Essay On Northwest Coast Indians

The Northwest Coast Indians are believed to have begun living on the west coast area of what we now know as Alaska, Washington State, Oregon, California, and British Columbia, Canada over 10,000 years ago. The Bella Coola, Haida, Nootka, and Tlingit are just a few of the tribes that make up the Northwest Coast Indians who were known as the richest Native American’s due to the large quantity of natural resources that were available to them in this region.
Living along the coast, there was so much fish available for them to eat. They enjoyed such fish as salmon, halibut and cod. They also ate oysters and clams. Occasionally they would eat meat such as deer and bear, but the fish was the main source of food in their diet. The men were in charge of hunting and catching the fish. They used nets, spears and traps to catch their food. The women gathered oysters, clams and berries. Women were also in charge of cooking the
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They made cooking boxes, canoes, masks for storytelling and totem poles out of cedar wood. Totem poles were carved with a curved knife and were painted with paints made from such items as berries, seashells and charcoal. Paintbrushes were made out of human hair or porcupine hair. Totem poles were used to tell stories or a family’s history since they had no written language. This was the way they were able to record stories and the details of important events that were past down from generation to generation. Northwest Indian’s also did a lot of weaving. They used cedar bark to make baskets, hats, blankets and mats. They would also weave colored grass into these items to make them colorful.
Indian children liked playing guessing and laughing games and a version of tug a war called pole pull. They also played a form of lacrosse where villages or tribes would play each against each other. Boys enjoyed playing with a smaller version of the canoe and girls spent time caring for their