The Coastal Tribes. Name

Transcription

1 Name The Coastal Tribes The Native Americans of Washington s coast lived very different lives than most of the other tribes in the United Sates. Living between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, these tribes didn t really mix with the tribes in other regions of Washington. They did their trading with each other. They also didn t have to move to find food during the seasons. Because of all of the rich forests and many forms of water, these tribes were considered to be very wealthy. They built permanent homes of wood and had plenty to eat. While all of the other tribes in Washington believed in sharing everything with others and only taking what you need to survive, the coastal tribes saved things for themselves and wouldn t share with the others in their tribe. In fact, the richer you were, the more respect and power you had in the tribe. The richest man became the tribe s chief. The wealthy families owned the best fishing

2 spots at the bottom of the river where the salmon were fat and healthy. The poor families had to fish upriver, where the salmon grew thin and sick from having to swim so far. The wealthy families owned canoes, family shields made of copper, wool blankets made from dog wool from a special kind of dog, and had beautifully carved totem poles outside of their homes. Some of these families even had slaves captured or bought from other tribes. Totem Poles and Spirits Totem poles were carvings of animal spirits that told the story of a tribe or a family. The Indians believed that their ancestors passed into the spirit world as animals, fish or birds. The coastal tribes believed that animals were very powerful spirits. They believed that these spirits gave an Indian the magic powers he needed to become a medicine man, canoe carver, great fisherman or chief. Most of the tribes believed that spirits helped them to do everything.

3 Each tribe had a Shaman, or medicine man, that could travel back and forth into the spirit world in order to heal others. Long Houses The coastal tribes always built their homes facing the beach with the forest behind them. These homes, called long houses, were huge wood homes made from the cedar tree. Because the cedar had special oil in its wood it would not rot. The houses had low front doors to keep out the cold and no windows. A fire sat in the middle of the house for cooking and heat. To have light to see by, the families made candles out of a special dried fish. They would fill its body with fish oil and a cedar wick. Many families shared a home. The richest family got their own section of the house. The other families shared

4 the rest of the space. They had beds and benches built into the wall and boxes to hold their things in. Clothing Most of the tribes clothing was made from the cedar tree. Its inner bark was very soft and had oil to keep water from getting through it. The women wore cedar skirts and the men wore breech cloths. During the rainy season they all wore rain coats and hats made from cedar bark. If they were going out on the cold ocean, they would wear bear skin robes. The people were usually barefoot, but sometimes wore deerskin moccasins.

5 Food The coastal tribes loved fish and fish oil. They even put fish oil on their berries! They ate salmon, seal, clams, crabs, and herring. Sometimes they also ate deer. They loved berries, seaweed, licorice roots and camas roots. For a special treat they ate fish eggs. Most of their food was smoked over the fire or dried in the sun so it would last longer. They had special rules for eating: Never show your teeth while eating No drinking anything during the meal And men eat before women and children

6 What Did Girls Do? Girls had to learn how to handle big canoes on the rivers and shoreline of the ocean. They also had to learn to dry and smoke fish. The girls learned to pound the cedar bark to make it soft. They had to weave tight baskets that could carry water. They also had to make all of the tribe s clothing. What Did Boys Do? Boys learned to fish and hunt. They learned how to set fires at the base of cedar trees and then to cut them down with stone axes as the tree weakened by the fire. Boys also had to learn to paddle the 62 foot canoes in storms and the strong ocean currents. To learn what their place would be in the tribe, boys had to go on their vision quest when they were 12 years old.

7 In the middle of winter, the young boy would go alone into the woods. He would bathe in icy water and rub his skin with branches until he bled. He would eat nothing for days, wandering in the woods. When he became very weak, the spirits would appear to him in a dream and tell him what his special skill would be. He might be a hunter, whaler, fisherman, or canoe carver. After he learned his purpose, the boy would return to the tribe and be welcomed as a man.