Daily Life in Ancient Times Pacific Northwest Coastal Indians For Kids & Teachers K-12 What made the Puget Sound Indian tribes "rich" in ancient times? Why were woven mats so important? How did totem poles get started? What's a Potlatch? Find out here! Use the short cut menu to find just what you need! Welcome to the Pacific Northwest Coastal Indians! REGION: NORTHWEST COASTAL Oregon, Washington, and north to Alaska SOME PRINCIPAL TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST REGION: Bella Coola, Haida, Kwakiuts, Makah, Nez Perce, Nisqualli, Nootka, Quinault, Puyallup, Salish, S'Klallam, Snohomish, Spokane, Shuswap, Swinomish, Tlingit, Tsimshian  Puget Sound Indians   Daily Life Manners Furniture Stories/Games Longhouse Living Meals Canoes Totem Poles Woven Mats Baskets Potlatch Clip Art How Raven Stole Crow's Potlatch (Story) NW Links for Kids NW Lesson Plans Other Regions   What was life like 2,000 years ago in what is now the Puget Sound region of Washington State? All of the west coast tribes were considered rich by the other Indian nations. Of all the coastal Indians, the Tulalip, Swinomish, Lummi and Skagit tribes were considered the most rich. These were the Indian tribes who lived in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. What made these tribes so wealthy? It wasn't the discovery of oil, although these early people did love to dunk their food in whale oil to give it flavor. It wasn't the discovery of gold or silver, although these early people were talented artists. They would have made gorgeous jewelry from gold and silver (if they had discovered gold or silver!) But, they did not use metal of any kind. They did not have gold statues or iron pots or brass weapons. What made them so rich and famous? Food! An abundance of food and safe, sturdy shelter made them famous. Two thousand years ago, the Puget Sound Indians used to tell visiting tribes that sometimes the river was so packed with salmon you could walk across it on the backs of fish without getting your feet wet. These early people were famous for their "tall tales" - but it was true that the waters were filled with of salmon. Clams were thick on the beaches. There was an abundance of all kinds of fish and seafood. The woods were full of elk and deer and other animals. There were blackberries and raspberries and salmonberries and nuts. Cedar trees were everywhere. The Indians used cedar to build their homes and to carve everything from canoes to eating utensils. Softened cedar bark was used to make shoes, clothing, blankets, toweling. You can see why other Indian tribes, struggling to survive in other parts of the country, would consider the Puget Sound Indians "rich"! These early people were very clever. They created a way to dry food so that it could be stored safely. Once they could store food, they could relax a bit during the winter months. That gave them time to develop a gracious lifestyle.   Each morning.... Each morning, these early people started their day at dawn with a bath in the river. After their morning bath, they went to work. Their first meal would not be until several hours later. The women did chores on land, near the longhouse. They wove blankets and baskets and mats. They dug for clams. They collected berries. They pounded cedar bark, to soften it, and to ready it to make clothing. They cleaned the family's quarters in the longhouse. They scrubbed what they could and replaced anything soiled that could not be scrubbed. They put the morning meal on to cook and started to prepare food for the evening meal. They were housewives, and good ones. The men went fishing and hunting. They were wonderful hunters. They used traps and clubs and arrows to catch game. They set out baskets to catch crabs and fish. They stood on the piers they had built and fished with baskets woven from cattails, hung from the end of long cedar poles. They simply scooped up food.   Longhouse Living Longhouse Living: The coastal Indians did not live in tepees, as did the Yakima Indians of Eastern Washington. Instead, they lived in longhouses built of thick cedar planks. These homes were also called plank houses. These early people chopped down and split massive cedar trees using beaver teeth and stone axes. Amazing! The longhouses were huge. Some were about 100 feet long and 25 feet wide, with low roofs for easy heating. The only openings in the whole building were the entrance door and a hole in the roof to allow smoke to escape. Assigned Living Spaces: If the tribe built the longhouse, the Chief would assign space within the longhouse. Each family would be assigned a living area, a space of their own, within the house. If an individual built the longhouse for his own family, he lived in that longhouse, along with his wife, his male and female children and their children. As each member of the family grew to adulthood and married, they were assigned space for their family, within the family longhouse. When the owner of the house died, this arrangement ended. Either the house was given away to someone outside the family or it was burnt to the ground. It was believed if the family remained the spirit of the departed might be either bothered by them or worried about them. To avoid the possibility of this, the family had to move and live elsewhere. Whether space in the longhouse was assigned by the father of a family, or by the chief of a tribe, life in each longhouse was the same.   