British Columbia's Coastal Environment

How the B.C. coastal environment shaped a way of life:

First Nations People on B.C.'s Coast prior to European contact

2. Who were the Coastal First Nations people?

On the B.C. coast, there were 6 main peoples or groups. These groups were not tribes, as these people identified only with their village as well as perhaps one or two other ones. While many customs and languages separated these 6 groups, they all adapted to the coastal rainforest environment in similar ways, sharing a way of life which tamed this rugged and beautiful land. Here is a map showing the names and locations of these main groups of First Nations Peoples as well as a brief description of each group:

The way of life of the different Coastal first nations groups were similar because their habitat was the same. As well, much travel up and down the coast meant theat useful ideas spread quickly. Northern Groups: The Tlingit, The Haida, and The Tsimshian: Just south of the land where icebergs float around the sea, lived the Tlingit who built large oceangoing canoes. Nearby, on the Queen Charlotte Islands, lived one of the most widely known native groups, the Haida, who depended entirely on the sea for their livelihood. Here the climate is very wet with violent storms pounding the shoreline. The Queen Charlottes are also home to some of the largest red cedar trees in the world. The Haida made canoes from these trees which were highly valued along the coast for their appearance, seaworthiness and size. Haida trading and raiding canoes were up to 75 feet in length and could carry 40 people as well as 2 tons of trade goods. On the coast, opposite the Queen Charlottes, lived the Tsimshian. These three northern groups were united by marriages between villages as well as by great feasts and celebrations. Southern Groups: The Kwakiutl or Kwakwaka'wakh, The Nootka or Nuu-Chah-Nulth, and The Coast Salish. The Kwakiutl people were fine wood carvers and mask makers and are best known for their spectacular religous dances. The Coast Salish lived around Puget Sound, near present day Seattle and Vancouver, and built enormous houses in which entire villages of several hundred people lived. The Nootka, who inhabited western Vancouver Island, were the first B.C. Coast natives to come into contact with Europeans. Captain Cook's ship, the Resolution sailed into Nootka Sound in 1778 and was met by Makweena, a Nootka leader . The Nootka are famed as whale hunters.

3.The Great Cedar Tree -

Northwest Coast culture had as its basis the use of wood instead of stone or other materials and the yellow and red cedar trees which grow along the northwest coast provided an abundant wood resource. Winds from the Pacific Ocean create the perfect mild and wet climate for tall cedar trees to grow in the temperate rainforests of the B.C. coast. While the ocean itself swarmed with fish, providing the chief item of food for coastal Natives, the cedar was the resource that provided lodging, clothes, transportation, and tools - everything they needed! Cedar is valuable because its wood and bark are water-resistant . Also, because the wood grain is unusually straight with few knots, it's excellent for splitting into the long, even, and smooth planks which the big houses were made of. Cedar is a solid wood yet is easy to carve and its natural oils resist rot.

4. Coastal First Nations Shelter and Housing-

Most coastal Native groups had two villages. The summer village was like a camp which was temporarily set up to take advantage of prime summer berry picking and fishing areas. Therefore, the summer village was usually no more than a group of simple huts. However, the winter houses were some of the most amazing achievements of the coastal First Nations people. These houses were not made of skin because the heavy coastal rainfall would make the skin crack and harden. Instead, they built houses of wood with one very large room

Protected by the northern cold by high mountains, the Northwest coast offered idyllic settings to build the most spectacular wood houses in North America. TheWinter Houses: The size of a Longhouse or Big House was different among Native groups and averaged between 40 and 60 feet. The Coast Salish built the biggest ones, many up to 120+ feet long and 20 feet high. Building a house required great effort on the part of the entire village. The posts and beams, which weighed several tons, were lifted into place using only small tools as well as great human strength. Each house had a number of firepits for warmth and cooking with smoke holes directly overhead. The firepit and smoke hole are both visible in this picture (left) of a replica wood house. The Haida placed great totem poles in front of their houses while other groups painted the outside with pictures of real and mythical beasts.

5. Coastal First Nations Transportation -

Because travelling along the steep rocky shore or in the dense rainforest was next to impossible, coastal Natives had to travel from place to place by water. They needed boats that could be paddled far out to sea in order to catch the fish which was their major food source and also to travel up and down the coast to trade and attend potlatches(where canoes were often destroyed to show how wealthy the owner was),religous ceremonies, weddings, and funerals.

