People of the Northwest Coast

By: Gurbinder, Dylan, and

William

Habitat

• The region is mild and wet, in many places there is more than 254 cm of rain.

• Warm temperatures and plentiful rain help lush rainforests grow.

• Red cedars, yellow cedars, spruce trees, reach towering heights in these forests.

• Region stretches 3219 km along the Pacific Ocean from southern Alaska to Northern California.

• The region is a narrow strip of land less than 161 km wide.

• The Northwest Coast Region includes hundreds of islands.

Subsistence

• The ocean and the region’s rivers and forests provide the native people with all the food and natural resources.

• The waters are full with shellfish, whales, seals, sea lions, sea otters, and many other types of food.

• The forest offers food such as berries and roots, and nuts, as well as wood and bark.

• There is land surrounding the village where they fished, hunted, and collected natural resources.

Homes

• The people of the Northwest Coast live in hundreds of villages.

• The homes are built out of cedar.• Large houses are shared by many people.• Some villages have only one house, but

most have a dozen houses.• The largest villages have about 40 houses.• All the houses face the ocean.

Tools and Weapons

•They sharpen beaver tooth and use it as a dagger.

•They make combs out of whale bones.

•They make spears out of cedar, usually 15 feet long to hunt sturgeon.

Religious or spiritual customs

• People from different villages gather for celebrations, trading with another, and sometimes fight wars.

• People believe that powerful sprits live in the ocean, forests, and the air.

• People believe all of their belongings is due to the generosity of the sprits.

• Most ceremonies are held in winter when the sprits are closer to the people.

Religious or spiritual customs

• One important ceremony is the potlatch.

• The potlatch is a gift giving ceremony.

• People where ceremonial clothing like robes that have clan crests on them.

Leadership and GOVERNMENT

• Leaders dress in robes and ceremonial hats.

• All the clan property and resources are controlled by the chief.

• You can become a chief if your ancestors were the chiefs before you.

Cultural artifacts

• The People of the Northwest Coast are known for their totem poles.

• The People of the Northwest Coast also have lots of masks.

Social organization and kinship

• Children are born into their mothers’ clan.

• Members of the same clan can’t marry each other.

• The children of slaves become slaves also.

Map of the northwest coast

Bibliography

• Kalman, Bobby. Nations of the Northwest Coast, Ontario: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2004.

• Coast Salish (online) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Salish

YEAH!