![Edward S](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Edward_S._Curtis_Collection_People_030.jpg)
Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians (though comprising many groups) are
indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of the
Interior of British Columbia
, settlement_type = Region of British Columbia
, image_skyline =
, nickname = "The Interior"
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subd ...
, Canada, and the non-coastal regions of the Northwestern United States.
Their territories are located in the inland portions of the basins of the
Columbia and
Fraser Rivers. These tribes mainly live in parts of the
Central and Southern Interior of British Columbia,
northern Idaho
The Idaho Panhandle—locally known as North Idaho—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Sho ...
,
western Montana
Western Montana is the western region of the U.S. state of Montana. The most restrictive definition limits western Montana only to the parts of the state west of the Continental Divide. Other common definitions add in the mountainous areas east ...
,
eastern Washington
Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanf ...
,
eastern Oregon
Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...
, and
northeastern California. The eastern flank of the
Cascade Range lies within the territory of the Plateau peoples.
[Pritzker, 249]
There are several distinguishing features that differentiate plateau culture from the surrounding native cultures. These include a high reliance on roots, such as
biscuitroot and
camas, as a food source, a high reliance on short duration salmon and
eel runs, and long-term habitation of winter
villages
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
at fixed locations along rivers or lakes. There was a lack of
social stratification and a lack of tribal organization beyond the village level.
Range
![Kutenai woman 1910](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Kutenai_woman_1910.jpg)
In Canada, the greater part of the
Interior Plateau
The Interior Plateau comprises a large region of the Interior of British Columbia, and lies between the Cariboo and Monashee Mountains on the east, and the Hazelton Mountains, Coast Mountains and Cascade Range on the west.''Landforms of British C ...
was inhabited by
Interior Salish
The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches. The first Salishan people encountered by American exp ...
peoples: the
Lillooet
Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abo ...
tribe whose homelands are in the
Lillooet River
The Lillooet River is a major river of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It begins at Silt Lake, on the southern edge of the Lillooet Crown Icecap about 80 kilometres northwest of Pemberton and about 85 kilometres northwest of W ...
Valley; the
Thompson First Nations
Thompson may refer to:
People
* Thompson (surname)
* Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician
Places Australia
*Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality
Bulgaria
* Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province
Canada
* ...
, whose homelands are in the
Fraser River Valley
The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the ...
from Yale to Lillooet; the
Secwepemc (Shuswap) of
the Fraser River Valley from Lillooet to Alexandria, the upper parts of the Thompson River basin, and areas further east; the
Okanagan
The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is par ...
of the
Okanagan River
The Okanogan River (known as the Okanagan River in Canada) is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 115 mi (185 km) long, in southern British Columbia and north central Washington. It drains a scenic plateau region called th ...
Valley and its vicinity; also the Lakes people of the Arrow Lakes. The
Kutenai
The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...
tribe, who live in the southeastern parts of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
and formerly extended to southwestern
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, speak an isolate language.
Athapaskan-speaking people, the
Chilcotin and
Carrier, occupy the northernmost part of the Plateau region.
The First Nations of the Plateau were influenced by the
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
of the Pacific Coast. The Plateau First Nations traded many goods with the Pacific Coast First Nations. The Pacific tribes believed in clan ancestors which were adopted by the
Interior Salish
The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches. The first Salishan people encountered by American exp ...
groups, but they did not adopt the social system.
In the United States, Interior Salish people inhabited the Columbia River and its tributaries above
Priest Rapids, near present-day
Mattawa.
Sahaptin people
The Sahaptin are a number of Native American tribes who speak dialects of the Sahaptin language. The Sahaptin tribes inhabited territory along the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Sahaptin-s ...
inhabited the Columbia River and its tributaries between Priest Rapids and
Celilo Falls
Celilo Falls (Wyam, meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks," in several native languages) was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border between the U.S. ...
near
the Dalles, Oregon
The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermisto ...
and up the Snake River to near the Washington - Idaho border. The
Nez Perce
The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...
inhabited the
Clearwater and
Salmon River basins and the Snake river through Hells Canyon. The
Cayuse homeland is the
Blue Mountains and the valleys of the rivers that flow from them. The
Molala
The Molala (also Molale, Molalla, Molele) are a people of the Plateau culture area in the Oregon Cascades and central Oregon, United States. They are one of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, with 141 of the 882 member ...
inhabited the eastern side of the cascade mountains in Oregon. The
Klamath people
The Klamath people are a Native American tribe of the Plateau culture area in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Today Klamath people are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes:
* Klamath Tribes (Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin (Yah ...
inhabited the upper
Klamath River
The Klamath River (Karuk: ''Ishkêesh'', Klamath: ''Koke'', Yurok: ''Hehlkeek 'We-Roy'') flows through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second large ...
basin and had close contact with people from the
California cultural area, though their lifestyle and language were more characteristic of plateau culture.
