Indian Northwest Pacific Coast Culture
Native American Culture in the Costal Pacific Northwest
Mar 31, 2009
Alexander Ross in his diary of life within the area now known as the Northwest Pacific costal region entitled “Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River, 1810-1813” described the costal natives within a hundred mile radius of the Columbia River in great detail. Ross describes ten tribes but notes that all are similar in language, culture and appearance.
Family Life, Clothing, Recreation
"The tribes all practice polygamy and slavery and both numerous wives and slaves are signs of wealth. They are expert craftsmen in wood and build canoes of both durability and beauty. The men wear a loose garment made of the skin of the wood-rat except for the chief who is clothed in sea otter fur or other valuable furs. The women wear the same clothing as the men except they add a “petticoat” of cedar bark which “keep flapping and twisting about with every move of the body…” Other women wear a “breech cloth” of deer skin “six inches broad and four feet long, which after passing between the thighs is tied around the waist. The women are generally busy curing fish gathering roots and making baskets of weaved roots “which are strong and flexible and they are capable of containing any liquid.” Even though polygamy was practiced the women are not slaves and Ross knew of no instance where a woman not a slave was bought or traded, yet at the same time Ross described the practice of husbands purchasing their wives from the women’s father. The women were actively involved in all affairs of the tribe including trade and most women had slaves to do the more drudgery work. Both men and women spent considerable time in games of chance, although the games were different for the men and the women. Chastity was no virtue and both men and women were free to explore their sexuality.
Indian Monetary system
Prior to the white man the natives of the region had a monetary system where a small white shell called higua was strung together “and increases or decreases in value according to the number required to make a fathom, by which measure they are invariably sold.” (Ross 109) After contact with white traders the natives added the beaver skin as a measure of currency so that when approached for trade they would ask “Queentshich higua? or Queentshich enna? That is how many higua? or how many beaver skins?”
Food and Diet of Costal Indians
While the women did the work of the camp the men hunted or fished. Except for a couple of coastal tribes which hunted whale, the fishing was done on inland rivers, primarily for salmon and sturgeon. Ross describes salmon weighing over 40 pounds and sturgeon weighing as much as 700 pounds. There was not much need to hunt land animals as the fish was so abundant. The diet was supplemented by roots and berries including the “wapatoe, a perennial root, of the size, shape, and taste of the common potato…which is highly esteemed by the whites”.
Indian Religion
As in all cultures, whether native or European, religion played a significant role. The religion of the natives of the region had animism characteristics, a belief that animate objects and certain inanimate objects possess spirits. “It was believed that salmon represented a race of supernatural beings who dwelled in a great house beneath the sea.” Ritualistic ceremonies were followed in the fishing of salmon. “…they were never allowed to be cut crosswise, nor boiled, but roasted; nor are they allowed to be sold without the heart being first taken out….”. While the whites did not understand the reasons for the observance of these rules the natives would not trade with them without compliance, so of course compliance was granted.
