Introduction
The Northwest Coast Indians are an immensely diverse group located in the varied landscape of the 2000 km stretch from Icy Bay, Alaska to Cape Mendocino, California. There is a vast collection of groups such as the Bella Coola, Haida, Kwakiuts, Makah, Nez Perce, Nisqualli, Nootka, Quinault, Puyallup, Salish, and Snohomish. Each group is unique with their own stories, art, subsistent strategies and resources. It is evident that Northwest Coast Indian societies have been present for a long time with sites dating to 9000-1000 B.P. at the earliest, but most sites do not predate 5000 B.P. These groups also have had contact with both Europeans and non-Europeans since about the mid 1700’s. The variance found among these groups can be attributed to evolution of societies through time and by contact with the outside world. Another important factor to note is that language among these groups is not congruent.12
"Moreover, renewed study of the languages spoken on the Coast indicates that neither Tlingit nor Haida can still be considered part of the same stock as Athapaskan; nor is it even certain that they are related to each other (Jorgensen YEAR:99 cites relevant literature)."
Previous conceptions of group linkage have been shattered based on this data. For an example, groups such as the Tsimshian are no longer classified as Penutian.3
There is a lot of variation of abundance and types of resources. Such resources include salmon, seals, sea otters, whales, and shellfish. There have been numerous studies concerning the hunting practices and the importance of meat in Northwest Coast Indian society, but there is little research concerning the importance of gathering and the types of materials gathered. In most research, the prime focus has been on salmon. Salmon occurs at predictable times and, on occasion, in great numbers. Salmon was important in Northwest Coast Indian society not only as a food source, but also as a component in rituals. Once an abundance of salmon was caught, it was stored for consumption in the winter. These resource localities were owned, but the groups who owned them varied among Northwest Coast groups. These Northwest Coast people were partially or fully sedentary, and it has been debated whether sedentism or the technology of storage came first. It has also been debated whether these facets of Northwest Coast Indian society are linked to inequalities found among group members. In these societies the extended household was the long term unit of production and consumption. Persons within the household possessed ascribed status that was dependent upon slave labor. Slaves were obtained through warfare and trade but were never original members of the household. There was a strong sexual division of labor as well as division according to age, free persons, slaves, specialized workers, commoners, and aristocrats. The women did domestic chores such as weaving baskets and mats, collecting berries, making clothing and cleaning house. The men concentrated on hunting and fishing. These inequalities that are prevalent in Northwest Coast Indian society and the fact that they are one of the few complex foragering cultures are reasons why these groups are immensely important in the study of forager societies to researchers and have allowed many theories to emerged. In the article, The Northwest Coast: Complex Hunter-Gatherers, Ecology, and Social Evolution, by Kenneth M. Ames mentions Kelly’s view on this subject. R. Kelly discusses the connections among sedentism, storage and evnvironmental stresses. It is his beliefe that the study on sedentism and storage is not enough by themselves as an explaination for inequality. Resource fluctuation and the degree of spatial heterogeneity of those fluctuations are important aspects of his model. " If source fluctuations are strong and heterogeneous, storage alone will not dampen their effects and groups will need access to other groups' resources, while restricting access to their own." Kelly suggests that as a result of restricting such access that this access will be "funneled" through specific, key individuals of groups.4
Not only is the social organization and subsistent practices of the Northwest Coast Native Americans intriguing, but also their art and material culture is of interest especially since art and complexity of societies are related. Although, there is great variation among other practices evident in Northwest Coast societies, there are commonalities shared through these aspects of material culture.5
Environment
Geographically, the Northwest Coast is characterized by several mountain ranges, including the Coast Mountains, the Cascade Range, the Olympic Mountains, the Columbia Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. Major bodies of water include the Gulf of Alaska, the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia River and numerous other rivers and lakes.
The Northwest Coast has a range of climates, but is primarily Oceanic with plenty of rainfall and moderate temperatures, cool in the summer and not too cold in the winter months. Some areas of the coast may be defined as temperate rain forest. The rain and the mild temperature encourage growth of the great redwood, cedar, and fir trees, and at one point, the Northwest Coast possessed the largest trees in the world
Groups
There are 7 main groups found on the Northwest Coast, and they are: Coast Salish, Nootka, Kwakiutl, Bella-Coola, Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit.