The Columbia River below Celilo Falls was inhabited by
Chinook people
Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE Chinookan peoples have resided along the Lower and Middle Columbia River (W ...
. Chinook people on the lowest portion of the Columbia are considered part of the
Northwest Coast. Sahaptin groups also lived in Western Washington on the
Mashel River and upper
Cowlitz River
The Cowlitz River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States, a tributary of the Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens.
The Cowlitz has a d ...
. The
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...
was inhabited by the
Kalapuya people
The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United Sta ...
. Having no major salmon run, their culture was somewhat different from other plateau people,
[Towles, Jerry C. 1979. "Settlement and Subsistence in the Willamette Valley: Some Additional Notes". ''Northwest Anthropological Research Notes'', 13: 12–21.] maintaining
oak savannas similar to many California natives.
History
While plateau people kept no written records, the prehistory of the plateau region can be partially reconstructed by a combination of oral traditions, linguistics and archeological evidence. There is archeological evidence of human presence on the plateau for at least 12,000 years. The
Marmes Rockshelter
The Marmes Rockshelter (also known as (45-FR-50)) is an archaeological site first excavated in 1962, near Lyons Ferry Park and the confluence of the Snake and Palouse Rivers, in Franklin County, southeastern Washington. This rockshelter is remar ...
and
Kennewick Man
Kennewick Man and Ancient One are the names generally given to the skeletal remains of a prehistoric Paleoamerican man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, on July 28, 1996. It is one of the most complete ancient ...
are two examples of early human presence. Over time human technologies adapted to the unique environment.
Earth oven
An earth oven, ground oven or cooking pit is one of the simplest and most ancient cooking structures. At its most basic, an earth oven is a pit in the ground used to trap heat and bake, smoke, or steam food. Earth ovens have been used in many pl ...
s near camas meadows have been found that are up to 8,000 years old.
[Thoms, Alston Vern. 1989. "The northern roots of hunter-gatherer intensification: Camas and the Pacific Northwest". PhD Thesis Washington State University] Around 4,000 years ago, there was a shift in the archeological record from small bands to larger semi-sedentary villages, and a shift towards root processing tools, hallmarks of plateau culture.
[Ames, Kenneth and Alan Marshall. 1980. "Villages, Demography and Subsistence Intensification on the Southern Columbia Plateau". ''North American Archeologist'', 2(1): 25–52.]
Linguists and oral traditions point to several comparatively recent movements of people. According to language comparisons, the interior Salish peoples expanded onto the plateau from the vicinity of the lower Fraser River. This expansion reached as far as Montana, was complete around 1,500 years ago.
[Suttles, Wayne P. 1987. "Coast Salish Essays". Talonbooks] Likewise, Athabaskans on the plateau are part of a relatively recent expansion from northern Canada and Alaska, as recently as 1,000 years ago. The Kalapuya people spread into the Willamette Valley, likely from the south, in the last 1,000 years.
The recent expansion of
Numic
Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Plains. The word Numic com ...
people across the
Great Basin displaced several groups on the southern edge of the plateau. This process was still occurring at the time of European contact.
[Sutton, Mark Q. 1986. "Warfare and Expansion: An Ethnohistoric Perspective on the Numic Spread". ''Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology'', 8(1): 65–82.] Around 1730, horses were introduced onto the plateau from the Great Basin and were first adopted by the Cayuse and Nez Perce. This greatly changed the range and lifestyle of these groups. This transition was still underway when Europeans arrived.
According to their oral tradition, the Kutenai people originated to the east, and moved onto the plateau in late pre-historic times.
European contact
Outside influences began changing life on the plateau decades before the first direct contact with Europeans. There is strong evidence the smallpox epidemic of the 1770s spread across the plateau region, greatly reducing the population.
