In the early 19th century, the Lewis and Clark Expedition made contact with the Chinook and described them as a peaceful, prosperous people. Many groups have First Generation Stories - family stories that tell of the origin of the group, and often of humans themselves arising in specific locations along the coast. In this cloud-shrouded refuge, ice and sea continue to sculpt the land as they have for untold thousands of years. The same safe and trusted content for explorers of all ages. The Northwest Coast Indians are Native Americans who lived along the Pacific coast and on offshore islands of northwestern North America. Employing octave singing, but rather than running up and down the scale, it is not uncommon to jump notes and go from bottom to top or top to bottom in a couple of notes. They are believed to have been more connected to Interior Salish peoples, before Athabaskan-speaking groups now inland from them spread southwards, cutting the Nuxalk off from their linguistic relatives. Southwest Indians - Pueblo is not the name of a tribe. In pre-contact and early post-contact times, the number of nations was much greater, but as in the rest of the region, smallpox and other consequences of contact resulted in the disappearance of some groups, and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. These early people chopped down and split massive cedar trees using beaver teeth and stone axes. Famous tribes of Northwest Coast American Indians included the Haida, Chinook, Coast Salish, Eyak, Tlingit, Chimakum and Tillamook. They also created beautiful baskets and even hats which were important in the rainy Pacific Northwest. Haida communities located in Prince of Wales Island, Alaska and Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (previously referred to as the Queen Charlotte Islands) also share a common border with other Indigenous peoples, such as the Tlingit and the Tsimshian. The Haisla (also Xa’islak’ala, X̄a’islakʼala, X̌àʼislakʼala, X̣aʼislak’ala) are an indigenous nation living at Kitamaat in the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. They built the framework of the houses with cedar posts and attached planks to form the walls and roof. A related people, known as the Clatskanie (/ˈklætskɪnaɪ/) or Tlatskani, lived on the south side of the Columbia River in northwestern Oregon. Northern Kalapuyan groups, such as the Tualatin and Yamhill, would obtain slaves through trade with other tribes. The chief held a great amount of power, but all adults other than slaves could voice their opinions on group affairs. Nathaniel Portlock, a British ship's captain, described as having "expected to have seen a numerous tribe" but instead found "only of three men, three women" as well as the oldest of the men "marked with the small-pox", when referring to the Tlingit people in the North West Coast. The Tlingit Indians are Native American Indians from the Pacific Northwest Coast of America and Canada; more specifically in southern Alaska in the United States and British Columbia and the Yukon in Canada. Historically, the Pacific Northwest had many Native Americans. Choose a language from the menu above to view a computer-translated version of this page. The songs employed are used with dancing, although it is also for celebration, which at times may not be accompanied by dancing. As with the “noble house” societies of medieval Japan and Europe, social stratification operated at every level of many Northwest Coast societies. 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