Other groups include: Makah, Nez Perce, Nisqualli, Quinault, Puyallup, Snohomish, Spokane, Shuswap, and Swinomish.
Language was not congruent among the groups, though art and material culture show commonalities among Northwest Coast groups.
Shelter
Shelter often consisted of long houses built out of wide red cedar planks. They were 20ft to 60ft wide and 50ft-150ft long, with the biggest houses reserved for the elite. The chief was in charge of assigning who lived in each long house, and household status was determined by age, gender and classification (free or slave). The household was dependent on women and slave labor and was partially or fully sedentary due to the commitment to salmon processing technology.
image from http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/IroquoisVillage/images/figure1longhouselg.gif
Long houses were also centers of ceremony and we ornately decorated with paintings and carvings. If the owner of the house died, it was often burned to the ground for fear of the owner’s spirit haunting the family if they remained in the house.
Technology
The Northwest Coast Indians developed specialized maritime technology. Woven bark maps were used for protection against water. They took full advantage of abundant cedar, constructing 50ft long canoes that could hold 20 warriors and 10,000lbs of fish. Fishing gaffs and traps were also based in wood materials. Shellfish were gathered in large open-weave baskets, and were collected by hand, by pry or dug up with wooden sticks, dip nets or spears. Shellfish were used as fish bait and in chewing tobacco, in addition to providing shells for tools and ornaments such as knives, harpoon heads, scrapers, adze, chisel bits and other tools.
Slavery
The presence of slavery among the foragers of the Northwest Coast is testament to their cultural complexity. Most investigators believe that chiefs, commoners and slaves make up the social classes. Slaves were traded or captured from other tribes, and could not the taken from one’s “own group” (linguistic and political divisions) and were described as “noncitizens who originated from other language groups”. There is variation in the level of control the owner had over the slave, but typically "once held as slaves, they might be worked, ransomed back, given away as gifts, or killed”. Slaves in a household for an extended period of time often became incorporated in that household and could eventually enjoy privileges in potlatches. There is little evidence of how much work slaves did, though they were central to the operation of the long house. Scholars have speculated that slaves were both prestige items and means to prestige.
Food
The Northwest Coast has temporally abundant food resources including maritime sources such as salmon, sea mammals (sea otters, seals and whales), shellfish, mussels, cockles, dogwinkels, periwinkles, chitons, barnacles, abalone, oysters and limpets. These were gathered by hand ,by pry or dug up with wooden sticks, dip nets and spears. On land, sources include small land animals, bears, mountain goats, mountain sheep and caribou."Spirit of the Sockeye" Art of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest Coast
Food resources could be sun dried, dried or smoked for winter storage or trade. Because of the seasonal nature of salmon, long houses were often reliant upon their winter stores, supported by the following quote:
"In the fall, during the "salmon season," the people could catch enough fish to feed their families for the whole year. Fishermen made fences of tree saplings to bring the fish toward waiting nets as the salmon swam upstream." (This source displays the Northwest Coast Indians according to the myth concerning affluence.)