[Roberts, Boyd. 1999. "The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence: The Introduced Infectious Diseases and Population Decline among the Northwest Coast Indians, 1774-1874". University of Washington Press] Members of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...
were the first Europeans to encounter plateau natives, followed a few years later by
Alexander Ross and
David Thompson. All commented on the dress, diet and generally peaceful nature of the inhabitants.
[Ross, Alexander]
''Adventures of the first settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River.''
London: Smith, Elder and Co. 1849, pp. 145-147. In the following decades, several trading posts were established in the area, including the long-lived
Fort Nez Perce,
Fort Colville
Fort Colville was a U.S. Army post in the Washington Territory located north of current Colville, Washington. During its existence from 1859 to 1882, it was called "Harney's Depot" and "Colville Depot" during the first two years, and finally " ...
,
Fort Okanogan
Fort Okanogan (also spelled Fort Okanagan) was founded in 1811 on the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers as a fur trade outpost. Originally built for John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company, it was the first American-owned settlem ...
, and
Fort Kamloops
Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...
. Several more epidemics hit the area with the Lower Columbia area being the hardest hit. Some Chinook and Kalapuya groups saw a 90% reduction in population at this time.
The
1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic
Year 186 ( CLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Glabrio (or, less frequently, year 939 '' Ab urbe c ...
devastated the coast as well as some parts of the interior.
While there was some minor violence, serious armed conflicts did not begin until the mass migration of European Americans to the southern portion of the plateau region, starting in the 1840s. Through a series of treaties and conflicts, including the
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local American settlers. Caused in part by the influx of disease ...
,
Yakima War
The Yakima War (1855–1858), also referred to as the Yakima Native American War of 1855 or the Plateau War, was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people of the Northwest Plateau, then part of Washington T ...
,
Coeur d'Alene War
The Coeur d'Alene War of 1858, also known as the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Pend d'oreille-Paloos War, was the second phase of the Yakima War, involving a series of encounters between the allied Native American tribes of the Skitswish ("Coeur d'Alene ...
,
Modoc War
The Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign (also known as the Lava Beds War), was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon from 1872 to 1873. Eadweard M ...
, and
Nez Perce War
The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict in 1877 in the Western United States that pitted several bands of the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans and their allies, a small band of the ''Palouse'' tribe led by Red Echo (''Hahtalekin'') and ...
, natives on the southern plateau were confined on reservations and their traditional lifestyle was largely disrupted.
Tribes and bands
Plateau peoples generally self-identified by their wintering village or band, as opposed to a tribe. Intermarrying between groups was common and in many cases encouraged. Different groups shared hunting and foraging ranges. After European contact, natives were classified into tribes led by chiefs, in order to facilitate negotiation and land settlements. Commonly recognized plateau tribes include the following:
Chinook people
Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE Chinookan peoples have resided along the Lower and Middle Columbia River (W ...
s
*
Cathlamet, Washington
*
Clackamas, Oregon
*
Clatsop
The Clatsop is a small tribe of Chinookan-speaking Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. In the early 19th century they inhabited an area of the northwestern coast of present-day Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia R ...
, Oregon
*
Kathlamet
*
Multnomah, Oregon
*
Wasco-Wishram Wasco-Wishram are two closely related Chinook Indian tribes from the Columbia River in Oregon. Today the tribes are part of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs living in the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon and Confederated Tribes and ...
, Oregon and Washington
*
Watlata The Watlala are a group of Chinookan-speaking Native Americans. They inhabited the meadows of Sams Walker Day Use Site, near Skamania, Washington, and St. Cloud Ranch Day Use Site. An interpretive sign at Sams Walker states that the Watlata live ...
, Washington
Interior Salish
The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches. The first Salishan people encountered by American exp ...
*
Chelan
*
Coeur d'Alene Tribe
The Coeur d'Alene (also ''Skitswish''; natively ''Schi̲tsu'umsh'') are a Native American nation and one of five federally recognized tribes in the state of Idaho.
The Coeur d'Alene have sovereign control of their Coeur d'Alene Reservation, ...
