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Camas was an important food that was gathered in the spring. |
Plants and animals were very important to the Indians. They used them for food and also made baskets and mats out of grasses, and tools out of animal bones. The plants that they ate included camas bulbs and other roots, nuts, acorns, and berries. These plants could be eaten fresh during the spring and summer or dried to eat during the winter months. |
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This young Squaxin girl holds a cedar basket used for gathering plants.
Photo courtesy of the Squaxin Island tribe. |
The inner bark of cedar trees was pounded until it was soft and then used to make skirts, dresses, hats, and capes. These clothing items could be rubbed with grease to make them waterproof. Cedar was also important for making canoes, an important method of transportation for people who lived close to the water. Cedar baskets could be decorative or functional. Indians today still weave baskets in the traditional ways. |
The most important source of food for Indians was Puget Sound and the rivers and creeks that empty into it. The waters of Budd Inlet provided clams, oysters, mussels, moon snails and barnacles. It also provided fish – flounders, herring, and most importantly, salmon. Several times a year the salmon returned from the sea to the rivers of their birth, a journey of hundreds of miles. They were welcomed with great respect and celebration. |
Squaxin Island Tribe member Cecelia Bob dries shellfish in the traditional manner.
Photo courtesy of the Squaxin Island tribe. |
Arrowheads like these, found in an archaeological dig at Tumwater Falls, were used to hunt animals.
Courtesy of the Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma. |
Tribal people also hunted animals such as birds, seals, deer, elk, beaver and rabbit. Meat could be eaten fresh or smoked over a fire to preserve it. The skins of animals were sewn together to make warm and decorative capes or blankets.
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