Shellfish
Shellfish is argued by Moss to be an important aspect of Northwest Coast Native American Society that is largely ignored by most scholars. Shellfish sites have been discovered that date from about 8200 years ago. The collection of shellfish is considered primarily a women’s task, however, there is a great amount of variation among Northwest Coast Groups. It is argued by Claassen that this association with women has led to the devaluation of shellfish among Northwest Coast societies. Moss agrees that women's involvement is the reason for lack of attention to the economical significance of shellfish. Norton discovered that Northwest Women economic contributions were largely ignored when compared to the men. Although women were probably the chief gatherers of shellfish, there is evidence of male involvement as well. A variety of shellfish was gathered including mussels, cockles, dogwinkles, periwinkles, chitons, barnacles, abalone, oysters, and limpets. These were gathered by hand, removed by a pry, or dug up with wooden sticks, gathered in dip nets, and obtained by spears. Large open-weave baskets were created for fresh shellfish to be stored and woven bark maps used for protection against water while gathering. Optimal collecting time was at low tide around the new and full moon. Sometimes, shellfish was consumed raw but mostly it was boiled, steamed, roasted or baked. For winter storage and trade shellfish could be sun-dried, dried, and smoked. Not only was shellfish utilized for subsistence but the shells also could be for tools such as knives, harpoon heads, scrapers, adze, or chisel bits. Shells were also used as ornaments such as beads that were created by chipping, drilling, and grinding. Rattles were made from large scallop shells and whelks, or turban shells, were used as decorative insets and inlays. The most highly prized ornamental shells were Dentalium and abalone. These shells were gathered on the beach or caught using fishing tools that were rake like and broom like in appearance. Strings of dentalia were prized as wealth items and were historically used as currency and in trade with Europeans. Abalone was used for masks, headdresses, frontlets, bowls, jewelry, and totem poles. Moss describes the availability of shellfish resources:
"Seasonal patterns of shellfish exploitation varied along the Northwest Coast, reflecting both ecological conditions and different degrees of economic reliance on the resource. Shellfish are not uniformly distributed, accessible, or desirable and the habitat requirements, tidal requirements, tidal positions, size, density, susceptibility to toxicity of individual species, have important implications for their use."6
Shellfish are available throughout the year but this varies regionally among Northwest Coast groups. Shellfish beds were public in some Northwest Coast groups, but mostly specific corporations had control over these beds. This idea of ownership can be used as evidence supporting the economic importance of shellfish in Northwest Coast Indian society. Shellfish also represented one’s social-economic class. In Tlingit society, if a man collects shellfish they are considered lazy, because it is believed that they should be out hunting or fishing to require his food. This is because shellfish is easy to gather, and in Tlingit society the complexity of a job determines one’s prestige. Not only this, but the fact that women typically gather shellfish adds to this stigma. Women’s contribution receives less attention than a man’s and thus, only an impoverished man would do a women’s task. The occasional toxicity of shellfish has also lessens its importance in Northwest Coast Society.7
Religion
Northwest Coast Indians have complex rituals and ceremonies for food and weather, and commonalities are found in stories and legends. Generally, all aspects of the environment (rocks, trees, animals and men) contained a spiritual force or power. There are several important ceremonies related to food including this one at the turn of the season:
"Once winter was over, then came the first foods and the "First Foods Ceremony". In the Indian culture no one is to go fishing or berry picking until the first food ceremony was held. This ceremony thanked the Creator for the bountiful harvest. Once all of the food was blessed, everyone in the tribe could start hunting and gathering food for the spring months."
The Potlatch is also an important ceremony that is discussed in the section below.
Potlatch
Though there is great variation in the way the potlatches were celebrated, its presence has come to identify the Northwest Coast. The potlatch is a term that is currently under debate. Barnett suggested that potlatches were feasts where citizens (supported by kin groups) "gave away food and wealth in return for their guests' recognition of their status. Goldman suggests that the term "potlatch" is a misnomer which obscures the variety of rituals covered by the term and creates a sort of ethnographic mirage.
Potlatches were generally large ceremonies that include song, dance and the giving of gifts. The event was controlled by the successor to the long house chief, as a method of giving the wealth of the predecessor away and gaining his own wealth and prestige. Lately the importance of the potlatch has begun to fade largely as a result of modernization. There is a gap between the older and younger generations in regards to the sacredness of the potlatch, especially in the Tlingit were the potlatch was very important to the culture. Currently, there is a movement to revitalize the culture to the younger generations, exemplified by this film clip from the text book Seeing Anthropology.
Art
For detailed examples of photos and descriptions from Northwest Coast Art, click here.
Art and its production are key elements in Northwest Coast Indian societies. Artifacts include bowls, baskets and blankets.8 Canoes and Long houses were also intricately decorated.
image from totem-pole.net
Wood is the most prevalent medium due to its abundance, and the most highly prized ornamental shells are Dentalium and Abalone. These shells were gathered on the beach or caught using fishing tools similar to rakes or brooms. Strings of dentilia were prized as wealth items and were historically used as currency or for trade with Europeans. Abalone was used in masks, headdresses, frontlets, bowls, jewelry and totem poles.