, Idaho, Montana, Washington
*
Entiat, Washington
*
Flathead (Selisch or Salish), Idaho and Montana
**
Bitterroot Salish
The Bitterroot Salish (or Flathead, Salish, Selish) are a Salish-speaking group of Native Americans, and one of three tribes of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Montana. The Flathead Reservation is home to ...
**
Kalispel
The Pend d'Oreille ( ), also known as the Kalispel (), are Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. Today many of them live in Montana and eastern Washington of the United States. The Kalispel peoples referred to their primary tribal range a ...
(
Pend d'Oreilles
The Pend d'Oreille ( ), also known as the Kalispel (), are Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. Today many of them live in Montana and eastern Washington of the United States. The Kalispel peoples referred to their primary tribal range a ...
), Washington and Montana
***
Lower Kalispel, Washington
***
Upper Kalispel, Montana
*
In-SHUCK-ch The In-SHUCK-ch Nation, also known as Lower Lillooet people, are a small First Nations Tribal Council on the lower Lillooet River south of Pemberton- Mount Currie in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The communities of the In-SHUCK-ch a ...
, British Columbia (Lower Lillooet)
*
Lil'wat
The Lil'wat First Nation ( lil, líl̓watǝmx), a.k.a. the Lil'wat Nation or the Mount Currie Indian Band, is a First Nation band government located in the southern Coast Mountains region of the Interior of the Canadian province of British Co ...
, British Columbia (Lower Lillooet)
*
Methow, Washington
*
Nespelem, Washington
*
Nlaka'pamux
The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Kni ...
(Thompson people), British Columbia
*
Nicola people
The Nicola people are a First Nations political and cultural alliance in the Nicola Country region of the Southern Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. They are mostly located in the Nicola River valley around the area of Merri ...
(Thompson-Okanagan confederacy)
*
Okanagan
The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is par ...
, British Columbia and Washington
*
Sanpoil, Washington
*
Secwepemc, British Columbia (Shuswap people)
*
Sinixt
The Sinixt"Sinixt Nation…" (also known as the Sin-Aikst or Sin Aikst,Reyes 2002, ''passim.'' "Senjextee", "Arrow Lakes Band", or — less commonly in recent decades — simply as "The Lakes") are a First Nations People. The Sinixt are ...
(Lakes), British Columbia, Idaho, and Washington
*
Sinkayuse
*
Sinkiuse-Columbia
The Sinkiuse-Columbia are a Native American tribe so-called because of their former prominent association with the Columbia River. They belong to the inland division of the Salishan group, with their nearest relatives being the Wenatchis and M ...
, Washington (extinct)
*
Spokane people
The Spokan or Spokane people are a Native American Plateau tribe who inhabit the eastern portion of present-day Washington state and parts of northern Idaho in the United States of America.
The current Spokane Indian Reservation is located in ...
, Washington
*
St'at'imc, British Columbia (Upper Lillooet)
*
Wenatchi
The Wenatchi people or Šnp̍əšqʷáw̉šəxʷi / Np̓əšqʷáw̓səxʷ ("People in the between") are Native Americans who originally lived near the confluence of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Central Washington state. They spoke Interio ...
(Wenatchee)
Sahaptin people
The Sahaptin are a number of Native American tribes who speak dialects of the Sahaptin language. The Sahaptin tribes inhabited territory along the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Sahaptin-s ...
*
Upper Cowlitz or Taidnapam
*
Kittitas (Upper Yakima)
*
Klickitat Tribe
The Klickitat (also spelled Klikitat) are a Native American tribe of the Pacific Northwest. Today most Klickitat are enrolled in the federally recognized Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, some are also part of the Confederate ...
, Washington
*Lower Snake people:
Chamnapam,
Wauyukma,
Naxiyampam
*
Nez Perce
The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...
, Idaho
*
Palus (Palouse), Idaho, Oregon, and Washington
*
Pshwanwapam (Pswanwapam)
*
Skinpah (Skin)
*
Tenino (Warmsprings)
*
Tygh (Upper Deschutes), Oregon
*
Umatilla, Oregon
*
Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to:
* Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named
* Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...
, Washington
*
Wanapum
The Wanapum tribe of Native Americans formerly lived along the Columbia River from above Priest Rapids down to the mouth of the Snake River in what is now the US state of Washington. About 60 Wanapum still live near the present day site of Pri ...
, Washington
*
Wauyukma
*
Wyam (Lower Deschutes)
*
Yakama
The Yakama are a Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in eastern Washington state.
Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their ...
, Washington
Other or multiple
*
Cayuse, Oregon
*
Celilo (
Wayampam)
*
Cowlitz Cowlitz may refer to:
People
* Cowlitz people, an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest
** Cowlitz language, member of the Tsamosan branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages
* Cowlitz Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of ...
, Washington
*
Klamath, Oregon
*
Kalapuya
The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United Sta ...
, northwest Oregon
**
Atfalati
The Atfalati , also known as the Tualatin or Wapato Lake IndiansRobert H. Ruby, John A. Brown & Cary C. Collins, Atfalati, in ''A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest'' (3d ed. 2010, University of Oklahoma Press) are a tribe of the ...
(
Tualatin, northwest Oregon)
**
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...
, northwest Oregon
**
Santiam, northwest Oregon
**
Yaquina, northwest Oregon
*
Kutenai
The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...
(Kootenai, Ktunaxa), British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana
*
Modoc, California and Oregon, now also Oklahoma
*
Molala
The Molala (also Molale, Molalla, Molele) are a people of the Plateau culture area in the Oregon Cascades and central Oregon, United States. They are one of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, with 141 of the 882 member ...
(Molale), Oregon
*
Nicola Athapaskans
The Nicola Athapaskans, also known as the Nicola people or Stuwix, were an Athabascan people who migrated into the Nicola Country of what is now the Southern Interior of British Columbia from the north a few centuries ago but were slowly reduced i ...
(extinct), British Columbia
*
Upper Nisqually (
Mishalpan)
Languages
Plateau tribes primarily spoke
Interior Salish languages
The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches. The first Salishan people encountered by American exp ...
in the north and
Plateau Penutian languages
Plateau Penutian (also Shahapwailutan, Lepitan) is a family of languages spoken in northern California, reaching through central-western Oregon to northern Washington and central-northern Idaho.
Family division
Plateau Penutian consists of four ...
in the south.
Chinookan languages
The Chinookan languages were a small family of languages spoken in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples. Although the last known native speaker of any Chinookan language died in 2012, the 2009-2013 American Community ...
were spoken on the lower Columbia and
Kalapuyan languages
Kalapuyan (also Kalapuya) is a small extinct language family that was spoken in the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon, United States. It consists of three languages.
The Kalapuya language is currently in a state of revival. Kalapuyan descend ...
were spoken in the Willamette valley. These are often classified as
Penutian languages
Penutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. The existence of a Penutian s ...
, but this classification is not universally agreed upon. In the northernmost portion of the plateau
Athabaskan languages
Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific C ...
were spoken. Each of these
language families
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hi ...
consisted of multiple languages that were not
mutually intelligible. Many of the individual languages had several dialects with significant differences.
The
Ktunaxa
The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...
speak the
Kutenai language
The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...
, which is a
language isolate.
[ The ]Cayuse language
The Cayuse language (''Cailloux, Willetpoos'') is an extinct unclassified language formerly spoken by the Cayuse Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Oregon. The Cayuse name for themselves was ''Liksiyu'' (see Aoki 1998).
Classification ...
died out shortly after European contact and is poorly documented. It is sometimes called an isolate, and sometimes classified as Penutian, most closely related to the Molala language
Molala (Molele, Molalla) is the extinct and poorly attested Plateau Penutian language of the Molala people of Oregon and Washington. It is first attested along the Deschutes River, and later moved to the Molalla and Santiam rivers, and to the ...
. Even before relocation onto reservations, many Cayuse had adopted the Nez Perce language
Nez Perce, also spelled Nez Percé or called Nimipuutímt (alternatively spelled ''Nimiipuutímt'', ''Niimiipuutímt'', or ''Niimi'ipuutímt''), is a Sahaptian language related to the several dialects of Sahaptin (note the spellings ''-ian'' vs ...
.
Material culture
Diet
Traditional Plateau cuisine include wild plants, fish, especially salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
, and game. Plateau peoples often had seasonal villages or encampment in different areas to take full advantage of the wild foods. Women gathered a large variety of edible vegetables and fruits, including camassia
''Camassia'' is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to North America. Common names include camas, quamash, Indian hyacinth, camash, and wild hyacinth.
