Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians (though comprising many groups) are Indigenous peoples of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada, and the non-coastal regions of the Northwestern United States.
Their territories are located in the inland portions of the basins of the Columbia and Fraser Rivers. These tribes mainly live in parts of the Central and Southern Interior of British Columbia, northern Idaho, western Montana, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, and northeastern California. The eastern flank of the Cascade Range lies within the territory of the Plateau peoples.Pritzker, 249
There are several distinguishing features that differentiate plateau culture from the surrounding Native cultures. These include a high reliance on roots, such as biscuitroot and camas, as a food source, a high reliance on short duration salmon and eel runs, and long-term habitation of winter villages at fixed locations along rivers or lakes. There was a lack of social stratification and a lack of tribal organization beyond the village level.
Range
In Canada, the greater part of the Interior Plateau was inhabited by Interior Salish peoples: the Lillooet tribe whose homelands are in the Lillooet River Valley; the Thompson First Nations, whose homelands are in the Fraser River Valley from Yale to Lillooet; the Secwepemc (Shuswap) of the Fraser River Valley from Lillooet to Alexandria, the upper parts of the Thompson River basin, and areas further east; the Okanagan of the Okanagan River Valley and its vicinity; also the Lakes people of the Arrow Lakes. The Kutenai tribe, who live in the southeastern parts of British Columbia and formerly extended to southwestern Alberta, speak an isolate language. Athapaskan-speaking people, the Chilcotin and Carrier, occupy the northernmost part of the Plateau region.
The First Nations of the Plateau were influenced by the First Nations of the Pacific Coast. The Plateau First Nations traded many goods with the Pacific Coast First Nations. The Pacific tribes believed in clan ancestors which were adopted by the Interior Salish groups, but they did not adopt the social system.
In the United States, Interior Salish people inhabited the Columbia River and its tributaries above Priest Rapids, near present-day Mattawa. Sahaptin people inhabited the Columbia River and its tributaries between Priest Rapids and Celilo Falls near the Dalles, Oregon and up the Snake River to near the Washington - Idaho border. The Nez Perce inhabited the Clearwater and Salmon River basins and the Snake river through Hells Canyon. The Cayuse homeland is the Blue Mountains and the valleys of the rivers that flow from them. The Molala inhabited the eastern side of the cascade mountains in Oregon. The Klamath people inhabited the upper Klamath River basin and had close contact with people from the California cultural area, though their lifestyle and language were more characteristic of plateau culture.
The Columbia River below Celilo Falls was inhabited by Chinook people. Chinook people on the lowest portion of the Columbia are considered part of the Northwest Coast. Sahaptin groups also lived in Western Washington on the Mashel River and upper Cowlitz River. The Willamette Valley was inhabited by the Kalapuya people. Having no major salmon run, their culture was somewhat different from other plateau people,Towles, Jerry C. 1979. "Settlement and Subsistence in the Willamette Valley: Some Additional Notes". Northwest Anthropological Research Notes, 13: 12–21. maintaining oak savannas similar to many California Native people.
History While plateau people kept no written records, the prehistory of the plateau region can be partially reconstructed by a combination of oral traditions, linguistics and archeological evidence. There is archeological evidence of human presence on the plateau for at least 12,000 years. The Marmes Rockshelter and Kennewick Man are two examples of early human presence. Over time human technologies adapted to the unique environment. Earth ovens near camas meadows have been found that are up to 8,000 years old.Thoms, Alston Vern. 1989. "The northern roots of hunter-gatherer intensification: Camas and the Pacific Northwest". PhD Thesis Washington State University Around 4,000 years ago, there was a shift in the archeological record from small bands to larger semi-sedentary villages, and a shift towards root processing tools, hallmarks of plateau culture.Ames, Kenneth and Alan Marshall. 1980. "Villages, Demography and Subsistence Intensification on the Southern Columbia Plateau". North American Archeologist, 2(1): 25–52.
Linguists and oral traditions point to several comparatively recent movements of people. According to language comparisons, the interior Salish peoples expanded onto the plateau from the vicinity of the lower Fraser River. This expansion reached as far as Montana, was complete around 1,500 years ago.Suttles, Wayne P. 1987. "Coast Salish Essays". Talonbooks Likewise, Athabaskans on the plateau are part of a relatively recent expansion from northern Canada and Alaska, as recently as 1,000 years ago. The Kalapuya people spread into the Willamette Valley, likely from the south, in the last 1,000 years.
The recent expansion of Numic people across the Great Basin displaced several groups on the southern edge of the plateau. This process was still occurring at the time of European contact.Sutton, Mark Q. 1986. "Warfare and Expansion: An Ethnohistoric Perspective on the Numic Spread". Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 8(1): 65–82. Around 1730, horses were introduced onto the plateau from the Great Basin and were first adopted by the Cayuse and Nez Perce. This greatly changed the range and lifestyle of these groups. This transition was still underway when Europeans arrived.
