MrDonn.org Northwest Pacific Coastal Indians (learning modules, lesson plans, activities)

Native Americans
Pacific Northwest
Coastal Indians

Northwest Pacific Coastal

NW Pacific Coastal	Clans	Potlatches
Principal Tribes	Marriage	Fur Trade Wealth
Hunters/Gatherers	Cedar Canoes	Money Blankets
Advanced Culture	Whales/Salmon	Coppers
Totem Poles	Government	Slaves

How Raven Stole Crow's Potlatch

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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

Hunters and Gatherers: These early people never developed a system of agriculture. They did not need to. There was an abundance of oysters, clams, shrimp, salmon, turtles, eggs, wild vegetables and fruits. They had cedar trees to build plank homes and sturdy canoes. Maize or corn was not a naturally wild vegetable. Instead, the staple wild crops were seaweed, roots, and berries.
They had an advanced civilization. These early people had an advanced civilization, rivaled only by the Pueblos in the southwest. They made marvelous baskets and wonderful jewelry as did many other tribes. Their art was exceptionally good. The carved masks and sewn costumes they created for their dance and impersonations were awesome.
Totem Poles: Their carved totem poles continue to amaze today. It is a unique art form, and a fascinating one. But this marvelous art form is not what made these people so very different from other tribes.
Clans: All Northwest Coastal Indians are divided up into two or more clans. You could not marry someone from your clan. The Haida only had two clans. Everyone was either born a Raven or an Eagle. When a baby was born, it belonged to the mother's clan.
Marriage: When a man wanted to marry a women, he had to pay her father a agreed amount prior to the ceremony. The wife was given in partial payment for this amount. When their first child was born, the child became a member of the mother's clan. The clan had to pay the husband a sum equal to the marriage contract as for the child. This annulled the marriage. At that point, a woman could stay or leave her husband as she chose.
Cedar Canoes: They built their villages along the ocean shores. They traveled in huge cedar canoes.
Whales/Salmon: Just as the Plains people depended upon horses to help them catch buffalo, so did the Northwest Pacific Indians depend upon their cedar canoes to help them catch whales.
It took days to kill a whale. At any moment, the whale could overturn the canoes. They used harpoon type spears. Some Indians actually jumped on the whales back to help kill it. A successful hunt meant food, rope, blubber to be eaten and made into oil, and containers.
The Makah and other Indians hunted and fished throughout the warm months. In the summer they fished for salmon. In the fall, they fished for whales.
They did not develop democracy: Unlike other tribes across the country, the Pacific Northwest Coastal Indians never developed democracy. That made them different. Instead, they ruled by wealth. The clan with the most wealth had the most power. They set great store by wealth, family connections, and slave ownership. They took social climbing to a new level. One of the ways you gained great respect was by giving things away. If someone gave you one blanket, you gave them two or three blankets. Such generosity made a man famous.
Potlatches: A potlatch was a spectacular party, with feasting and singing, and costumed performers, and gifts - so many gifts. In olden times, every clan wanted to give the best potlatch to show how wealthy they were. A clan would spend a fortune on a single potlatch, wealth they did not have, simply to appear as if they did. The need to show how wealthy you were, no matter how untrue, nearly destroyed these early people.
Fur Trade Wealth: What saved them was the fur trade. The fur trade was introduced by the white men. Furs were easy for these early native people to get. They were wonderful hunters. Fur trade wealth poured into the Pacific Northwest. The white traders also had steel tools. With the coming of the fur trade and steel tools, many native people were able to gain the wealth they needed to climb the social ladder of their culture.
Basic Unit of Trade - the Blanket: The basic unit of trade between native people was the blanket. The value of everything was expressed in blankets. Trades between clans were arranged in advance. Once they were arranged, they were conducted like live performance plays. Everyone knew their role. First, a lavish display of blankets would be brought to the trading place. A ridiculously low offer would be made, much lower than that agreed on in advance. The seller would accept it, to show how little he cared about money. Then all the seller's friends would quickly say, "No, you can't accept that. It's too low. Tell them to go home." Then the buyers would add a blanket or two. This continued until they reached the agreed upon price. Everyone had a great time.
Coppers: With the coming of new wealth from the fur trade, these early native people were able to add a new form of money, the copper. A copper was a large shield-like piece of copper, painted in bright colors. In 1893, a copper was worth 5000 blankets. This copper's nickname was "Making the House Empty of Blankets." Soon, they added a bigger and better copper worth 6000 blankets - The Steelhead Salmon Copper (It glides out of ones hands like a salmon.) Soon, they introduced a third copper worth 7000 blankets called "All Other Coppers Are Ashamed to Look at It."
If someone offered you a 7000 blanket copper, and you said no, you would lose face. That would imply you could not afford to buy it. If you said yes, your entire clan would have to come up with the equivalent of 7000 blankets. If you could not come up with 7000 blankets, you would have to sell some of your clan into slavery to pay the debt. If you could not afford it, you had to lose face, and slide down the social scale or become a slave.
Slaves: Slaves were obtained by war, purchase, and debt. If you owned someone money, you could pay them by becoming their slave until the debt was paid. Slaves, however they were obtained, did not have an easy life. Slaves were not allowed to marry. If they were already married, the marriage was annulled. Slaves had no rights. They were property. A slave could be sacrificed at a potlatch. This was done to prove that the clan was so wealthy that they could destroy a slave or a canoe or even a house without missing it.
Debts had to be paid. Sometimes it was smarter to lose face, so you could come back and restore your dignity another day.