Return to Northwest Coast of America exploration
In the north, Eskimo-Aleuts occupy the Aleutian Islands, the west of Alaska
bordering the Bering Sea and Strait, Kodiak Island, Prince William Sound and
parts of the Kenai and Alaska Peninsulas.
The Subarctic or Athabascan tribes occupy inland Alaska and Canada but also
live at Cook Inlet and on parts of the Kenai Peninsula.
The Northwest Coast peoples occupy the coastal mainland and offshore islands
from near Yakutat Bay in the north south to Washungton Strait.
A large range of physical conditions exist between Alaska in the north and Oregon in the south. That range is mirrored in a wide range of indigenous cultures. Being coastal dwellers, they have all been hunter-gatherers with a large dependence on the sea. Salmon and halibut have been principal sources of food, while seals and sea otters have provided clothing. Travel has been normally by sea in canoes and kayaks.
The boundaries between between tribes usually are, and have been, blurred and flexible. Pockets of one tribe may be found within the territory occupied by another. In many cases, there is a long history of conflict between adjacent groups, but in many other instances there has been friendly contact.
Many of the early incursions into the region by Europeans were to check on the supposed presence of another European country. Spain and Russia had a mutual mistrust regarding their motives for being in the region. The Native people were, therefore, incidental to the actions of Spain and Russia. For Russia, and Britain and America, the other two countries who were involved, their interest was also commercial. The sea otter fur trade was their principal reason for being there and the local people were the means of obtaining pelts. The welfare and the well-being of the local people was very low in the priorities of the Europeans. In fact, the Russians treated Aleuts and Eskimos as slave labour and killed off thousands of people. Introduced illnesses such as smallpox and influenza have also had disastrous effects and thousands more people have died as a result of these and other diseases.
Very few Europeans made an effort to study the Native peoples. As far as most were concerned the same people lived in Cook Inlet as lived on the Oregon Coast. All were Indians and not worthy of too much attention. Some of the visitors, though, did record their observations and they noted different ethnic types, different canoes, buildings, ceremonies, and other examples so that the complex diversity through the region began to be recognised. By the time the mapping of the region was achieved near the end of the eighteenth century, a picture was also evolving of the different tribes, their languages and where they lived.
If the story of early contacts from the European viewpoint is sketchy, then the story of how those contacts were seen from the other side is largely unknown or has been ignored. The Native people had an oral tradition so written records giving their version of events have been very scarce and the oral history kept within the tribe.
The violence was not just one way and there are instances of ships and men disappearing, possibly killed by local people. The first European ship known to have reached the Northwest Coast was the Sv. Pavel of Chirikov, which made land somewhere near Prince of Wales Island in Tlingit territory in July 1741. Two longboats left the ship and went to the shore, never to return. A Tlingit boat was seen shortly after and it is supposed that the boats and their crew had been captured.
In other the words, the visitors were fair game to be attacked if the opportunity arose. In addition, not all the exploitation was one sided. In some cases, local chiefs saw the value of befriending Europeans to gain guns and other materials with which they could attack neighbours and extend their own power and standing. Maquinna, the chief at Nootka, profited in this way, having received guns from various traders who stopped at Nootka.
Two distinct sub-groups of the Sugpiaq are recognised:
Koniags
The Koniags live on Kodiak Island, the eastern end of the Alaska Peninsula, and on the southeastern side of the Kenai Peninsula.
Chugach
The Chugach live in and around Prince William Sound.
The Haisla are the northernmost people of the Wakashan language group. Their territory centres on the Douglas Channel and Kitimat in the north and the Gardner Canal in the south.
Heiltsuk.
The Heiltsuk are the southern neighbours of the Tsimshian and the Haisla. Formerly known as the Bella Bella Indians, the Heiltsuk live along the coast between Princess Royal and Hunter Islands. Dean Channel forms their southern boundary. Heiltsuk people speak Hailhzaqvla, one of the Wakashan languages.
Kwak'wala.
Kwak'wala is the language spoken by the Kwakwaka'wakw people who live at the northern end of Vancouver Island and across Queen Charlotte Sound. The name Kwakiutl is also applied. Smith Inlet (Taxus) and Knight Inlet (Dzawadi) are the northern limits while the Brooks Peninsula is the southern limit.
The first contact came with Hanna and Strange in the mid-1780s who visited the northern end of Vancouver Island. Vancouver and Galiano led parties into Kwakwaka'wakw territory in 1792 from the east.
Nuuchahnulth or Nootka.
Nitinaht.
Makah.
The Makah form the southernmost branch of Wakashan speaking people and are the only one living south of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the northwest of present-day Washington State. Makah is the name given to them by neighbours. They call themselves Kwih-dich-chuh-ahtx.
The first contact came from Barkley and Meares in 1787 and 1788. Tatoosh was the Makah chief at the time. The Spanish attempted to build a base at Neah Bay in Makah territory in the early 1790s but soon abandoned the project.
Quileute.
Quileute occupied the Pacific coast to the south of Cape Alava. There was contact with Barkley's voyage in 1787 when a longboat party from the Imperial Eagle was all killed near Destruction Island off the mouth of the Hoh River.
Chemakum.
The other branch of Chimakuan was Chemakum, formerly based in a small area around the Quimper Peninsula and noth of Hood Canal. Vancouver's longboat party from Port Discovery in June 1792 made sevral observations about Chemakun customs.
Northern Coast Salish.
Three sub-groups, the Comox, the Pentlatch and the Sechelt, make up this grouping, who occupy both sides of and the islands in the Strait of Georgia, north of Texada Island. Sechelt and mainland Comox are on the mainland from Jervis to Bute Inlets while the Pentlatch and island Comox occupied part of Vancouver Island.
Vancouver and Galiano led their expeditions here in 1792 and had contact with these local peoples. As the sea otter was not found in any numbers in the Strait of Georgia, the area was not visited by the fur traders. Central Coast Salish.
Four sub-groups, the Squamish, the Halkomelem, the Northern Straits people and the Clallam, make up this grouping. The occupy the mainland from Howe Inlet south to the north of Bellingham Bay, the southeastern corner of Vancouver Island, most of the south coast of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and most of the islands between the Strait of Georgia, Admiralty Inlet and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
After Barkley identified the Strait of Juan de Fuca, several Spanish expeditions ventured into the area inhabited by these people. Quimper, Eliza and Galiano led expeditions, all of which had contact. In 1792, Vancouver's expedition passed along the territory of the Clallam as well as having contact with the San Juan islanders and the people of Burrard and Howe Inlets.
Southern Coast Salish.
The Twana and the Lushootseed, who can be divided into two subgroups, Northern and Southern make up the Southern Coast Salish. The Southern Lushootseed live around Puget Sound while their northern relations are on Whidbey Island and the mainland north of Everett. The Twana are the other group making up the Southern Caost Salish and they occupy the area on both sides of the Hood Canal.
Vancouver led a longboat expedition up Hood Canal in 1792 and then took his ships deep into Puget Sound. His crew had contact with local people on many occasions there and in the Whidbey Island areas.
Southwestern Coast Salish.
The Southwestern Coast Salish includes two groups that occupy lad on the Pacific Coast of Washington State. Quinault inhabit the area around Cape Elizabeth and Point Grenville, while the Lower Chehalis live around Gray Harbor.
Hezeta and Bodega visited the coast in 1775 and suffered when some of their men were killed in Quinault territory. Meares visited in 1787 while Gray and Vancouver were here in 1792.