Plants: The Little People
The Tulalip tribe’s oral tradition tells them
that humans, plants and animals were all the
same until the Creator gave them their names.
Their ancestors looked to the animal world
to understand the plant world. The plants are
known to them as the “Little People.” The
animals taught their ancestors which plants to
eat and which plants were good for sickness.
Their relationship to the plant world compels
them to protect their well-being. Like the
salmon, the plants and the forests play a key
role in their cultural sustainability.
The Coast Salish homelands provide a
distinctive variety of plants for food, medicine,
tools, shelter and ceremonies. Their history
teaches that when we remove ourselves from
the knowledge of the Old Ones, we lose our
way. Tribal members work to preserve their
natural resources and culture.
The Significance of Salmon
Our fish, our life
Every spring and fall, salmon were abundant in the creeks and rivers around Puget
Sound. The Coast Salish people developed ingenious fishing gear and techniques to
take advantage of this great gift. During salmon runs, families traveled to their fishing
camps along the shorelines and the riverbanks. They would build temporary shelters,
set up fishing weirs in the rivers, and prepare their canoes and fishing gear in order
to fish day and night. Men, women and children cleaned, prepared and preserved the
catch for their winter supplies.
Harvesting the salmon
Weirs are fences made from small cedar, maple or hemlock poles lashed together. They were set into riverbeds, stretching
partway or all the way across the river to take advantage of the annual salmon migrations. As salmon swam upstream, they
were forced to swim along the weir to find the only opening—which led to a built-in trap. Fishermen scooped the salmon
out of the traps and brought the fish ashore. People ensured a good catch by setting weirs according to the environment
and the migratory patterns of the salmon. How do you think weirs of 100 years ago were different from dams built today?
An Upstream Battle
The Snohomish River and its salmon habitat have changed dramatically in the past 160 years. It did not take long for the
land to change once the colonists arrived. Habitat suitable for a variety of young salmon disappeared as the first settlers
began changing the river by clear-cutting the forest, building roads, culverts and ditches, re-channeling waterways and
building dikes along the Snohomish River. Today, development on all the Puget Sound rivers continues to threaten the
salmon stock.
Healthy Foods, Healthy Cooking: The Traditional Way
One of the healthiest and most nutritious ways to prepare a meal is to boil and steam the food. The Coast Salish people
were excellent weavers and made the finest watertight baskets. They would fill their baskets with water, then add heated
rocks from the fire pit to create a gentle boil that cooked the different foods to perfection. They boiled salmon and their
eggs, all types of shellfish and a variety of fresh and dried meats. Steamer clams and mussels would be cooked on hot
rocks and covered with seaweed to trap in the steam. These foods were complemented with nettles, seaweed, wild
carrots, onions and dried berries to enhance the flavor.
Read up! Read the Native American legend, “The Story of the North Wind Weir,” here:
burkemuseum.org/static/misc/story_north_wind_weir.pdf
Respecting and Protecting
Our Natural Provider
Over the past century, the Tulalip tribes have
nurtured several programs to protect salmon
and its habitat. They take this responsibility
very seriously and implement programs
above and beyond many regulations for
environmental protection.
Do you enjoy some of the same traditional foods as the Coast Salish people? Compare here:
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Image courtesy of The Hibulb Cultural
Center Collections