Totem Poles are "one of the most common things found among the Northwest Indians was the totem pole. The poles were not as common to the tribes until the white traders brought them iron tools for carving, after which the totem poles became a dominant symbol of the tribes. A totem pole in front of an Indian's home would show the ancestry and the social rank of that family."
Totem poles could be about 80ft tall with depictions of humans and animals.
"The Northwest Coast Indians used totem poles to tell stories, but they did not create the first totem poles. Totem poles were brought to them through trade and they loved them so, they started creating their own. Because the Northwest Coast Indians had no written language, the totem poles were a very important part of their culture. The totem poles allowed them to record stories, legends, and myths through images."2
To read one of the Northwest Coast Indians' stories and to learn about their masks visit the Resources page and click on oral traditions and art
Variation
The Kwakiutl
The Kwakiutl are an example of a more complex society centered on salmon fishing and processing. Suttle (YEAR) suggested that the Kwakiutl expressed more concern for rank, of which one may be chief, commoner or slave. Chiefs controlled corporations (houses, kin groups). Corporations controlled access to resources, names, myths, songs, dances and at one time slaves, canoes and buildings. The chief gave his people names associated with corporations indicating that they were citizens and not slaves. Citizens could have access to the chief's property if they helped him build his house are had always had access. These citizens could keep their access to resources by contributing to the potlatch. The chief had to make sure that he contributed the most in order to keep control over the resources. In Kwakiutl society the chief declared the amount people were expected to give in order to combat the problem. The person who gives the greatest amount of wealth is chief as long as the group accepts this and the guest accepts his gifts at potlatches. Genealogy is not a factor, but the title can be passed down through inheritance as long as the new chief continues the wealth giving (see Potlatch section above, film).
The Kwakiutl have been characterized as predominantly partilineal by Boas, though other researchers have described them as cognatic, ambilineal or nonunilineal. The confusion is a result of not enough information. Traditions such as crests or dances were passed martilinially, and if a chief did not have a legitimate heir, he would designate a part of his body as a "fictive daughter" that he would marry off in a ceremony to a potential son in law.
Recently, a movement to revive traditional art and customs has flourished among the Kwakiutl, assisted by a growing interest in “primitive art” even though its symbolism may be hard to decipher. In 200 years of contact with European and non-European cultures, there can be no certainty regarding which traditions were present before contact and which appeared afterward, but oral traditions remain important to culture.Adams expressed that very one changes over time, and that this is an important facet to consider9
The Tlingit
The Tlingit, unlike the Kwakiutl, do not show a sharply defined social stratum. The Tlingit achieved status by heredity, inherited and earned wealth, achievement, character and age. Individual prestige could change throughout one’s life, leading to a less than exact social organization. Regardless, a distinction between aristocrats and commoners exists, and better behavior was expected from the former.
Although shellfish is the must abundant faunal remain found in Tlingit areas, aristocrats avoided shellfish to show their superiority and pureness. Some commoners would not eat anything from the beach, because they feared that such an action would make them look poor. Shellfish was also avoided because of its association with women (see above section Shellfish) and De Languna states that " In the Tlingit mind, women are notoriously troublesome, the causes of war, and in war untrustworthy, likely to betray their husbands, for the sake of their brothers."
References cited
Adams, John W.
1981 Recent Ethnology of the Northwest Coast. Annual Review of Anthropology 10: 361-392.
Ames, Kenneth M.
1994 The Northwest Coast: Complex Hunter-Gatherers, Ecology, and Social Evolution. Annual Review of Anthropology 23:209-229.
Hulse, Frederick S.
1955 Blood-Types and Mating Patterns among Northwest Coast Indians. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 11(2):93-104.
Kan, Sergei
1990 The sacred and the secular Tlingit: Potlatch songs outside the Potlatch. American Indian Quarterly 14(4):335-366.
Moss, Madonna L.
1993 Shellfish, Gender, and Status on the Northwest Coast: Reconciling Archeological, Ethnographic and Ethnohistorical Records of the Tlingit. American Anthropologist, New Series 95(3):631-652.
Quimby, George I.
Culture Contact on the Northwest Coast, 1785-1795
