Description
A North American Indian tribe that lived along the Columbia, Yakima, and Wenatchee rivers in what is now the south-central region of the U.S. state of Washington. As with many other Sahaptin-speaking Plateau Indians, they were primarily salmon fishers before colonization. They led by a chief. The chief was chosen by a council of elders, and was respected by all the tribe members. He had to listen to the elder council most of the time, and did not have very much political power. The most he could do was advise or persuade his people to do what he thought they should. They believe that the Creator created the world and all its inhabitants. They believe that the Creator made laws that they must follow, and that he created the first man and the first women.
Language
Sahaptin or Shahaptin, is one of the two-language Sahaptian branch of the Plateau Penutian family spoken in a section of the northwestern plateau along the Columbia River and its tributaries in southern Washington, northern Oregon, and southwestern Idaho, in the United States.
Culture
They spent the coldest months in winter villages located on the valley floor, a place with warm climate and source of wood and water, and protection from cold. Villages were established on or near waterways, where food could be obtained of deer, elk, fish, riparian and desert plants, and animal resources. In the springtime, when greens appeared above the ground, yhe tribe relocated to the countryside. The melting snows would be followed upland, and edible roots collected when found. Some would go to the rivers to fish. Others stayed in the mountains, following the maturing plants upslope, ending with the huckleberry harvest in the fall. At that time, foods would be either stored or transported back to the winter village from both the mountains and the rivers, and people would settle in, once more living on stored foods and occasional fresh meat until the next spring.