14 Facts About Coast Salish

Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U S states of Washington and Oregon.

Coast Salish are a large, loose grouping of many nations with numerous distinct cultures and languages.

Coast Salish cultures differ considerably from those of their northern neighbours.

Warfare for the southern Coast Salish was primarily defensive, with occasional raiding into territory where there were no relatives.

Many Coast Salish mothers altered the appearance of their free-born by carefully shaping the heads of their babies, binding them with cradle boards just long enough to produce a steep sloping forehead.

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Unlike hunter-gatherer societies widespread in North America, but similar to other Pacific Northwest coastal cultures, Coast Salish society was complex, hierarchical and oriented toward property and status.

The Coast Salish held slaves as simple property; they were not members of the tribe.

Art of the Coast Salish has been interpreted and incorporated into contemporary art in British Columbia and the Puget Sound area.

Coast Salish-made bowls in the Northwest have different artistic designs and features.

Coastal Salish beliefs describe the journey to the underworld as a two-day adventure.

Coastal Salish people believe that through dances, masks, or ceremonies they express themselves through the spiritual powers that they are given.

Villages of the Coast Salish typically consisted of Western Red Cedar split plank and earthen floor longhouses providing habitation for forty or more people, usually a related extended family.

Coast Salish later took to constructing rock walls at strategic points near the Fraser River Canyon, along the Fraser River.

Coast Salish peoples' had complex land management practices linked to ecosystem health and resilience.