Men's Responsibilities
Canoe Making, Fishing, Whaling, Hunting, & Woodworking
The role of Indian men in early history was that of fisher, hunter
and protector. The skills required to meet these demands varied from
region to region, that is from Coastal, to Puget Sound, to Plateau.
The environment in each geographical area determined the approach to
survival.
The basis for the economy of Indian tribes in Washington State was
fish. The salmon, originating in the ocean, ran thickly in natural
abundance in almost every river and stream. Fish formed the basis of
nearly all aspects of tribal life. Fish were so plentiful they were
used as a medium of trade in Coastal, Puget Sound and Plateau
regions.
To Indian people, fishing was and is more than a livelihood. It is
part of their culture and life. The right to fish and hunt was so
important that during the 1850s treaty period it was specifically
reserved for tribes and not transferred to the United States.
Canoe Making
Reference: Coast Salish Canoes,
Leslie Lincoln Cedar,
Hilary Stewart
The Indian's canoe was essential for obtaining a living. Without it,
he would have had no chance to trade, to visit or to go to war.
People often think of an Indian canoe as being made of birchbark but
the Northwest Coast Indians never saw such a canoe nor would it have
been much use to them in the rough waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Their canoes were dug out of the trunks of cedars, sometimes fifty
feet long and six or eight feet thick. The largest canoes could
carry eight to ten thousand pounds of cargo or twenty to thirty
people. Dugout canoes had various shapes and sizes. On the beach in
front of an Indian village, you might see five or six different
kinds of canoes drawn up, turned over and covered with mats to
protect them from the sun. Those that the men were using might be
floating in the cove, tied to a sharp, pointed paddle which was
driven into the ground like a stake. They made the sharp-ended
canoes for rough water and blunt ended or "shovel-nosed" ones for
still water. The sharp-ended canoe cut through the water like a
wedge or yacht; the blunt-ended one pushed the water away like a
scow or ferryboat. The sharp-ended canoes were used by the whalers
and ocean travelers who needed large, heavy craft, able to breast
high waves.
One secret of the construction was the extra curved projections at
bow and stern, carved from a separate piece of cedar and attached
with pegs. These added pieces gave the canoe the effect of a living
creature and Indians said "it was like a salmon, flat and wide in
the middle, tapering and curving up at both ends." The bow end
projected most, since this must spread the oncoming seas. In
landing, when the breakers caught the canoe from behind, it was
turned around and brought in stern first. The smaller canoes were
used for river work and fishing. They were of the same general
construction as the larger ones.
The blunt-ended canoe was for upriver people and adapted easily to
river travel. It was also well suited for sliding over sandbars and
being poled and pushed through little streams. It was shallow, round
bottomed and looked much like a tray. The ends of this canoe were
cut straight across and were carved or built out into little
platforms where a man could stand to spear fish, looking straight
down into the water, while another man paddled from the middle of
the boat. White men called the blunt-ended canoe a "shovel nose."
Not every man could make a canoe. Generally, there were one or two
men in each village who could make them better, and they were paid
for their work. Perhaps they had spirit helpers. A man might save
furs for years in order to visit that land of especially big cedars
and order the craft he wanted. The canoe maker had to choose a log
which was the right length and of even thickness all the way,
without branches. For the big seagoing canoes, this meant a giant
tree. The canoe was made from half or, perhaps a little more than
half, the cedar log which was split lengthways. It was roughly
shaped and hollowed out by splitting off slabs with wedges. The work
was done by patient charring with fire and hacking off the charcoal
with an adze.
The canoe maker measured entirely by eye until the dugout was
nearing its final shape. Then he bored holes through the sides of
the canoe at intervals and thrust a stick through to measure their
thickness. Later, he plugged these holes with pieces of wood. The
log had to be hollowed out, shaped and curved. The canoe maker
accomplished this using cooking methods. By pouring water into the
canoe until it was almost full and then adding hot stones, he was
able to achieve the desired shape. He built a fire under the canoe
at the same time; and, between the two, the wood was steamed until
it was soft and pliable. Meanwhile, stout pieces of yew wood were
cut just the width the canoe was to have at various points along its
length. At the center it would be considerably wider than the
original log, while it would taper at both ends. He wedged these yew
sticks between the gunwhales, like seats, so that they kept the
sides bulging. Then he dipped out the water and allowed the canoe to
dry in this curved shape. Finally, the thwarts (seats across the
canoe) were fastened tightly to the sides of the canoe by cedar
withes (tough, supple twigs), passed through holes in thwart and
gunwhale. Most canoes had extra sitting pieces pegged on at one or
both ends. The inside of the canoe was usually colored red. The
Indians made a sort of oil paint by mixing red ochre with fish or
seal oil as modern paint is mixed with linseed oil. After being
smoothed with sharkskin, the exterior was charred lightly with a
cedar bark torch. This singed off roughness and left it black.
Paddles were made from yew or maple wood and polished smooth with
sharkskin. Some were pointed at the end so they could be dug or
driven into the beach or bank to hold the canoe. Others were notched
so as to fit over a rope when the canoe was being towed.
