COAST SALISH

Salish-speaking Indians of the Northwest Pacific Coast of North America, living around the Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound, southern Vancouver Island, much of the Olympic Peninsula, and most of western Washington state. One Salishan group, the Tillamook, lived south of the Columbia River in Oregon. The Bella Coola (q.v.), a group living farther to the north in British Columbia, probably migrated from the main body of Coast Salish. The coastal peoples, in turn, probably came from the interior, where other Salishan peoples lived. They were culturally similar to the Chinook (q.v.). Like other peoples of the Northwest Pacific Coast, they lived principally on fish, although some groups living along the upper rivers relied more heavily on land hunting than was typical of the area. The Coast Salish built permanent wooden winter houses and sometimes mat lodges like the Interior Salish for camps and temporary stations. The basic social unit was the local group consisting of close relatives. Each group, or extended family, usually lived in one large house, and groups of houses formed a winter village of people who scattered during the summer for fishing, hunting, and berrying. The ceremonial distribution of gifts in the potlatch (q.v.) was made to acquire prestige. Elaborate ceremonies held during the winter consisted of dances inspired by spirits in dreams or trances and also of certain privileged performances to which individuals or groups acquired exclusive rights by inheritance, marriage, or purchase. Many of these distinctive features of their culture have gradually faded.