The Northwest Coast peoples of Canada and the Haida were greatly influenced by the environment. This affected their political structure, social organization, daily life, religion, art, and economic subsistence. The people lived on the coast and relied on the land and sea for food, clothing, and shelter. They built their communities on the inlets where they would be close to the water since they depended so heavily on it.

The Northwest Coast peoples never developed democracy; instead their leader was
determined by how wealthy they were. Their society had different social classes: nobles, commoners, and slaves. Groups of families lived together and formed villages. Each village had a Chief, and the Chief’s family crest would be on the village totem poles. The Northwest Coast peoples were unique in political structure because they recognized the ownership of other people’s land and property.

Since the temperature was moderate all year-round, the Northwest Coast peoples lived in permanent settlements. The men were responsible for hunting, fishing, building, and carving. The women did the cleaning, cooking, and looked after the children. They also dug for clams, shellfish, collected berries, and pounded and softened cedar bark for weaving and making clothing.

The Northwest Coast peoples believed in a Great Spirit or Ne-Kilst-Lass in the Haida language. They believed that it created the world, coaxed them out of a shell to see the world, organized clans, gave the people their ceremonies (such as the Potlatch), language, culture and more. They also believed that the spirit could change form and turn into other animals such as the raven. They believed in supernatural beings, and that there were spirits in the animals, so they always respected them.

The Northwest Coast people’s art reflected their spiritual beliefs, ancestry, and wealth. It was made to impress others and also showed social status. They used cedar trees in various types of their art: totem poles, canoes, and masks. They used cedar bark and spruce roots to make hats, and shells were used to decorate button blankets and masks. They made copper shields, horn bowls, ladles, and spoons. They did engraving, made tattoos, and painted chests. They also used animal symbols in their family crests.

As said in the beginning, the Northwest Coast peoples depended greatly on the water around them. From the Pacific Ocean, they could get halibut, smelt, crab, seaweed, whale, clams, oysters, mussels, sea otters, seals, turtles, and oils. From the forests, they hunted deer, elk, mountain goat, and even bear. They also gathered plants from their environment for food. Above all, salmon was the most important food.

It is clear that the environment played a key role in all the aspects of the Northwest Coast people’s lives, and they always remembered to respect their environment.

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