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 |  | Monday November 23, 2009 3:08 AM |
 | | Questions and Answers about the Spokane Indians | |
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Who were their neighbors?
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To the East, North and West, the Spokane
Tribe lived next to tribes that spoke languages
they could understand - the Coeur d'Alenes, the Flatheads,
the Sanpoils and the Colvilles.
To the South lived
the Nez Perce and the Umatillas.
These tribes spoke a very different language than the
Spokanes. But Pat Moses pointed out that there were Spokanes
who could speak both Salish and the Nez Perce Shapitan language.
In spite of their different languages,
all these tribes shared a similar way of life.
Their food supply was primarily based on the
huge salmon runs that took place every year
on the Columbia River and the rivers that
ran into the Columbia.
Salmon was supplemented by
gathering of wild plants and by hunting.
They lived in villages and shared similar
myths and religion. They used similar kinds
of clothing and houses.
Scientists group these tribes together into
what they call the Columbia Plateau culture.
Further to the East in Montana, lived the Blackfoot Tribe.
They were enemies of the Spokanes.
They had a different way of living, based on the
hunting of the buffalo. They belonged
to the Plains culture.
To the West, across the Cascade mountains, were Indians
of the Northwest Coast cultural area who lived next to the ocean,
among the huge trees of the Pacific coast.
Further to the South, were tribes
who lived in the dry deserts of Utah and Nevada.
And further to the North,
were the Athapaskan tribes who lived in the vast and cold Canadian forests.
More Information
The Spokane Indians are part of the Plateau culture,
having similarities with many of the other tribes in
the area.
The Plateau cultures were grouped by language into
Salishan speaking tribes (Coeur d'Alenes, Flathead, Sanpoil, Colville)
and Shapitan speaking tribes (Nez Perce, Umatillas)
(1) Language aside, they share many
cultural traits.
To the East of the Columbia Plateau area were indians
of the Plains culture. The major neighbor of were the Blackfeet of
Montana, who were enemies of the Spokane and Coeur d'Alenes.
The blackfeet would raid the Flatheads, and would attack the
Plateau Indians when they went to the Blackfoot territory
to hunt buffalo.
To the West, across the Cascade mountains, were indians
of the Northwest Coast cultural area. And to the South, were tribes
of the Great Basin culture. To the North, though the Spokans did not have much contact with them,
were the Northern Athapaskan tribes of the Canadian forests.
Look at this map - you can see the neighboring tribes.
Here is one anthropological overview of the regional cultural areas:
Plateau: Salish languages; salmon fishing supplemented
by hunting and collecting; bilateral descent; village minimal
political unit; diverse spirits, shaman; semisubterranean winter
house, summer dwelling of reeds or mats, basketry important, bark
fiber clothing.
Northwest Coast: Na-Dene languages in the north, Wakashan
languages in the south; salmon fishing, hunting of sea and land
mammals; matrilineal descent in the north and patrilineal descent
in the south, slaves, commoners, and nobles; rich men as leaders,
village maximal political unit; potlatch, secret societies, elaborate
winter ceremonial round; large, rectangular, gable-roofed plank houses,
totem poles most important in historic times, large dugout canoe,
elaborate woodworking technology; stress on the ownership of material
goods.
Plains: dominated by Macro-Siouan speakers; bison hunting; descent
bilateral but with patrilineal alternative; emphasis on war, alliances
of bands, military societies; tipi of bison skin, dog-drawn travois,
bison important for skin clothing, bone tools; dung as fuel.
Great Basin - Baja: diverse language families; gathering
vegetable foods such as acorns and pine nuts with hunting more
secondary; bilateral descent dominant, elaborate female puberty
ceremonies; band organization; shaman, ceremonial round poorly
developed, diverse supernaturals; temporary dwelling, developed
basketry.
(1) Fuller, George W., A History of the Pacific Northwest (2nd ed rev.),,
New York, 1958, pp. 38-39
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Last Updated
December 24, 2004
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