In addition, the Nootka would make slaves out of war captives. This was determined by the principle of primogeniture (birthright of the eldest son). Society: Each Nootka was ranked in society. During warm times the men would only wear ornaments while the women would wear skirts made from cedar bark. In the coldest times people of great wealth would wear sea otter and bear furs, while people of low wealth wore robes made from raccoons, wildcats, and other small animals. The only difference between the clothing of men and women was that woman also had an additional bark apron that would extend from the waist to the knees. The Nootka would move to their principal home sites in the winter when hunting and gathering was slow.ĭress: The men and women of the Nootka wore cedar bark robes during cool time. A whole years supply could be harvested and dried within a few weeks. The Nootka also gathered crab apples, roots, berries, and ferns. In late summer the villages would move to the mouths of rivers and streams to fish for salmon with nets.
Shellfish in the shore waters could be gathered with little exertion. Nootka Location: The Nootka lived along the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, and the northwest portion of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.ĭiet: In the early summer, the Nootka would move down to the coast to fish for halibut, herring, and cod along with hunting sea mammals. Like us to add to our archives, please contact us. If the author of this article would like to make changes to it, or if you are the author of another article you would
#The nootka tribe archive
Please visit our Article Archive Index forįurther information. The Indian chief wears a dress made of gaudy European trade cloth, sewn together and decorated with brass buttons by Thompson, who, as a sail maker, was able to fashion such materials to suit the native taste.This article has been archived from the now-defunct MSU E-Museum ()įor educational purposes. The illustration shows Maquina watching his captive blacksmith at work. This practice was followed by the French in seeking the alliance of the Senecas along the Niagara, and later by the English, when many of the employees, interpreters and agents of the Indian Department were also skilled workers in metal. Consequently the lives of smiths and armourers were generally spared to become slaves, and the whites who wished to gain the friendship of Indian tribes often sent gunsmiths to live among them. Jewitt settled in New England, and some years later wrote an account of his adventures, which contains much useful and interesting information concerning Indian life on the west coast.Īmong primitive races metal articles and workers in metal were always desirable acquisitions. They were held in captivity for three years, when they were rescued by the captain of another ship from Boston. Their lives were spared, Jewitt's because he was the armourer and able to forge and repair weapons and tools, and Thompson's whom Jewitt pretended was his father. The Indians captured the ship and massacred all the crew, with the exception of John Jewitt, the blacksmith, and Thompson, the sail maker.
A dispute arose between the captain and Maquina, the Nootka chief. In March, 1803, the ship Boston, of Boston, Massachusetts, arrived in Nootka Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, to trade with the Indians.
Jefferys' notes about this picture from The Picture Gallery of Canadian History Volume 2
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