Title: Native People of the American Northwest Coast
Headings: Native People of the American Northwest Coast
Native People of the American Northwest Coast
HOW THEY GOT HERE
COOL CULTURE
LIFE TODAY
fun facts

Content: Tribes carved huge canoes made from cedar or spruce trees. The boats could fit up to 30 people, who paddled into the sea to hunt otters, seals, and whales. Salmon was such an important food source that these fish featured in many of their stories, and many tribes held a First Salmon Ceremony to celebrate the salmon’s return to freshwater rivers from the ocean. Many tribes, such as the Tlingit (KLIN-kit) and Haida (HY-dah), showed off their status with totem poles. These carved and painted poles represented a family’s history or honored a chief or other important person. The totem poles featured carvings of animals or supernatural creatures associated with family clans. Thunderbirds (a mythical animal that caused thunder when it opened its wings), ravens, and bears stared down from many totem poles. A Quinault (pronounced kwih-NAWLT) boy wears a traditional carved cedar mask. Photograph by Joel W. Rogers, Getty Images
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