Plateau First Nations

There were six main tribes occupying the Plateau. There was the Interior Salisha which was the largest tribe, the Lillooet tribe which lived in the Lillooet River Valley, the Thompson First Nations which lived at the Fraser River Valley from Yale to Lillooet, The Shuswap which was the largest group in the Plateau which occupied the Fraser River Valley from Lillooet to Alexandria and the east part of the rocky mountain, the Okanogan occupied the Okanogan River Valley (the Lake First Nation also lived here), and finally, there was the Kootenay tribe, who settled in the southeastern parts of British Columbia after the Blackfoot took over in the 1750’s.

The Plateau First Nations lived in a climate that changes a lot and can sometimes be a hard place to live in. The western area of the Rocky Mountains had many different regions. The south part was a semi-desert, and the north was mostly all forest with wildlife. Between the north and the south, there was an area of rushing water and waterfalls.

The First Nations of the Plateau were influenced by the First Nations of the Pacific Coast. The Plateau First Nations traded many goods with the Pacific Coast First Nations. The Pacific tribes believed in clan ancestors which were adopted by the Interior Salish groups, but they did not adopt the social system.

To the Plateau First Nations, salmon migration was an important time. In the summer, the fish would swim up to the Pacific Rivers. The Plateau fishermen learned many ways to trap salmon. Stakes were lined up to make a wall, stopping the salmon from swimming any further, and then the fish were pulled out of the water with a scoop. Most salmon was smoked on a fire, and some of it was stored underground in pits. Other salmon was boiled in hot water to get oil.The Plateau First Nations hunted with weapons like . They used nets to capture some birds. They used deadfall traps to capture larger animals such as deer. They dug deep pits in the middle of a path that deer might be running on. They would stuff the pits with branches and leaves. Once the deer walked on the bunch of branches and leaves, it would fall into the pit and it would trap the deer underground.

Other than hunted deer, the Plateau First Nations also needed to eat wild vegetables. Camas was a lily bulb which was important but dangerous. The Camas with the blue flowers was OK to eat, as the Camas with the white flowers was poisonous. For safety reasons, the Plateau First Nations only gathered these bulbs while they were growing. They dug these bulbs with deer antlers.

The women in the tribe were responsible for cooking these roots. To cook these roots, a pit that was not too deep was dug. The pit was then filled up with hot stones. When the ground around the stones was hot enough, the stones were removed and a bunch of bulbs were placed in the hole, and the bulbs cooked overnight.

The First Nations of the Plateau made their berry cakes using Saskatoon berries. The berries were dried on racks covered with leaves.

The First Nations of the Plateau usually travelled on foot. The main rivers in the area were The Fraser River and The Thompson River. These rivers were very wavy so they were hard to canoe on. Although the Thompson First Nations made three types of canoes the birch bark canoe, the cedar dugout, and another canoe made out of animal skin with a wooden frame.Tribes did not need to travel if food was available. The Carrier tribe eat salmon that they had stored, so they did not need to hunt during winter. The tribes that were not able to store food had to go out to hunt in the winter and used toboggans to travel and dogs to carry their game.The Interior Salish tribe made their winter houses very differently than the other First Nations groups. They dug holes close to the river. The holes were then lined with spruce boughs and a cone similar to a teepee was then built over that. A log was made into steps and placed at the opening. Dried food was stored outside these winter houses. In the summer, the Salishan tribe lived in rooms covered with mats.

Other tribes made their homes out of pieces of cedar or spruce bark. The cedar homes had rooves that were slanted right down to the ground. While the spruce bark houses looked like two tents facing each other.

There was many types of clothing for the First Nations of the Plateau. The men wore buckskin shirts, breechcloths, leggings and moccasins, and the women wore longer shirts. Winter clothing was made out of rabbit or groundhog fur.

The Plateau First Nations believed in shamans who were believed to have the power to control the weather and heal the sick. Some tribes looked to this shaman for help. Some tribes even fasted hoping to get a spiritual vision. There were festivals in the winter where storytelling and dancing were important.