Ethnobotany of the Middle Columbia River Native Americans
Intro
Plant list Intro Patterns of subsistence Caretakers of the land Fibers, textiles and building materials Traditional knowledge and the future Current issues and links
People have lived in Central Washington for over 12,500 years.
Before contact with European cultures people lived in close proximity to
the Columbia River, and journeyed up the valleys and into the Columbia
Plateau for seasonal hunting and gathering trips. People lived in very small groups,
made up of close family ties. These groups might have been composed of 2 to 15 people that
travelled to hunting and gathering grounds together.
As time went on the population of this area expanded and people began to form small bands, and
occupy small villages. Tribal groups in this area include Salishan speaking people to the north-
the Methow
(Mitois, Chiliwists),
Entiat
(Sinialkumuhs, Point de Bois),
Chelan
(Tsill-anes)
Wenatchee
(Pisquows, Wenatchi),
Sinkiuse
(Kawachens, Moses Columbia, Isle des Pierres),
and Shahaptian speaking groups to the south-
the Wanapums
(Sakulks)
and the now extinct groups of Pshwahwapam and Mical.
This area is thought to have sustained at least
20,000 to 30,000 Native Americans before infectious diseases, war, and the reservation system
decimated the population.
At the end of the last ice age, there were still mammoths, large bison, ground sloth,
giant beaver, and other now extinct animals that lived in this area.
During this period of time
people probably relied heavily on hunting for food. As time went on the
climate grew warmer and more arid, many of the large animals became extinct,
and parts of the forests
which covered this area were replaced by sagebrush and desert. As aridity increased plants
and animals such as pronghorn antelope and cactus that were already adapted to desert-like conditions
migrated into this area from the south.
People living here for the last 10,000 years had a great variety of
resources that were available to them. From the Columbia
River there was salmon, sturgeon, other fish, and river mussels. Elk, deer,
bighorn sheep, mountain goat, pronghorn, bear, rabbits, duck, geese, and other animals were hunted using snares and
traps, or by arrows and spears.
Although people were dependent on hunting, and in later times fishing for the majority of their
food, plant foods also played an important role. It has been estimated that up to fifty
percent of the diets of people were composed of plant foods. Plants were also important for
housing, clothes, utensils and tools.