Woven Mats Woven Mats: To define each family's living space in the longhouse, and to give them a sense of privacy, woven mats were hung from the ceiling. Mats were also used as cushions on which to sit. They were used as tablecloths, bath towels, and bed sheets. Mats were made of cedar bark strips or from the cattail plant. In the summer, the women collected materials to make mats and dried them in the sun. In the winter, they hung long pieces side by side, and wove them together with a special mat needle carved for this purpose. They wove colored grass into these mats, in carefully designed patterns, to make their mats colorful and beautiful. These mats could not be washed. They were not sturdy enough to survive a good scrubbing. When mats became dirty, they were simply thrown away, and new ones were made. Mats were an important part of daily life. They provided privacy, comfort, color - they made a home, a home. They were so important that a woman's housekeeping skills were judged, in part, by the number of mats she had stacked and ready to use for whatever might come up. I have no idea what they did to a woman who let her family's supply of mats run out, but I imagine it was not pleasant. Table Manners Table Manners: These early people served two meals a day. The first meal was served around 10 in the morning, after the morning work. The next meal was served around sundown. The men would sit down first, at the mat. Before coming to the table, they had to wash their hands and face, twice. They dried themselves with soften cedar bark that acted as toweling. Before coming to the table, they would take a long drink from the drinking bucket, and then they would sit down. (It was not considered good manners to drink at the table.) Courses were served in wooden platters. These platters were about a foot and half long, and were ornately carved from cedar. Places were hollowed out to hold various foods. There was even a hollowed out spot to hold fish oil, for food dunking. They used spoons to eat, carved from bone or shell. Once the men were served, the women would join them at the mat. The family talked to each other during meals. It was a social time, a time to relax a bit, before returning to work. They quite often invited people from outside their family to meals.  Meals   Meals: Each family was allowed a small fire in their area, to prepare meals, inside the longhouse. There was plenty to eat. Without leaving the longhouse to restock, a family could dine, and even invite guests into their area, for weeks, without running out of food. Their cooking was varied and clever. They were good cooks. They used whale or fish or salmon oil much as we would use butter and salad oil. They broiled some of food over low fires. They baked and steamed and boiled their food without using any pots or pans. Pretty neat trick! To do this, first they heated rocks in the fire. When the rocks were hot, they were carefully lifted with utensils and dropped into a thick wooden cedar box or a thickly woven cattail basket full of water. When the rocks cooled, they lifted them out and replaced them with hot rocks. They kept this up until the water boiled. Furniture Furniture: Furniture was pretty simple. In their private area, each family built bunk beds for sleeping. Above the bunks, underneath the rafters of the longhouse, they built open shelves to hold personal belongings and stores of food. Underneath the bottom bunk, they dug a hole, about two feet deep, into the earth, to store other foods. Their separate areas were tidy, cheerful and colorful. Clothing, blankets, mats, and beautifully woven baskets provided color. Baskets Baskets: Like mats, baskets were a big part of daily life. Some Indian families had a family design they used when weaving baskets. But mostly, women tried to outdo each other with designs and colors. Baskets were made in the winter months. To get ready for the winter weaving, all summer long basket-making materials were collected. Grass was used like embroidery thread. Certain grasses were collected because of their strength and colors. Some women hiked into the mountains, a most dangerous thing to do, to collect grass to make baskets. Roots and twigs had to be soaked just right. Basket making was then, and still is, an art. Secret basket making techniques were handed down from mother to daughter. Once baskets were made, they were used to store belongings on the open shelves, to store food, and used for trade. Canoes Canoes. Fishing was the major source of food. Strong canoes made better fishing possible. Canoe building quickly developed into an art form. Canoe carvers were trained by their ancestors to be carvers. No one else was allowed to carve a canoe. The art was handed down from father to son, from uncle to nephew. These canoes were huge. They were carved from cedar trees, of course. For those of you who do not live in the Pacific Northwest, cedar trees can grow over 80 feet tall quite easily. Since the forests are so thick, there are few branches on the way up. (This is still true today.) One way to describe a cedar tree is that it is a tall, wide, strong pole of wood with a hat of green leaves at the very top. The natural shape of cedar trees make them rather perfect for cutting into planks or for splitting into two long sections. That's exactly what these early people did. They built canoes that were 50 feet long and 8 feet wide. These were workboats. Each canoe could hold 20 warriors and 10,000 pounds of cargo, such as fish. They also carved boats that were much smaller. A single family, for family outings, to enjoy the water and the sunshine or to visit other tribes along the coast, used these small boats. To make a canoe, first they had to cut down a cedar tree. Then they had to split the log in half, without cracking it. Then, they had to burn and scrape down the middle, to begin to shape it. Once they got that far, they filled the hole they had scraped down the middle with water. Just as the women used hot stones to make water boil in cooking baskets, so did the ancient canoe makers soften the cedar. They filled the hollow with water and added hot rocks until the water boiled. This softened the cedar so that they could begin to shape and carve their canoe. Potlatch What is a Potlatch? A Potlatch is not just a party. A Potlatch is a magnificent and planned party. It's a really big deal. Planning for a potlatch might take an entire year, or even longer!  To learn about potlatches, click here. Read a story about How Raven Stole Crow's Potlatch To return to the main index,   click on the basket    All Rights Reserved Counter start date January 2006     Clip Art Credit: Clips Ahoy Have a great year!