Plateau People

Let’s learn about the plateau people of the Pacific Northwest.

•Food •Tools

•Transportation•Clothing•Shelter

•Customs and Beliefs

Food

Indians Tools Transportation Clothing Shelter Customs & Beliefs

Wild plants were a main staple of food for the Plateau Indians. Camas, the bulb of the wild lily, was a major source of food. The Plateau Indian also gathered wild fruits and vegetables. The Plateau people hunted deer and elk. They used every part of the animal! In the winter when it was difficult to hunt so the Plateau Indians ate dried meat called pemmican. They also hunted wild birds such as duck and geese.

Tools

The Plateau tribes that lived on the river banks used nets to scoop salmon from the rushing water. When they fished on the river edge they used a fishing spear called a leister. This tool was used for hunting too. Bowls and other dishes were carved out of wood while baskets were woven out of the bark. Bones of animals were used as scraping and cutting tools.

Indians Food Transportation Clothing Shelter Customs & Beliefs

The Plateau Indians relied on walking for transportation. Snowshoes were used in the snow. Canoes were used along rivers.

Horses were introduced after 1730. There were many advantages to using the horse. Horses transported the Indians and their possessions. They also were used in hunting for and gathering food. The horse (and dog) would drag a travois, which was 2 poles with a animal skin across it. Possessions were carried on the travois.

Transportation

Indians Food Tools Clothing Shelter Customs and Beliefs

Plateau Indians wore clothing made out of the hides of deer and elk. As well moccasins and boots were made from the hides of smaller animals. Their work clothes were plain while their ceremonial clothes were decorated with beautiful shells, fringe, porcupine quills, bird feathers, and beadwork.

Clothing

Indians Food Tools Transportation Shelter Customs & Beliefs

Indians spent the winter in villages along the warmer valleys on the banks of rivers. Some of the villages consisted of circular, earthen-roofed houses built partly underground or banked with earth to protect the homes against the cold.       The more common Plateau winter home was a long lodge typically covered with mats made from reeds and bulrushes and large strips of bark. 

     In the spring a portable shelter of reed mats was prepared if any protection from the elements was needed. The tipi became common about the same time as the introduction of horses in the early 1700’s.   

Shelter

Indians Food Tools Transportation Clothing Customs & Beliefs

Girls were ready for marriage at the age of fourteen or fifteen while boys were married at sixteen or seventeen. The plateau tribes did not hold formal marriage ceremonies

At dances and ceremonies the Indians would wear masks and decorate themselves from head to toe with paint and feathers. Their masks might represent animals such as bears, lizards, owls, or other animals of special significance to the tribe.

The shaman, or medicine man, was an important official in the tribe. A shaman could be either a man or a woman who had special power, bestowed through dreams or visions.

Most tribes had more than one chief. One chief might assume leadership of hunting, one might be the war chief, and another might be responsible for the safety of the camp.

They believed that the earth was controlled by many gods. The earliest legends or stories passed down from one generation to another were about how the world was created, the discovery of fire, the salmon, and those relating to the physical features of the country.

Customs and Beliefs

Indians Food Tools Transportation Clothing Shelter