Chinook Indian Talk

Re: Need info on chinook indian totem poles

From: tenas kumtux
Date: 1/20/2003
Time: 3:49:02 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.209.170

Comments

Though they shared many customs and beliefs with others peoples of the Northwest Coast the making of large Totem Poles was not one of them.

This is not to say that they did not create remarkable carve wooden objects. The large canoes they carved were the equal of any carved along the coast.

They also showed great skill and care in carving household objects, as noted by John Work while among the Cathlamet-Chinook:

“May 19, 1824. The houses of the Indians are generally well stocked with mats and baskets, some of them very ingeniously worked, and a variety of troughs, platters and other vessels of wood. Numbers of these are in the shape of hogs and other animals, the hog seems to be preferred.”

The type of “Hog” that Mr. Work refers to is up for debate. The domesticated hog was introduced to the area in 1811 by the Astorians, and was quickly adopted by the natives. However, I believe that Mr. Work was actually viewing stylized carvings of seals or sea lions. To him, they looked like hogs.

Two days prior to this Mr. Work and a company of men from Astoria had the good fortune of stumbling into a Potlatch being thrown by the Wahkiakum-Chinook. “Here we found an abundance of salmon, which the Indians freely gave to the people” “They served the salmon up to the people in large wooden dishes or hollow boards resembling a canoe several feet long”

The various people of the Northwest coast lived and worked in close contact with one another, and for this reason they shared a good many customs. The Potlatch is a custom they all shared, and one should note that “Potlatch” is a Chinook word.

The carving of large Totem Poles as symbols of wealth, status, and family history was practiced by peoples hundreds of miles north of the Chinook.

These large Totem Poles evolved from carved house posts and the Chinook people did have carved house posts. Meriwether Lewis noted this on March 24, 1806 while among the Cathlamet Chinook.

“These people are very fond of sculpture in wood of which they exhibit a variety of specimens about their houses. The broad pieces supporting the center of the roof and those through which the doors are cut seem to be the pieces on which they most display their taste. I saw some of these which represented human figures setting and supporting the burden on their shoulders”

To get an idea of how these might look go to: