timber Timber of all sorts, usually coniferous, was plentiful in the Northwest Coast and was used for all sorts of things such as wood plank houses, totem poles, boats, tools and weapons.  A wood plank house was made out of cedar because of its straight grain, it had very few knots and it was weather resistant.  Boats were made from cedar trees; they would split them in half and dig them out to make a canoe.  Various tools were made from wood to fish, hunt, and warfare. 

Totem Poles  Totem

poles were also carved out of wood.  Totem poles were usually family or lineage crests, and symbolized the deeds and accomplishments of their ancestors.  Kin relations and social classes were also recognized.  The totem pole is the signboard, genealogical record and memorial of Northwest Coast Indian tribes.  Crests carved on poles, usually erected at Potlatches, were lineage property and reflected the history of the lineage.

Totem Poles  Animals

represented on the crests included the beaver, bear, wolf, shark, whale, raven, eagle, frog and mosquito.  There were 6 principal types of poles.  Memorial or heraldic poles, grave figures, house posts, house-front or portal poles, welcoming poles and mortuary poles.  Poles were skillfully carved of red cedar and were painted black, red, blue and sometimes white and yellow.

Totem Poles

Totem Poles

Potlatches A

potlatch was a universal ceremony that was practiced throughout the Northwest Coast and was held to mourn the dead, to celebrate initiation, a girl’s puberty rites but most importantly held when the second ranked man of a clan became the leader.  The main purpose of the potlatch is the re-distribution and reciprocity of wealth.  The clan leader or family leader would invite guests to his house and hold a feast for his guests.

Potlatches  The

leader/host would give away gifts according to rank and status.  There were rivalries over the high status positions.  The local head men would always try to out do one another.  Vast quantities of goods were destroyed to show power by these headmen.

Potlatches  Different

events take place during a

potlatch.  Singing, dancing, with masks and regalia that symbolized an important animal.  Trading went on with the invited guests such as dried foods, sugar, flour, and Chilkat blankets.  Songs and dances were also traded.

Ban of the Potlatch  The

potlatch was made illegal in Canada and the United States in 1885.  The ban was set in to place at the urging of missionaries and government agents.  They looked at potlatches as a worse than useless custom and was wasteful, unproductive, and contrary to civilized values.

Progression of the Potlatch  The

Tsimshian Potlatch ceremony for a new chief is a good example of the progression of the ceremony.  A relative was chosen to take over the vacated spot when the chief had died.  Their was a long mourning period, the chiefs body was put on display with the all of his possessions.  A cremation followed with a mortuary box put into a tree and set on fire.

Progression of the Potlatch A memorial pole was carved for the dead chief and new household items were brought in to the new chief.  The preparation for a potlatch could last up to years.  When it was time for the ceremony, canoes sailed in to the beach in a large procession, each canoe carrying a household.  The new chief would then sit each man in house according to rank.  The new chief would then speak and other head men would make speeches. 

Progression of the Potlatch  The

new chief would then dance with each symbol of the deceased chief which included blankets, masks, and coppers.  The chief was official when the copper was broken and the gifts were given out.

Potlatch

There were 3 major functions of the Potlatch.  1) validated the whole system of hereditary rights and validated social rank.  2) validated status of individual persons invited to potlatches.  3) integrated all clans invited to a potlatch. 

Material Culture  The

material culture of the NWC Indians included canoes, houses and art.  The canoes measured 6’X60’ and were used to navigate rivers and the coastline. Animals were carved in the canoes for protection.    Houses measured 30’X40’ and were built with 4 corner poles.  The middle part of the house was dug 5’ into the ground, the upper part was used for sleeping and the lower part was used for a variety of the things.

Slavery  Slavery

was a common practice among the tribes throughout the Northwest. Slaves were usually captured during warfare or they could have been bought.  The slaves lived on beaches or they lived in the house with the family who owned them and were forced to do menial chores and lacked many civil rights.  A slave could live with a family so long it would become a part of that family and eventually gain special privileges.  Many slaves were kicked, beaten or killed (sacrificed) so that the owner could show wealth.

Division of Labor

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The labor duties of men included building houses, digging out canoes, and all of the carpentry work. It fell mainly to women to spin twine required for fishnets and lines and to weave items from cedar bark and roots. While fishing and hunting were mainly the work of men, and women did most gathering of plant and beach foods, the division of labor was complementary and often cooperative. Both men and women made the tools necessary for work. Because almost all foods were produced at times in quantities greater than immediate need, they were preserved. Men did most of the initial production of fish and game, but women did the cooking and preservation.