It grows in the wild in great numbers in moist meadows. They are perennial p ...
, bitterroot
Bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva'') is a small perennial herb in the family Montiaceae. Its specific epithet ("revived, reborn") refers to its ability to regenerate from dry and seemingly dead roots.
The genus '' Lewisia'' was moved in 2009 fro ...
, kouse root
''Lomatium'' is a genus in the family Apiaceae. It consists of about 100 species native to western Northern America and northern Mexico. Its common names include biscuitroot, Indian parsley, and desert parsley. It is in the family Apiaceae and t ...
,[ serviceberry, ]chokecherry
''Prunus virginiana'', commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry (also black chokecherry for ''P. virginiana'' var. ''demissa''), is a species of bird cherry (''Prunus'' subgenus ''Padus'') nat ...
, huckleberry
Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: ''Vaccinium'' and '' Gaylussacia''. The huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho.
Nomenclature
The name 'huckleberry' is a No ...
, and wild strawberry.
Camas lily bulbs were an important but dangerous staple. Common camas, camassia quamash, is a plant in the lily family with blue flowers, whose bulbs were dug for food. The white flowering death camas, zygadenus venenosus, is a different but related species also in the lily family, and can be deadly poisonous. For safety reasons, Plateau peoples gathered these bulbs while aerial parts were still growing in order to correctly identify the edible species. They dug these bulbs with deer antlers. Women in the tribe cooked the roots in a shallow pit filled up with hot stones. When the ground around the stones was hot enough, the stones were removed, and bulbs were placed in the hole to cook overnight.
Plateau women made berry cakes using Saskatoon berries
''Amelanchier alnifolia'', the Saskatoon berry, Pacific serviceberry, western serviceberry, western shadbush, or western juneberry, is a shrub with an edible berry-like fruit, native to North America.
Description
It is a deciduous shrub or sma ...
or huckleberries
Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: ''Vaccinium'' and ''Gaylussacia''. The huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho.
Nomenclature
The name 'huckleberry' is a Nort ...
. The berries were dried on racks covered with leaves. Most plateau groups also gathered a lichen (''Bryoria fremontii
''Bryoria fremontii'' is a dark brown, horsehair lichen that grows hanging from trees in western North America, and northern Europe and Asia. It grows abundantly in some areas, and is an important traditional food for a few First Nations in No ...
''), which was cooked in pits similar to, and sometimes together with, camas. Gathering and processing of wild plants by the women is still a traditional way of life among many of the people of these tribes today.
The men supplemented the diet by hunting and fishing, with salmon making up a major part of their food supply.[ When ]horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
s were introduced to the area, the world of the Plateau people expanded after they adopted use of horses, allowing them to trade with the tribes on the plains east of the Rocky Mountains for bison meat and hides. Groups of hunters rode far to hunt bison, deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
, and elk.
In the spring and fall, salmon would swim up rivers from the Pacific Ocean. Plateau fishermen learned many ways to trap salmon. Dipnet
A hand net, also called a scoop net, is a fishing net or meshed basket held open on a rigid hoop, which may or may not be mounted to the end of a handle. A hand net with a long handle is often called a dip net. When it is used by an angler to ...
s, gaffs, or gigs were used depending on the fishing spot. On primary rivers, seine nets were used in spots where salmon or eels were known to congregate. Stakes were lined up to make a weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
, stopping the salmon from swimming any further, and then the fish were pulled out of the water with a scoop. Suckers were caught in fish traps as they descended peripheral streams. Most salmon was smoked on a fire, and some of it was stored underground in pits. Other salmon was boiled in hot water to get oil.
Birds were often hunted with nets. Men used several methods to capture big game. Groups of men would surround and drive deer or elk towards other hunters or into traps. Trapping pit
Trapping pits are deep pits dug into the ground, or built from stone, in order to trap animals.
European rock drawings and cave paintings reveal that red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') and elk/moose (''Alces alces'') were hunted since the Stone Ag ...
s and snares were also used. Reliance on big game depended greatly on the amount of salmon available. Hunting provided less than ten percent of food for some Chinook and Sahaptin groups on the Columbia River. Further upstream there was greater reliance on hunting.