The canoes that coastal First Nations people built to meet their transportation needs were made from the tall cedar tree without the tree felling and wordworking tools, such as the saw and axe, which we use today. The cedar was felled and hollowed by lighting a small fire at the base with the fire being fed with cedar bark until a large hole was hollowed . When the tree was on the ground it was slowly shaped with a small D-shaped hand tool called an "adze". The wood was shaped using hot water and cross pieces of wood in order to make the canoe wider in the middle and narrow at the ends. In order to make the canoe as smooth as possible, the rough skin of the dogfish (which acted like sandpaper) was used. Finally the canoe was greased with whale oil to preserve it and ensure it a long life.

Canoes were as long as 18 metres and large trading fleets often travelled the 1600 km round trip from Victoria to northern B.C.

Other canoe facts : -the owner steered the canoe; women were expert paddlers; canoes were valuable trade items; canoes were used to pay gambling debts; canoes were ofted left by the owner's grave.

6.Coastal First Nations Clothing -

Clothing was made from the soft thin bark of the cedar tree. When stripping the bark, care was taken not to take too much and kill the tree. The Natives were much more interested in preserving the coastal environment than were the Europeans who followed them. The bark was treated by soaking it in water and then beating it into soft shreds. This shredded and oiled bark created warm, waterproof protection from the rainy, chilly, and foggy climate. Men and women wore cedar bark capes and blankets which were cleverly woven to further repel water. The cape was made with a hole for the head with soft fur around the neck for comfort. Rainproof hats were woven from spruce roots and women wore cedar bark skirts that looked very similar to hula dancer's skirts. A beautiful cedar bark and mountain goat hair cape, called a "Chilkat Blanket" was worn only by the chief . The blanket had long fringes around the bottom with an animal design woven into the blanket. Sea otter and other fur robes were only worn by people of high rank.

7. Coastal First Nations Food -

It's not hard to imagine what the coastal Natives ate. The Pacific Ocean was not only their great highway, it was their food basket as well. Salmon was by far the most important fish and thousands were caught during the spring and summer. Today, there are much fewersalmon and there is much less sea life on the coast because of centuries of overfishing and the high demand for furs in nineteenth century Europe , yet before the arrival of settlers the ocean boasted great numbers of salmon as well as sea otters, whales,seals, cod, halibut, oolichan fish, flounder, smelts, herring, clams, oysters, sturgeon, and sea lions. Salmon were usually caught at the mouth of freshwater streams and rivers when the fish left the ocean to lay their eggs. Where the river narrowed, the Natives built huge fish traps, called "weirs". A weir was like a fence of wood which the salmon could not swim around. As the salmon crowded around the weir, it was easy for Natives to spear the fish by the hundreds. As the salmon came up the river only once a year, the Natives had to develop a way to store the salmon year round. By hanging the salmon over the smoke of a fire, the fish were preserved from decay. Other fish were caught in the shallow bays of the coast by usind large drag nets, spears, and baited hooks. Seals, sea otters, and sea lions were prized for their meat and fur, with a 1500 pound sea lion feeding a whole village for days. Whales were very important to coastal First Nations people as the blubber was an important source of oil, yet not many groups hunted whales as harpooning one from a canoe was very dangerous. The Nootka of Vancouver Island were proud whale hunters, while other Native groups had to be happy with the occasional dead whale which washed ashore. Vegetable foods included seaweed, berries, and roots which were all gathered by women near the winter village or summer camp.

8. Coastal First Nations Art

Nearly everyone knows B.C. coastal First Nations art because of the famous totem poles. Besides carving great objects fom wood such as masks, boxes, and totem poles, coastal Natives also produced fine paintings and weavings. Masks were carved from cedar and were decorated with sea shells, copper, hair, and fur. Click here to go to a Haida maskmaking lesson. All carvings, including masks and totem poles, use a repeating form which looks a little confusing at first. The two main shapes are called ovoids and U-forms and are combined together in different ways to make representations of real and mythical objects and animals. Here is a gallery of First Nations artwork. You can see the same basic shapes in all the pictures

click here to email me with any questions or comments