According to their oral tradition, the Kutenai people originated to the east, and moved onto the plateau in late pre-historic times.
European contact Outside influences began changing life on the plateau decades before the first direct contact with Europeans. There is strong evidence the smallpox epidemic of the 1770s spread across the plateau region, greatly reducing the population.Roberts, Boyd. 1999. "The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence: The Introduced Infectious Diseases and Population Decline among the Northwest Coast Indians, 1774-1874". University of Washington Press Members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were the first Europeans to encounter plateau Native people, followed a few years later by Alexander Ross and David Thompson. All commented on the dress, diet and generally peaceful nature of the inhabitants.Ross, Alexander. Adventures of the first settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River. London: Smith, Elder and Co. 1849, pp. 145-147. In the following decades, several trading posts were established in the area, including the long-lived Fort Nez Perce, Fort Colville, Fort Okanogan, and Fort Kamloops. Several more epidemics hit the area with the Lower Columbia area being the hardest hit. Some Chinook and Kalapuya groups saw a 90% reduction in population at this time. The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic devastated the coast as well as some parts of the interior.
While there was some minor violence, serious armed conflicts did not begin until the mass migration of European Americans to the southern portion of the plateau region, starting in the 1840s. Through a series of treaties and conflicts, including the Cayuse War, Yakima War, Coeur d'Alene War, Modoc War, and Nez Perce War, Native people on the southern plateau were confined on reservations and their traditional lifestyle was largely disrupted.
Tribes and bands
Plateau peoples generally self-identified by their wintering village or band, as opposed to a tribe. Intermarrying between groups was common and in many cases encouraged. Different groups shared hunting and foraging ranges. After European contact, Native people were classified into tribes led by chiefs, in order to facilitate negotiation and land settlements. Commonly recognized plateau tribes include the following:
Chinook peoples Cathlamet, Washington Clackamas, Oregon Clatsop, Oregon Kathlamet Multnomah, Oregon Wasco-Wishram, Oregon and Washington Watlata, Washington
Interior Salish peoples Chelan Coeur d'Alene Tribe, Idaho, Montana, Washington Entiat, Washington Flathead (Selisch or Salish), Idaho and Montana Bitterroot Salish Kalispel (Pend d'Oreilles), Washington and Montana Lower Kalispel, Washington Upper Kalispel, Montana In-SHUCK-ch, British Columbia (Lower Lillooet) Lil'wat, British Columbia (Lower Lillooet) Methow, Washington Nespelem, Washington Nlaka'pamux (Thompson people), British Columbia Nicola people (Thompson-Okanagan confederacy) Okanagan, British Columbia and Washington Sanpoil, Washington Secwépemc, British Columbia (Shuswap people) Sinixt (Lakes), British Columbia, Idaho, and Washington Sinkayuse Sinkiuse-Columbia, Washington (extinct) Spokane people, Washington St'at'imc, British Columbia (Upper Lillooet) Wenatchi (Wenatchee)
Sahaptin people Upper Cowlitz or Taidnapam Kittitas (Upper Yakima) Klickitat people, Washington Lower Snake people: Chamnapam, Wauyukma, Naxiyampam Nez Perce, Idaho Palus (Palouse), Idaho, Oregon, and Washington Skinpah (Skin) Tenino (Warm Springs Bands) Umatilla, Oregon Walla Walla, Washington Wanapum, Washington Yakama, Washington
Other or multiple Cayuse, Oregon Cowlitz, Washington Klamath, Oregon Kalapuya, northwest Oregon Atfalati (Tualatin, northwest Oregon) Mohawk River, northwest Oregon Santiam, northwest Oregon Yaquina, northwest Oregon Kutenai (Kootenai, Ktunaxa), British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana Modoc, California and Oregon, now also Oklahoma Molala (Molale), Oregon Nicola Athapaskans (extinct), British Columbia Upper Nisqually (Mishalpan)
Languages Plateau tribes primarily spoke Interior Salish languages in the north and Plateau Penutian languages in the south. Chinookan languages were spoken on the lower Columbia and Kalapuyan languages were spoken in the Willamette valley. These are often classified as Penutian languages, but this classification is not universally agreed upon. In the northernmost portion of the plateau Athabaskan languages were spoken. Each of these language families consisted of multiple languages that were not mutually intelligible. Many of the individual languages had several dialects with significant differences.
The Ktunaxa speak the Kutenai language, which is a language isolate. The Cayuse language died out shortly after European contact and is poorly documented. It is sometimes called an isolate, and sometimes classified as Penutian, most closely related to the Molala language. Even before relocation onto reservations, many Cayuse had adopted the Nez Perce language.
Material culture
Diet Traditional Plateau cuisine include wild plants, fish, especially salmon, and game. Plateau peoples often had seasonal villages or encampment in different areas to take full advantage of the wild foods. Women gathered a large variety of edible vegetables and fruits, including camassia, bitterroot, kouse root, serviceberry, chokecherry, huckleberry, and wild strawberry.