The Coast Salish are a group of Salishan-speaking First Nations/Native American in British Columbia and Washington.. The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a group of languages of western Canada and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... Carved mask in Vancouver First Nations is a term for ethnicity used in Canada to replace the word Indian. It refers to the Indigenous peoples of North America located in what is now Canada, and their descendants, who are not Inuit or Métis. ... An Atsina named Assiniboin Boy Photo by Edward S. Curtis. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages none stated in law; English is de facto Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 5th 944,735... Official language(s) None Capital Largest city Olympia Seattle Area  Ranked 18th  - Total 71,342 sq. ...

The Coast Salish homeland stretched from the Strait of Georgia north of the Fraser River to the southern end of Puget Sound, encompassing the sites of the modern-day cities of Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington. A branch of the Coast Salish, including the Tillamook and related tribes, established themselves on the coast of Oregon south of the Chinookan peoples at the mouth of the Columbia River. Archeological evidence indicates that the Coast Salish may have inhabited the area as far back as 9000 B.C. Strait of Georgia at sunset The Strait of Georgia (also known as Georgia Strait and the Gulf of Georgia) is a 240 km (150 mi)-long strait between Vancouver Island (as well as its nearby Gulf Islands) and the mainland Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. ... The Fraser River is the longest river in British Columbia, Canada, rising in the Rocky Mountains near Mount Robson and flowing for 1400 km (870 mi), into the Pacific Ocean at the city of Vancouver. ... Puget Sound Puget Sound is an arm (sound) of the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... This article refers to the city in British Columbia, Canada. ... Seattle redirects here. ... Tillamook may refer to: Tillamook, Oregon, United States Tillamook County, Oregon, United States the Tillamook County Creamery Association Tillamook River, United States This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Official language(s) None Capital Largest city Salem Portland Area  Ranked 9th  - Total 98,466 sq. ... Interior of a Chinookan plankhouse in the 1850s Chinookan refers to several groups of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. ... Columbia River Gorge, Washington or North side The Columbia River (French: fleuve Columbia) is a river situated in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ...

Villages of the Coast Salish typically consisted of redcedar-planked and earthen-floor longhouses providing habitation for forty or more people, usually related. The villages were typically located near navigable water for easy transportation by dugout canoe. Houses that were part of the same village sometimes stretched for several miles along a river or watercourse. Species Thuja plicata Western Redcedar, Thuja plicata, a species of thuja, is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the northwestern US and southwestern Canada, from southern Alaska and British Columbia south to northwest California and inland to western Montana. ... In archaeology and anthropology, a long house or longhouse is a type of long, narrow single room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe and North America. ... Aluminum canoe, Upper Klamath Lake Canoeing on the Concord River. ...

The interior walls of longhouses were typically lined with sleeping platforms. Storage shelves above the platforms held baskets, tools, clothing, and other items. Firewood was stored below the platforms. Mattresses and cushions were constructed woven reed mats and animals skins. Food was hung to dry from the ceiling. The larger houses included partitions to separate families, as well as interior fires with roof slats that functioned as chimneys.

The staple of their diet was salmon. The Chinook or King Salmon is the largest salmon in North America and can grow up to 58 long and 125 pounds. ...

The art of the Coast Salish has become a popular idiom for modern art in British Columbia and the Puget Sound area.

Slavery

Unlike the stereotypical hunter-gatherer societies widespread in North America, but like other peoples of the coast of the Pacific Northwest, Coast Salish society was complex, hierarchical, and oriented toward property and status. Slavery was widespread. The Coast Salish held slaves as simple property and not as members of the tribe. The children of slaves themselves became slaves.

See also

• Snuneymuxw, the Nanaimo Coast Salish people
• Klallam
• Saanich

The Snuneymuxw (pronounced Snoo-NEIGH-muk) are a First Nation of Coast Salish people. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The District of Saanich is a municipality on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. ...

External links

• First Nations of the Northwest Coast: Coast Salish
• Coast Salish Villages of Puget Sound
• University of Oregon: The Tillamook
• Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Coast Salish informs modern research and resource mangement
• Coast Salish Archeology and Ethnology Online Collection