Transcript Coastal Indians

Coastal Indians
Let’s learn about the Coastal Indians.
•Food
•Tools
•Transportation
•Clothing
•Shelter
•Customs and Beliefs
FOOD
Food was everywhere! Large quantities of seafood
including salmon, halibut, cod, flounder, candlefish,
herring, seals and whale were found in the rivers,
lakes, ocean and bays.
The saltwater beaches provided clams, oysters, and
mussels throughout the year. Shellfish would be
smoked, dried and stored to be used or traded later.
Vegetable roots or bulbs such as salmon berry
sprouts, camas, bitter roots, and ferns were dug and
gathered between early spring and late fall using a
digging stick.
From summer to late fall, nature provided many
different types of berries that were gathered. These
berries were dried and stored in baskets. Also nuts and
seeds were gathered in the fall.
Indians Tools Transportation Clothing Shelter Customs & Beliefs
TOOLS
Canoes from the trunks of huge cedar and
redwood trees were important tools for fishing and
transportation. The canoes could hold as many as
60 men. Harpoons made of sticks and bones were
used to kill whales. The bones were used for
various tools. Smaller harpoons were used for
fishing and hunting. Nets were woven out of strips
of bark. Bones were used as scraping and cutting
tools. Baskets were woven from strips of bark and
grass. Bowls and other dishes were carved out of
pieces of wood. Natural materials of stone, wood
and grass were made into a variety of tools.
Indians Food
Transportation
Clothing
Shelter Customs & Beliefs
TRANSPORTATION
Forests made travel hard. There were plenty of rivers
and streams in this region. Indian villages were always
near a stream or river. People from many different
tribes traveled these waterways in dugout canoes, most
of which were made out of cedar trees. These canoes
were very important for hunting, fishing, and traveling.
Canoes were made in a variety of shapes and sizes
depending upon their purpose.
Indians
Food
Tools
Clothing
Shelter
Customs & Beliefs
CLOTHING
In the mild seasons, men wore little clothing. Often
they would wear a robe or blanket thrown over their
back and fastened across the chest with a string.
Women wore fiber skirts that were about knee
length. Capes, hats, and skirts were also made of
softened shredded cedar bark. They wore a cone
shaped hat called a Clatsop hat. Clothing made
from cattail rushes were worn for work and in rainy
weather. Animal hides were only worn under bark
capes in the rainy season because they would
become soaked in the rain.
Indians
Food
Tools
Transportation
Shelter
Customs & Beliefs
SHELTER
Summer homes of Indians living on the coast
consisted of temporary lodges constructed out of
rushes or bark which was also known as a lean to.
Winter homes when the weather was cold and wet for
long periods of time, were cedar plank longhouses.
Indians
Food
Tools Transportation
Clothing
Customs & Beliefs
CUSTOMS & BELIEFS
Girls were ready for marriage at the age of fourteen or fifteen
while boys waited until they were sixteen or seventeen. When
the marriage celebrations took place, the parents exchanged
gifts.
Masks representing animals such as bears, lizards, owls, or
other animals were worn at dances and celebrations. As well
they would decorate themselves with paint and feathers.
The shaman, or medicine man, was another important official
in the tribe. A shaman could be a man or a woman.
Most tribes had more than one chief. One chief would give
leadership for the hunting, another might be the war chief, and
a third chief might be responsible for the safety of the camp.
The Indians believed that the earth was controlled by many
gods. Legends, stories passed down from one generation to
another, told of how the world was created, the origin of the
races, the discovery of fire, the salmon, and the physical
features of the country.
Indians
Food
Tools
Transportation
Clothing
Shelter