Title: NORTHWEST COAST AMERICAN INDIAN FACTS
Headings: Northwest Indian Facts
Northwest Indian Facts
Introduction - Northwest Indian Tribes
Northwest Coast American Indian Tribes List
List of Facts About the American Indians of the Northwest Coast

Content: Massive canoes were carved from cedar trees. The canoes were known to hold massive amounts of fish in addition to about 20 warriors. Of all the resources available to the Northwest Coast peoples, the two most important were cedar and salmon. Cedar provided the raw material from which houses, boats, baskets, boxes, clothing, and carvings of every imaginable kind were made. The people also used a wide variety of plant resources were used for food, technological items, and medicines. Among the more important plant resources were twelve kinds of berries (most of them smashed, dried into cakes, stored for later use), the starchy roots of camas and wapato, and the roots of bracken fern. Religion centered around the guardian spirit. Each Indian had a guardian spirit that gave them a specific skill such as carving, hunting or even healing. Winter ceremonies were often a time for acknowledging these spirits through song and dance. They were very talented artists and most well-known for their handcrafted totem poles.