2. Food
In the Northwest some foods
are salmon, halibut, herring, cod,
crabs, oysters, clams, mussels,
seaweed, and fish eggs. Some
berries that they ate were
cranberries, huckleberries, and
salalberries. They used roots,
whale, seals, sea lion, ducks,
deer, dog fish, and wild plants.
The way they got oil was by
hunting whale, sharks, and seal.
How they got their food is by
hunting, gathering, fishing, and by
growing crops.
3. Clothing
Some clothing they wore
were otter capes, cedar bark
capes, rain proof hats made
out of spruce root, and cedar
bark shoes. Some other
materials used were goat fur,
mountain goat fur, sea otter
skin, sea lion whiskers, and
the fur of a white wooly dog.
Only the chiefs Wore chilkat
blankets which were hard to
make and took many days.
4. Homes
The northwest coast
Native Americans made wood
houses with forty to sixty
people in each. Each family
had its own living quarters. The
corners were made of tree
trunks. The walls were made of
cedar planks. The roof was
held with rocks and there were
no windows.
5. Family Life
Men usually wore
no clothing. They
hunted whales, seals,
sea lions, ducks,
deer, elk, and fish.
Haida women wore
cedar bark skirts.
Women cooked,
cleaned, and made
clothes.
6. Tools
The Northwest
Indians had many tools
such as the d-aze, elbow-
adze, wedge, stone
hammer, drill, chisel,
Haida stone maul, seal
harpoon head, Hingit
salmon hook, Hailibut
hook, Black cod hook,
Tlingit hailibut hook, and
the Haida harpoon.
7. Transportation
The only transportation
used by the Nootka and Haida
were dug-out canoes. They
could be up to 50 feet long!
They were used for hunting
whales, seals, and sea lions as
well as fish. They were made
from entire cedar trees. Once
hollowed out, they could be
sailed in. Sometimes they were
decorated with the family crest,
symbol, or animal.
8. Beliefs
The Northwest Native
Americans believed that
after you die, your soul
becomes a ghost so if you
lost your soul, it had to be
caught. They also believed
that there was a sky god
and spirits in the sky. Some
tribes believed in super
natural ocean beings.
Some tribes also believed
in the Serpent, god of
wealth and god of the
under world.
9. Language
The Northwestern Native
Americans were the only tribes
that made totem poles. A
famous story told by a totem
pole was about how an orca
stole a Haida man’s wife.
Totem poles told many other
stories. The Nootka and Haida
spoke different languages. The
Nootka spoke Wakashan. The
Haida spoke Athapaskan.
Shame poles were put up to
embarrass those who didn’t
pay debts to the tribe.
10. Ceremonies
A potlatch is when they
announce a new chief, a
marriage of a person in a high
rank, to celebrate that a new
house was made, or a raising
of a totem pole. The people
spent many days preparing
food and polishing their masks
for the event.
11. Music and Art
In Northwestern art,
there are many uand and
ovid forms in carvings.
Many things were carved
and painted to look like a
bird or animal.
Instruments that
Northwest tribes used
were whistles, drums,
tamborines, and flutes.
