Pacific Northwest Native Americans


This is a land of rugged shores along the Pacific Ocean, high mountains, rivers and forests.
It is a very rainy and cool climate.
Forests of spruce, hemlock, cedar, and brush, grow in abundance. These lands were home to beaver, mink, deer, bear,Dall sheep, and mountain goat, while the sea is teemed with seals, and sea otter, The rivers were filled with numerous kinds of fish, particularly salmon and halibut.
In the North Pacific Coast, except at the far north, red cedar trees provided natives with logs for posts and molded canoes, or straight grained planks for house sides, bentwood boxes, and essential tools.
Travel was mostly by water because there was much dense undergrowth, thickets of berries and brambles, and the land was obstructed except along river banks.
Many tribes lived in permanent villages which would never be moved.


The long house was a vital economic, social, political, and religious place. It was a large rectangle building with cedar planks set along the sides and upon a low-sloping, peaked roof held up by four decorated corner posts and a center ridge beam. Inside, the floor was dug down so the sides of the house could hold two or more levels of benches, a platform where people sat and a higher section divided by wooden partitions into sleeping compartments.
On the beach in front of the house were canoes, sheds for smoking fish, drying racks, and work areas.
At the rear of each house, inside its secluded storeroom there were sacred treasures.
The members of the nobility who owned that house lived at the back of the long house. Their eldest man was the leader of the household, but his mother and sisters provided the links among all the members. Along the sides lived families of commoners who attached themselves to that house as kin or labor.
Beside the oval front door slept slaves, taken in war or the children of such captives, whose lives belonged to their owner, along with all their worldly goods.
Along the sides of the house where they lived, families kept their own open fires for cooking and heating. In the middle, however, was a large public hearth used to cook meals for the noble owners or for guests.
A boy came of age when he hunted and killed his first animal.
A girl came of age when she was ready to be married. Her family chose her husband.

The Totem Pole

The totem poles at the front door of the house told about the family.
A flowing black line outlines each figure. Such a sculpted pole could serve as a portal into a house, a supporting pillar or a memorial standing on the beach. When it was finished, a huge celebration known as a potlatch, meaning "to give" was held. A crowd of guests helped to set up the pole and then were fed and entertained with food. The carving on these poles were part of the epics told about the ancestors of the family living in the long house.

Potlatch

Throughout the Northwest, each nation held its potlatches at various critical life junctures. Tlingit held three major potlatches for piercing the ears of noble children, for funerals, and for memorials when an heir took the place of his mother's brother (uncle). These potlatches were great celebrations lasting for many days.

Religious or Medical Leader

Each house and clan should have the spiritual, medical, and psychological protection of a native specialist technically known as a shaman, or, more usually among natives, as a doctor /medicine man. Though most were men, a few were women of great powers. Doctors were noted for curing, healing, controlling weather, bringing luck to a hunt or battle, predicting the future, and learning news from far away. At his own death, his spirit powers went to a younger relative, who became dizzy and ill until he or she accepted this burden. To be acceptable to receive this help, both novice and Shaman had to be pure through fasting, thirsting, purging, and chastity. Shamans let their hair grow to keep their strong powers. The Chief and medicine man were very important to this group of people.
Even though there were specific tribal leaders, Each adult had a specific animal spirit that would assist them throughout their life. In the winter they had many feasts and tribal dances. During these dances the people would sing special songs to give thanks for their specific animal spirit. If they did not sing and dance for their spirit they would become sick.

Trading

Trade routes went up river valleys and over mountain passes. Goods were taken in canoes upriver as far as possible, then switched into male slaves' backpacks made of a large basket with shoulder and forehead straps, holding 100 pounds or more.
In large groups, women carried packs weighing about 65 pounds, and saddle bags on dogs held up to 25 pounds. A wise trader always included a shrewd elderly woman to act as bargainer and to keep track of money.
From the interior of the land, away from the water, came moose hides, fine moccasins, birch wood bows wrapped with porcupine gut, dressed caribou hides, leather thongs and sinews, snowshoes, and copper ore.
Traded from the coast were cedar baskets, fish oil, shells, and smoked seafoods.
Traders had to prepare by fasting, consulting a shaman, and then hosting a feast. Before leaving, he or she applied face paint to look their most attractive.
Some tribes migrated twice a year but returned to their permanent village. During the spawning runs of spring and into the fall, families traveled to the fishing areas. Using a three-pronged spear, and hemp-twine nets they fished for the cutthroat trout and salmon which were dried slowly over smoked fires to preserve them.
The summer was a time for berry gathering. The fall was a time for hunting. Elk, white tale deer, and moose. Fisherman and sea mammal hunters harvested the bounty of the ocean, and used a fixed reference navigation system to travel far from the sight of land in large cedar canoes.
The most astounding of these marine practices was hunting whales on the open Ocean. Whales provided ancient people with food, raw materials, a source of spiritual and ceremonial strength, and valuable trade goods. Whale oil was rendered from the blubber, and was an important food product, like butter and olive oil today.
Meat could be used, but only if it hadn't spoiled. Whale meat often spoiled before the animal could be towed from the ocean to one of the villages. Once the whale reached the shore, it was ceremonially thanked and blessed, then processed for food and raw materials. Whales that died at sea and drifted to shore were also used by the Tribe, but this practice did not carry the same ceremonial, spiritual, or subsistence value as whale hunting. In the case of drift whales, one could almost guarantee that the meat would be useless, therefore, only the oil and raw materials could be used.

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