Title: Clothing, Masks and Weaving of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest
Headings: Clothing, Masks and Weaving of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest
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Clothing, Masks and Weaving of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest
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Content: Some cultures in this region were very similar and share certain elements, such as the importance of salmon to their cultures, while others differed. Prior to contact, and for a brief time after colonisation, some of these groups regularly conducted war against each other through raids and attacks. Through warfare they gathered captives for slavery. The creation of beautiful and practical objects (for all tribal communities) served as a means of transmitting stories, history, wisdom and property from generation to generation. Art provided Indigenous people with a tie to the land by depicting their histories on totem poles the Big (Plank) Houses of the Pacific Northwest coast – the symbols depicted were a constant reminder of their birth places, lineages and nations. Due to the abundance of natural resources and the affluence of most Northwest tribes, there was plenty of leisure time to create art. Many works of art served practical purposes, such as clothing, tools, weapons of war and hunting, transportation, cooking, and shelter; but others were purely aesthetic. The First Nations people of the Northwest Coast have a very rich tradition of hats, cloaks, body armour, and masks. Before Europeans arrived and introduced cloth, most coastal people wore minimal clothing.