Description
The term Cowlitz people covers two culturally and linguistically distinct indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest; the Lower Cowlitz or Cowlitz proper, and the Upper Cowlitz / Cowlitz Klickitat or Taitnapam. Lower Cowlitz refers to a southwestern Coast Salish people, which today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes: Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, and Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation. The Upper Cowlitz or Taitnapam, is a Northwest Sahaptin speaking people, part of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Before 1800s, Cowlitz villages dotted rivers that drained into larger rivers, what is now called the Columbia watershed. From the high mountains to the lowlands, rivers provided transport with efficient and brilliantly constructed crafts.
Language
Cowlitz is a Tsamosan language of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages. It was spoken by the Lower Cowlitz people of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and is spoken today by both Lower and Upper Cowlitz people. Although it went dormant in the 1960s, it is being revitalized by the Cowlitz Tribe.
Culture
The Cowlitz tribe was unique among other tribes of Western Washington and Oregon in that they did not typically have access to saltwater or the coast and the Columbia River's resources were of little use to the tribe. Salmon was important to their diet, but not as much as compared to other tribes; as they were accomplished hunters who relied on harvesting roots as diet supplements, and utilizing horses for multiple purposes. The Cowlitz tribe completed a yearly cycle where they inhabited locations during certain seasons and harvested seasonal crops, in preparation for cold winter months. The season started in spring, when the Cowlitzes left their cedar houses along the river and streams by traveling via canoe and horseback to harvest camas bulbs, roots, barks, and grasses to make mats, fishnets, and basketry.