Northwest Native Americans

Northwest Native Americans - Page Text Content

S: Northwest Native Americans

BC: Bye! Grace: Or as the Haida would say, Konichiwa! Falyn: That's Japanese. Grace: Shhh!! They don't know that! This'll make us look smart!

FC: Northwest Native Americans

1: By Grace and Falyn

2: The Kwakiutl People's Language The Kwakiutl people have been called the Kwakiutl since 1849. Today, the name only refers to the Native American's that live in Fort Rupert.Their name came from white people that moved into the area. Their tribe is a smaller group of the Kwakwaka'wakw tribe.Their language is of Wakashan origin. Less than 4% of the Kwakiutl speak their own language, but their community is working on restoring it.

5: The Kwakiutl People's Food and Resources The Kwakiutl people ate mainly salmon and shellfish, which they gathered and preserved by freezing, canning, and smoking. During spring, the Kwakiutl people enjoyed an abundant supply of candlefish. The Kwakiutl's main resources were wood and whales. Whales they used for heat, light, food, and tools. With wood they created totem poles and masks, which they are well known for. Their totem poles depicted many animals, and several super natural beings. Also, their robes, aprons, skirts, and leggings were made from cedar bark.

6: Clamshells At Fort Rupert, where the Kwakiutl now live, there is a bank of clamshells two miles long, half a mile wide, and fifty feet tall. These clamshells were the remains of enormous feasts once held there. During World War II, these clamshells were used to level out the runways at nearby Port Hardy airport.

9: The Potlatch The potlatch was a very important gift-giving ceremony among the Kwakiutl. All self-respectable people should have held one once in their life time. A potlatch was held by a whole family. Each family would perform a certain dance. Gifts would be made for every attendee, and loans* might have had to be borrowed. *Loans consisted of white wool blankets, costing approximately $1 each.

12: The Haida's Language Haida or Xaat Kil is the native language of the Haida. Only about 3-4 dozen of them still speak their own language, and all of those who speak it are over the age of 70. Although not many speak it, most young people are interested in learning it.

15: Geographic Location The Haida lived in parts of Canada and the US. They lived along the southern islands of Alaska, and the Queen Charlotte Islands in Canada. The Queen Charlotte Islands are known as Haida Gwaii in the Haida language, which translates to Land of the Haida in the English language.

17: Food and Resources The Haida's staple food was salmon, but they also ate cod, smelt, herring, whale, seal, sealion, sea otters, and other nasty (in Falyn's opinion), but interesting things found in the sea. They also ate deer, elk, moose, beaver, wolves, bear, fox, and mountain goat. Their resources included whales, and wood. Falyn and I call these the Two W's. Whale was used for food, clothes, shelter, and tools. Wood was used for shelter, clothing, and tools. (They did basically the same things with their wood and whales that the Kwakiutl did...)

19: Homes The Haida homes were usually very large and could normally hold over several hundred people. All of the people that lived in one single house were part of one extended family. These houses were approximately 8 meters high, 9-12 meters wide, and 45 meters long. The Haida homes were made from cedar and spruce trees. Small logs supported the roof shingles. These shingles, held down by rocks, could be moved easily by poles to let air in, or out. The homes were supported by large cedar poles with gigantic planks placed in the frames to make the walls and roofs. The doorway of some homes was an opening cut through a large carved pole in the center of the front wall. Haida homes had no windows. Smoke holes in the ceiling were the only normal ventilation. We wonder how it smelled in there!

20: A Haida Legend Once a man found two wolf pups on the beach. He took them home and raised them. When the pups had grown, they would swim out into the ocean, kill a whale, and bring it to the shore for the man to eat. When the Great Above Person saw this waste, he made a fog so that the wolves could not find whales to kill nor find their way back to shore. Since they remained at sea, the wolves became sea wolves (Orca).