Basketry and textiles
Plateau tribes excelled in the art of basketry. They most commonly used hemp dogbane
''Apocynum cannabinum'' (dogbane, amy root, hemp dogbane, prairie dogbane, Indian hemp, rheumatism root, or wild cotton) is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows throughout much of North America—in the southern half of Canada and through ...
, tule, sagebrush
Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus '' Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub '' Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west.
Following is an al ...
, or willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...
bark. These materials were also used to make hats, bedding, nets, and cordage.[Pritzker, 250] Basketry was particularly important because plateau tribes used no pottery. Water was boiled in baskets by inserting heated stones. Ancestors of the Plateau Indians created the oldest known shoes in the world, the Fort Rock sandals, made of twined sagebrush and dated between 10,390 and 9650 years BP.
Tools
Tools were made from wood, stone and bone. Arrows for hunting were made from wood and tipped with arrow-heads chipped from special rocks. Antlers from animals were used for digging roots. In addition to their traditional tools, they later adopted the use of metal items such as pots, needles, and guns acquired from trade with Europeans.
Housing
Plateau housing included longhouses roofed with summer tule
''Schoenoplectus acutus'' ( syn. ''Scirpus acutus, Schoenoplectus lacustris, Scirpus lacustris'' subsp. ''acutus''), called tule , common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the pl ...
mats.[ Tule, used for many purposes, is a tall, tough ]reed
Reed or Reeds may refer to:
Science, technology, biology, and medicine
* Reed bird (disambiguation)
* Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times
* Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales
* ...
that grows in marshy areas and is sometimes called bulrush
Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants
*Sedge family (Cyperaceae):
**''Cyperus''
**'' Scirpus''
**''Blysmus''
**''Bolboschoenus''
**'' Scirpoides''
**'' Isolepis''
**'' Schoenoplectus''
**'' Trichophorum''
* T ...
. For winter quarters, the people dug a pit a few feet into the ground and constructed a framework of poles over it, meeting in a peak above. They covered this with tule mats or tree bark. Earth was piled up around and partially over the structure to provide insulation to the semi-subterranean shelter. The large winter lodges were shared by several families; they were rectangular at the base and triangular above. They were built with several layers of tule; as the top layers of tule absorbed moisture, they swelled to keep moisture from reaching lower layers and the inside of the lodge.
In later years, the people used canvas instead of tule mats. Beginning in the 18th century, Plateau peoples adopted tipi
A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...
s from the Plains Indians. They were made of a pole framework, covered with animal skins or mats woven from reeds. Each month, women would stay temporary in round menstrual huts, measuring about in diameter.
Interior Salish winter homes are distinct from those of First Nations in the area. They were semi-subterranean pit-houses, with well insulated roofs. Logs were carved into steps at the entrances. Dried food was stored outside these winter houses. In the summer, the Salishan people lived in tule mat houses.
Other tribes made their homes out of pieces of cedar or spruce bark. The slanted roofs of cedar homes extended near to the ground, while the spruce-bark houses resembles to adjacent tents.
Clothing
Plateau people wore many types of clothing which changed over time. In the northern region, the women wore buckskin shirts, breech cloths, leggings, and moccasins, and the men wore longer shirts. Winter clothing was made out of rabbit, groundhog, or other animals' fur. Along the Columbia River among the Chinook and Sahaptin, both men and women typically wore just a breech cloth in warm weather. A short robe or cape and leggings would be added in cooler weather. Below the Cascades Rapids women wore grass skirts. Women on the southern plateau wore basketry hats. Over time, plateau people generally adopted clothes inspired by plains culture, including buckskin dresses and feathered headgear.
Arts
Today the Natives still make traditional clothing, bags, baskets, and other items. Although some knowledge of traditional arts have been lost as times change, practicing the fine skills are still an important part of their way of life. Mothers and grandmothers decorate their children's outfits for celebration and dancing. Beaded items, such as drums, woven bags and other crafts are used in traditional celebrations and special occasions. Such regalia is used for days during the Spirit Dance
Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the Native Americans in the United States. Ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing histories and beliefs of individual nations, tribes and bands. Early European ...
, which occurred once a year.
Notes
References
* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .
{{Cultural areas of indigenous North Americans
Northwest Plateau
Northwest Plateau
First Nations in British Columbia
Native American tribes in Oregon
Native American tribes in Washington (state)
Native American tribes in Idaho
Northwest Plateau
Northwestern United States