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| Northwest Coast Indians ate shellfish mostly, seaweed they collected from the sea, kelp from the sea, and salmon, halibut, walrus, seal and seagulls. They hunted deer and black bear with that they collected berries. The tribes on the coast would be mostly have the shellfish and whales. The experienced tribes would hunt whales. To catch them they used special tools. They used spears, knives, clubs, snares, bows and Toh-yoh's (arrows), dig pits, canoes, paddles and hooks. They had lots of different foods at potlatches. Most tribes would not eat bears, coyote, gray fox, marten and frogs. Tribes in Alaska would even hunt polar bears. |
| The Northwest Coast Indians were supplied with all the food they needed. They ate several types of fish and water animals. The parts of the animals they didn't eat they made into clothing. Some clans were excellent whale hunters. They mostly caught them in canoes. It was dangerous to the whale hunters because a whale may turn them over at any time, or even break their boat in half! A man stood at the tip of the boat with a harpoon and most of the time tried to shoot the whale. He would say, "Let yourself be killed and you will be rewarded with a ceremony." Then he would shoot a Toh-yoh (arrow). They kept shooting until it died. The meat was eaten, the blubber was used for oil, and the tendons for rope. |
| The tradition of the Indian salmon bake has deep roots in the Northwest. For centuries, Northwest Coast Indian clans such as the Makah and the S'Klallam clan have cooked salmon on a wood frame before an open fire. The practice is used by so many clans that no one can say only one clan invented it. A straight, strong branch of cedar bark or ironwood branch is cut lengthwise at one side and then the boned salmon is put into the cut. To keep the salmon straight so it will cook evenly, they add sticks that are woven under the salmon at a right angle of the branch. They also collected fruit from the forests. |
| They were the clans of hunting, fishing and gathering. In the fall every year the clans went to the river during a stretch of time called the "salmon season." Family members could catch enough fish to feed a family for one year. The fishermen would make traps out of small tree branches. They would wait until the nesting salmon came downstream to where they were. The clan's fishermen could pull thousands of fish out of the water. |
| When winter was over the first foods of the year came and a potlatch called the "First Foods Ceremony". In their culture, everyone is forbidden to fish or pick berries until they have had a first food ceremony. The ceremony greeted the maker of the successful harvest. After the food is blessed, clan members fish, hunt, and gather food for spring. |
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