Title: Northwest Coast Indians  - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
Headings: Northwest Coast Indians
Northwest Coast Indians
Introduction
Area
Food
Housing
Society
Religion
Modern Developments

Content: Children were taught how to behave and other social traditions. This instruction began at a very young age, and all elder relatives participated in it. Woodworking was the outstanding skill of the Northwest Coast. The people of that area carved and painted intricate designs on many different kinds of items. The items included canoes, boxes, housefronts, totem poles, spoons and ladles, and fishhooks. Religion
Northwest Coast peoples believed that salmon were supernatural beings who chose to take the form of fish each year to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of humankind. They treated the salmon with great respect and followed a number of rituals to assure that the salmon would return to the river. Another religious concept was the vision quest—a supernatural experience in which a person interacts with a spirit-being. A vision quest typically involved going to an isolated location and praying while refusing food and water. Among some Northwest Coast peoples, all success in life was granted by the spirit-beings encountered in the vision quest.