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What did they eat?
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Fish, roots, berries and meat.
The most important source of food was fish - eels, suckers, trout, and especially salmon.
They were caught using spears, traps, or nets.
Some were eaten fresh, but large amounts of fish were dried on elevated
wooden racks or kept in storage pits, so they could be saved and eaten in wintertime.
Another important source of food were roots of certain plants.
The main root was the camas bulb, but bitterroot, onions, wild
carrots, and parsnips were also gathered.
Roots were dug with digging sticks provided with cross handles of antler or wood.
They were then cooked in earth ovens heated by hot stones.
Many roots could also be saved for the winter.
Berries were still another important source of food -- serviceberries,
huckleberries, blueberries.
Hunting for meat occasionally played an important role, even in the winter.
The Indian hunted with the bow and arrow and perhaps a short spear.
The Indian hunted primarily deer but also bear and caribou.
In the winter he tracked animals on long and narrow snowshoes; in the summer
he could use a canoe, and later, horses.
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