Who Are the Coast Salish?
The Coast Salish are a group of linguistically and culturally related Indigenous peoples inhabiting the Pacific Northwest coast, from the northern Strait of Georgia in British Columbia south through Puget Sound to the Oregon coast. They comprise dozens of distinct nations including the **Squamish**, **Musqueam**, **Duwamish**, **Snohomish**, **Tulalip**, **Lummi**, **Puyallup**, and many others—together numbering over **100,000 people** today. The Coast Salish developed one of the most complex hunter-gatherer societies in the world, based on abundant salmon runs, cedar resources, and marine foods. Their culture is distinguished by spectacular weaving traditions, elaborate spirit dancing ceremonies, and sophisticated watercraft technology. Major cities including Seattle, Vancouver, and Victoria stand on traditional Coast Salish territories.
Salmon: The Heart of Culture
**Salmon** are central to Coast Salish life, economy, and spirituality—they are not merely food but relatives returning from the spirit world to sacrifice themselves for human sustenance. Five species of Pacific salmon (Chinook, sockeye, coho, pink, chum) run up regional rivers at different times, providing food throughout the year when preserved through smoking and drying. Traditional fishing technologies included reef nets (unique to the region), weirs, dip nets, and harpoons. The **First Salmon Ceremony** welcomes returning salmon with ritual respect, ensuring their spirits return to the ocean to regenerate. Coast Salish peoples developed sophisticated management practices, ensuring sustainable harvests over millennia. Today, treaty rights to salmon fishing remain contentious, with tribes fighting to protect runs decimated by dams, development, and habitat destruction. Salmon recovery is inseparable from Coast Salish cultural survival.
Weaving and Material Culture
Coast Salish weaving represents one of North America's most sophisticated textile traditions. The iconic **Salish blanket** (or robe) was woven from mountain goat wool, sometimes mixed with dog hair from a specially bred wool dog (now extinct), and later from sheep wool. These blankets featured distinctive geometric patterns and served as wealth items, ceremonial regalia, and markers of status. The **Coast Salish loom**—a two-bar frame with continuous warp—produced uniquely constructed textiles. Weaving nearly died out in the early 20th century before revival efforts, led by master weavers like **Musqueam weaver Debra Sparrow**, brought it back. Today, Salish weaving is experiencing renaissance, with contemporary artists creating both traditional and innovative works. Beyond textiles, Coast Salish excelled in cedar technology—canoes, longhouses, boxes, baskets—exploiting the remarkable properties of western red cedar that dominated their forested homeland.
Spirit Dancing and Ceremony
Coast Salish spiritual life centers on **spirit dancing** (sxwayxwey and winter ceremonies), practices maintained continuously despite colonial suppression. During winter, dancers receive spirit power through intense initiatory experiences—extended seclusion, fasting, and ritual—emerging with personal songs, dances, and regalia expressing their unique spirit connections. These ceremonies heal individuals and renew community bonds. Unlike the more famous potlatch of northern Northwest Coast peoples, Coast Salish ceremonies emphasize individual spiritual experience within community context. The **sxwayxwey mask** tradition involves elaborate masked dancing at specific ceremonies. Christian missionization and Canadian/American laws banning Indigenous ceremonies (lifted only in 1951/1978) drove practices underground, but they survived and are now practiced openly. Spirit dancing remains central to Coast Salish identity, demonstrating the resilience of Indigenous spirituality.
Contemporary Coast Salish Nations
Today's Coast Salish peoples navigate complex relationships with the urban areas built on their territories. The **Duwamish Tribe**, whose chief Seattle gave his name to the city, remains federally unrecognized despite continuous presence. Other nations hold treaty rights and reservations, though treaties were often violated. Current issues include salmon recovery, land claims, cultural preservation, and economic development. The **Idle No More** movement found strong Coast Salish participation. Tribal governments operate enterprises, assert fishing rights through litigation and direct action, and revitalize languages and culture. Major institutions—the Burke Museum, Museum of Anthropology at UBC—collaborate with Coast Salish communities on cultural representation. Artists like **Susan Point** and **Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun** bring Coast Salish aesthetics to international art worlds. The Coast Salish demonstrate that Indigenous cultures can maintain identity while engaging dynamically with metropolitan modernity.
References
- Suttles, W. (1990). Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 7: Northwest Coast. Smithsonian Institution.
- Miller, J. (1999). Lushootseed Culture and the Shamanic Odyssey. University of Nebraska Press.
- Gustafson, P. (1980). Salish Weaving. Douglas & McIntyre.
- Thrush, C. (2007). Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place. University of Washington Press.