Fishing
Fishing, primarily of salmon, was the main occupation of Coastal and
Puget Sound Indians. There were various methods for harvesting fish,
in both fresh and salt water: spearing fish in streams and rivers;
using dip nets, bag nets and reef nets made by the women of the
tribe; using wicker baskets placed in strategic locations in streams
to catch the fish as they ascended; as well as traps, weirs and
fences through which water flowed allowing for large quantities of
fish to be taken at a time when the fish runs were at their peak.
Weirs were built in the river to block the upstream passage of fish
or to guide them into a trap. The lattice was put up for the fishing
season and removed afterwards. The framework would remain in the
river all year being repaired as necessary.
Whaling
Some Coastal Indian tribes hunted whales. Their whaling canoes could
carry eight to ten people, and each person had a special job to do.
There was a watcher, several paddlers, two harpooners, and a
"sewer," this was the person who sewed the mouth of the whale shut
so it would not swallow water and sink. The whale hunt might last
ten or more days. Because there was not much space in the canoe, the
whalers could only carry a small amount of food and water so they
had to prepare themselves ahead of time. During the weeks before the
whale hunt they didn't eat much food or drink much water. To make
their legs strong, they would tie tree branches to their legs and
run through the water
The whalers also had to make all the tools they would need. Floats
used to keep the whale from sinking were made from seal skins. These
skins had to be filled with air when the whale was spotted. It took
quite a while to make the harpoons, the paddles and even the large,
strong canoe they would use for the hunt. Also, the hunters would
appeal to their spirit helpers for a successful hunt. It was
important to stay awake during the long days and nights on the open
sea. They had to continue searching the ocean for a passing whale,
and they also had to keep on course so they wouldn't get lost. To
stay alert and ready, the hunters rubbed their bodies with stinging
nettles. If they fell asleep, a whale might surprise them and upset
their canoe.
When the hunters returned home with the entire whale in tow buoyed
by the seal skin floats, the people from the village would paddle
out in their canoes to help pull the whale to shore. As it was towed
to the shore, the people would call out their greetings to the great
whale. They would give thanks to the whale for visiting the people.
Then there would be much to do to prepare the whale for all its many
uses--for the food it supplied and the tools that could be made from
its large body.
Hunting
Both large and small game as well as several varieties of fowl were
plentiful in the Coastal and Puget Sound regions. Deer and elk were
the preferred game meats and were usually hunted in the same area
and at the same time of year that huckleberries were picked. When
eaten fresh, game meats were boiled, steam baked or roasted before
the fire. These meats could also be smoked for later use.
Again, conservation was always practiced and only adult game were
killed and only as much as was necessary for daily consumption or
winter storage.
Art of Woodworking
Indian men of the Coast and Puget Sound used
their art of
woodworking for all sorts of purposes. The commonest were carving
the serving trays which looked very much like a shovel nose canoe.
Large ones for feasting might be three or four feet long and the
individual ones a foot or less. Poor people's trays were roughly
hollowed out but fine ones were polished and sometimes inlaid around
the edge with shells or sea otter teeth. A good carver made bowls
for fish oil out of yew, alder or maple knots instead of using clam
shells. He also carved wooden ladles. Some ladles were used for
serving from the tray and some were used like a cup from which they
sipped their food.
It was necessary for Indian people to make all their own tools and
utensils. Cutting, scraping and chipping stones were made from rock.
Wedges, adzes and other carving tools were a combination of rock,
bone or horn and wood with cedar bark twine and pitch used to
connect the various pieces. Woods such as yew or vine maple were
used for tools requiring more strength because cedar is very light
weight. Tool handles, wedges, bows, paddles, and spoons were all
carved out of a variety of woods. Digging sticks used for roots and
clams were made from a hard wood, pointed and then a horn or antlers
was added.
Tools for woodworking were wedges of wood, stone, bone or horn for
splitting cedar, mauls or hammers of stone used to drive the wedge
into the wood, and adzes with stone blades and wooden handles
attached using wild cherry bark or cedar bark twine. Carving knives
were made of sharpened shells set in wooden handles or of sharpened
rock. Drills were sharp pointed pieces of stone attached to the ends
of straight sticks. Wet sand, sandstone rocks and sand-coated string
were used in carving and shaping stone, bone and horn.
The water bucket was a square box made out of cedar with a wooden
handle run through holes near its rim. Some used the water bucket
for stone boiling, but the more northern tribes made them with lids.
They were made without nailing or sawing. These square,
solid-looking buckets were made by steaming the soft wood, bending
it into shape and then lacing it together. This meant boring a
series of holes in the two pieces to be joined, then lacing them
together with some form of stout cord, either rawhide or cedar rope.
When the four sides of a box had been prepared in this way, the
bottom was grooved and fitted in without lacing. These bentwood
storage boxes, ranging in size from small household sizes to larger
ones carried in canoes, were made in the same fashion. Some were
elaborately designed and carved, as the cedar not only lent itself
to steam bending, but was also most suitable for carving.
A man felt lucky if he obtained a huge mountain sheep horn from
which he could make a spoon or a bowl by cutting out a section. For
a bowl, the horn was steamed soft and cut into shape and figures
were engraved on it using a beaver tooth. The ladle was a shallow,
oval spoon, keeping the curve of the horn. Its short handle might be
plain, cut into open work or even decorated with a little animal
figure.
Other Photos/sketches from
Daybreak Star United Indians of All Tribes Foundation article -
1993. Do not reproduce without permission.
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