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<html> <head><title>NorthWest Coast Indians</title> </head> <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" LINK="Blue" VLINK="Purple" ALINK="Red" MARGINWIDTH="3" MARGINHEIGHT="3"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="613"> <td align="center"><h1><u>NorthWest Coast Indians</u></h1></td> <tr><td> The Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people each have their own language which is separate and distinct from they others. However, the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people are each part of a larger group of Indian tribes, commonly called the "Northwest Coast Indians." These 20+ tribes traditionally lived on the coast from Yakutat at the north end of the Alaska panhandle, and along the British Colombia, Washington and Oregon coasts.<br><br> The Northwest Coast Indians were all maritime people who derived their livelihood from the sea. They knew the ocean and its resources and seamanship was second nature to them. The ocean was and is bountiful, and provides, salmon, halibut, cod, herring, smelt, octopus, seals, etc., all of which were utilized traditionally by Northwest Coast tribal people.<br><br> All Northwest Coast tribes built canoes and there was some variation among them. The largest were built by the Haida people who had access to enormous cedar trees on their homelands in the Queen Charlotte Islands on the British Colombia coast. Some of their canoes were 60 feet long, and the Haida's made them even wider then the original tree by steaming them and forcing the sides apart and inserting wooden seats to hold that shape.<br><br> The Northwest Coast traditionally traded with each other and with the Athabascan tribes of Alaska and Canada. Haida canoes were prized commodity and were means of transportation in the trade industry. The interior of Canada and Alaska are colder then the coast, so the animal furs are thicker and richer. The coastal people obtained furs from the interior in exchange for the much prized oil from eulachon, which are a small smelt-like fish available on the coast.<br><br> Traditionally, the Tlingit people strongly established control of trade with the interior Indian tribes. Anyone who wished to trade with many of the interior tribes had to go through the Tlingit people. This as not only true of Indian tribes, but also of European traders. On one occasion, for example, the Hudson Bay Company established a trading post and fort in a area controlled by Tlingit people. The Tlingit's burned down the fort, and told the Hudson Bay men to go away and not come back.<br><br> The homeland of the Northwest Coast Indians, from Yakutat to the Oregon coast is a rich rain forest. Wood is a basic building material for all the tribes, and they all built houses of wooden planks. Most houses were four-sided with two sloped sides to the roof. The roofs were wooden shingles. The houses were very large, and extended families lived together in these houses.<br><br> With the wealth of ocean resources and high quality timber, the Northwest Coast people were not required to devote every moment for food gathering and survival. Coucicuintly, they developed rich distinctive art form recognized world-wide as "Northwe<br><br> As a result, the crafts sold commercially as Northwest Coast totemic art is frequently a grotesque misrepresentation of what is one of the finest art forms in the art world.<br><br> The social and political systems of Northwest Coast Indians were based on clans. Most tribes had two "phratries", but some, including the Tsimshian, had four "moieties." Within each phratry or moiety, there are several clans, each represented by an emblem such as brown bear, dog salmon, frog, killer whale, or some other animal. The Tlingit and Haida phratries are represented by and eagle or raven emblem. The Tsimshian moiety is represented by and eagle, a raven, a killer whale, and wolf. Marriage is controlled by the rule that a person from may not marry someone else in his or her phratry or moiety. The crest for the clans, phratries or moieties, are the basic subject of Northwest Coast Indian art. Clan crests are the property of the respected clans and traditionally, no one but the clan members or non-members with permission may use a clan crest.<br><br> The rules about marriage were designed to prevent marriage between people too closely related to each other. Modern American society also has rules to prevent close intermarriage. As Northwest Coast Indians have adopted western ways, many of them have used the western marriage rules which are not consistent with the old traditional rules of marriage. As a result, some present day Native people do, in fact, marry someone form their own phratry or moiety, but who are not closely related according western rules of marriage.<br><br> The western political and economic systems compel tribal societies to adapt to western norms and law. Northwest Coast Indians have been adapting to western society for over a 150 years. In the past 30 years or so, tribal people have championed a revival of traditional knowledge and values. Alaskan Natives attend schools and hold jobs next to non-native people and in many ways are indistinguishable from them. However, the revival of traditional Native knowledge has a strong sense of cultural identity.<br> </td> <tr><td align="center"> <a href="people.html">BACK</a> <hr width="50%"> <a href="index.html">INDEX</a> - <a href="geography.html">Geography</a> - <a href="wildlife.html">Wildlife</a> - <a href="people.html">People</a> - <a href="resources.html">Resources</a> - <a href="events.html">Events</a> - <a href="statefacts.html">State Facts</a><br><a href="fastfacts.html">Fast Facts</a> - <a href="history.html">History</a> - <a href="government.html">Government</a> - <a href="transportation.html">Transportation</a> - <a href="climate.html">Climate</a> - <a href="communication.html">Communication</a> <center> </td> <tr><td align="center"> <img src="didyouknow.gif" width="301" height="90"><br> <script language="JavaScript"> <!--// number = Math.round(Math.random()*15); document.write("<img src=" + number + ".gif>"); // --> </script> </td> </table> </body> </html> <!-- tql_banner_foot --><script type="text/javascript"> tql_drawBottom(); var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-174705-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 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