Coastal Indians

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Coastal Indians

• Lets learn about the Coastal Indians.
• Food
• Tools
• Transportation
• Clothing
• Shelter
• Customs and Beliefs

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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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