Traditional Stories of the Northwest Coast Nations
CHAPTER ONE 4
NORTHWEST COAST STORYTELLERS It is November in the village The canoe paddles have been put away Now the people in the big cedar house by the shore are coming together Children aunts uncles and grandparents gather under the house’s roof It is a time for sharing Friends catch up on the news As the sun rises an elder signals a story is about to begin Children lean forward Will there be a journey to the sky Will Raven play a trick The story begins The longhouse has historically been an important meeting place for many Native American nations including the Haida of the Northwest Coast 5
THE NORTHWEST COAST AND ITS PEOPLE The Northwest Coast presses against the Pacific Ocean to the west It is more than 1,500 miles 2,400 km long The region begins in southern Alaska a diverse land with many islands and fjords The Northwest Coast’s rocky shores sweep south into British Columbia Washington and Oregon In these areas the wild coast gives way to giant trees There are stands of pine fir and cedar The forest creeps west up the steep Coast and Cascade mountain ranges Some of the peaks here reach more than 10,000 feet 3,000 m high Native people have lived in the Northwest for thousands of years More than 40 different Native tribes in at least five distinct cultural regions live along the coast and islands Among the tribes are the Tlingit Haida Makah and Chinook The tribes are diverse in The distinctive landscape of the Northwest Coast influenced the people that live there 6
