Origins and Migration of the Salish Tribes
The Salish tribes, often referred to collectively as the Interior Salish or Pacific Coast Salish, depending on region, are part of a larger language family known as the Salishan languages. These peoples traditionally lived across a wide swath of the Pacific Northwest, including what is now Montana, Idaho, Washington, British Columbia, and parts of Oregon. Linguistic evidence suggests that the Salishan peoples may have originated along the Pacific Coast, gradually migrating inland over centuries.
As they moved, they adapted to different environments, from the river valleys of the Columbia Plateau to the forested mountains and plains of Montana. The term “Salish” itself is most closely tied to the Flathead people, but over time it has become an umbrella name applied to many related tribes sharing cultural and linguistic roots.
Salish Tribal Groups
The Salish peoples are a large cultural and linguistic family, spread across the Pacific Northwest of the United States and western Canada. Below is a breakdown of Salish tribes by recognition status and geography.
Federally Recognized Tribes (U.S.)
- Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (Flathead Reservation, Montana)
- Kalispel Tribe of Indians (Washington)
- Spokane Tribe of Indians (Washington)
- Coeur d’Alene Tribe (Idaho)
- Colville Confederated Tribes (Washington – includes Salish-speaking bands such as Sanpoil, Lakes, and Okanagan)
State Recognized Tribes (U.S.)
- Currently, no Salish groups are solely state-recognized, though some mixed-heritage communities include Salish descendants.
Terminated Tribes (U.S.)
- Several small Salish bands, such as the Chewelah Band of Indians in Washington, lost independent recognition during termination policies and were absorbed into larger confederations.
Unrecognized Tribes (U.S.)
- Chewelah Band of Indians (Washington)
- Other Salish descendant communities living outside federally recognized reservations
Canadian Salish Tribes
- Secwepemc (Shuswap) – British Columbia
- Nlaka’pamux (Thompson) – British Columbia
- Okanagan (Syilx) – British Columbia
- Stó:lō – Fraser Valley, British Columbia
- Musqueam – Vancouver area, British Columbia
- Squamish – Howe Sound region, British Columbia
- Tsleil-Waututh – Burrard Inlet, British Columbia
- Other Coast Salish groups along the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound
Pacific Coast Salish vs. Interior Salish
The Salish peoples are broadly divided into two main cultural groups: the Coast Salish tribes of the Pacific littoral and the Interior Salish tribes who lived further inland on the Plateau and into the Rocky Mountain regions. Though linked by language and certain shared traditions, their environments shaped distinct ways of life.
Coast Salish Tribes
The Coast Salish occupied areas along the Pacific Ocean, including Puget Sound in Washington and the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia. These communities relied heavily on marine resources. Salmon, shellfish, and sea mammals were central to their diet, and fishing technologies such as weirs, nets, and canoes were highly advanced.
Cedar trees provided material for longhouses, canoes, clothing, and ceremonial items. Coast Salish villages were often permanent, with large plank houses housing multiple families.
Their social structure was stratified, with chiefs, nobles, commoners, and slaves forming distinct classes. Potlatch ceremonies, involving feasting, dancing, and the distribution of wealth, were a cornerstone of Coast Salish culture, reinforcing social bonds and prestige.
Interior Salish Tribes
The Interior Salish lived in the Columbia Plateau and the northern Rocky Mountains, including present-day Montana, Idaho, and inland Washington. They adapted to a harsher climate and more seasonal resources. Hunting, fishing, and gathering were all essential, with salmon, deer, and roots like camas and bitterroot forming dietary staples.
Seasonal mobility was common, with pit houses providing winter shelter and mat lodges or tipis used during warmer months. After acquiring horses in the 18th century, Interior Salish tribes expanded onto the Great Plains, where they participated in buffalo hunts and integrated Plains-style tipis into their housing.
Compared to the Coast Salish, their social systems were more egalitarian, though chiefs and spiritual leaders held important influence. Storytelling, vision quests, and communal ceremonies played central roles in spiritual life.
Key Differences
- Subsistence: Coast Salish relied heavily on marine resources, while Interior Salish combined fishing with hunting and gathering, later adding bison hunting after the arrival of horses.
- Housing: Coast Salish built large cedar plank houses for permanent settlements, whereas Interior Salish used pit houses, lodges, and later tipis for seasonal mobility.
- Social Structure: Coast Salish societies were stratified with hereditary nobility and the potlatch system, while Interior Salish leaned toward egalitarian structures with leadership based on merit and consensus.
- Mobility: Coast Salish villages were semi-permanent and tied to rivers and shores, while Interior Salish moved seasonally to follow food sources.
- Spirituality: Both groups practiced animism and vision quests, but Coast Salish rituals centered on potlatches and seasonal celebrations, while Interior Salish emphasized personal vision quests and ceremonies like the First Salmon rites.
Traditional Salish Homes and Village Life
Salish tribes traditionally lived in dwellings suited to their environment. In the Plateau and inland forest regions, they often used semi-subterranean pit houses for winter shelter, insulated with earth and timber, which retained warmth during the cold months. In summer, they used mat lodges and tule-covered structures that were more portable and better suited to seasonal migrations.
The Flathead and other groups living near the Great Plains incorporated tipis into their culture, particularly after they acquired horses in the 18th century, which allowed for greater mobility.
Villages were often situated near rivers, providing water, transportation, and fish, which were central to subsistence. Extended families lived together, and communities were organized around kinship ties and cooperative labor.
Lineage and Social Structure
Among the Salish tribes, lineage was generally traced through paternal lines, though maternal kinship was also significant in cultural and social life. Marriages often reinforced alliances between bands or neighboring tribes, and kinship obligations extended widely across communities.
Chiefs and leaders were chosen based on skill, wisdom, generosity, and consensus rather than strict hereditary succession, though influential families often maintained leadership roles over generations. Social cohesion was strengthened through storytelling, ceremonies, and reciprocal gift-giving, which reinforced bonds within and between groups.
Subsistence and Daily Life
The Salish tribes developed diverse subsistence strategies to thrive in their varied environments. They were skilled hunters, fishers, and gatherers. Deer, elk, and mountain sheep provided meat, hides, and bone tools, while salmon and trout were staples for groups living along rivers and streams.
Roots such as camas, bitterroot, and wild onions were gathered seasonally, along with berries and nuts. Women played a central role in plant gathering and food preparation, while men specialized in hunting, fishing, and later horse-raiding and bison hunting on the Plains.
After the introduction of the horse in the 18th century, many Salish groups expanded onto the Plains to hunt buffalo, integrating this new resource into their economy while maintaining traditional fishing and gathering practices.
Children were raised collectively, with grandparents, aunts, and uncles all contributing to their education. They learned through stories, observation, and apprenticeship, gradually taking on adult responsibilities. Discipline was often reinforced with storytelling—such as warnings about the Seatco or Stick Indians—rather than physical punishment.
Seasonal migrations, ceremonies, and feasts structured the year, blending subsistence activities with cultural expression.
Arts, Crafts, and Material Culture
The Salish tribes are well known for their artistry and craftsmanship. They produced intricately decorated buckskin clothing, often adorned with beads, porcupine quills, and shells. Basketry and weaving were highly developed, with women crafting utilitarian and ceremonial items from willow, cedar bark, and tule reeds. Baskets served as storage containers, cooking vessels, and trade goods, and many featured geometric designs symbolizing spiritual beliefs.
Salish beadwork became especially prominent in the 19th century, with vibrant floral designs influenced by trade with Europeans. Blankets, robes, and other textiles incorporated dyed fibers and animal hides, often reserved for ceremonies.
Additionally, wood carving and stone tools were essential parts of daily life, with functional items often decorated to reflect cultural and spiritual beliefs.
Drums, rattles, and flutes were important in music, both for entertainment and ritual. Storytelling, song, and dance also formed vital parts of Salish artistic expression, serving both entertainment and ceremonial functions, and helping preserve tribal knowledge across generations.
Spiritual Beliefs and Practices
Religion among the Salish was deeply tied to the natural world. Mountains, rivers, and animals all carried spiritual significance, and visions or dreams were seen as important sources of guidance.
Young people often undertook vision quests, fasting and praying alone in nature to receive spiritual powers or guardian spirits. Shamans acted as healers and intermediaries with the spirit world, using song, dance, and ritual objects to cure illness and restore balance.
Seasonal ceremonies marked key moments in the subsistence cycle, such as the First Salmon ceremony, which honored the return of salmon runs. This ritual emphasized respect for the fish and ensured continued abundance.
Winter dances brought communities together for storytelling, song, and prayer, reinforcing social bonds during the harshest months. Even as Christianity spread in the 19th century through missionaries, many Salish blended new practices with older traditions, creating unique forms of religious expression that survive today.
Wedding Customs
Marriage among the Salish was both a personal union and a social alliance between families. Weddings often included gift exchanges, feasts, and ceremonies that involved both extended kin groups.
A prospective groom and his family typically provided gifts of horses, hides, or other valuables to the bride’s family, symbolizing respect and commitment. While arranged marriages occurred, especially to strengthen alliances, individual choice and affection also played roles in marital decisions.
After marriage, couples might live with either the bride’s or groom’s family, depending on circumstances, though patrilocal residence was more common. Monogamy was the norm, though in some cases polygyny was practiced among wealthier men with sufficient resources to support multiple households.
Burial and Funeral Practices
The Salish treated death and burial with solemnity and respect. The deceased were often buried with personal belongings, including clothing, tools, or ornaments, to accompany them into the next life.
Graves were typically located on hillsides or near ancestral lands, with cairns or wooden enclosures marking the site. Some groups practiced tree burials, placing bodies in platforms above ground, while others dug graves lined with timber.
Mourning included fasting, cutting hair, and ritual observances by family members. Communal gatherings and feasts often followed burials, allowing families and communities to share grief, honor the dead, and reaffirm social bonds.
Salish Legends
Salish oral tradition is rich with stories that explain the origins of the world, teach moral lessons, and entertain through humor and drama.
Among the most enduring figures in Salish mythology is Coyote, the trickster of the Kalispel, Spokane, and Flathead tribes. Coyote is boastful and foolish, frequently finding himself in humorous predicaments. Despite his flaws, he is ultimately a well-meaning figure who acts for the benefit of humankind.
Often, Coyote dies in comical ways during his adventures, only to be restored by his faithful companion Fox, sometimes described as his brother. These tales emphasize resilience, cleverness, and the importance of community support.
Another common motif in Salish legends is that of giants, larger-than-life beings who roam the land and challenge human heroes. These figures often serve as metaphors for natural forces and human struggles.
Similarly, stories of wild men or Stick Indians, also known as tsiatko or steta’l, describe mysterious forest-dwelling beings resembling the modern-day Bigfoot. Called Seatco, these creatures were feared as kidnappers of children or adolescents, taking them as slaves or wives. Parents often used Seatco tales to warn disobedient children. These myths underscore the deep relationship between the Salish and their natural environment, where every mountain, river, or forest might hold spiritual or supernatural significance.
Encounters with Europeans and U.S. Expansion
The Salish tribes first encountered Europeans through fur traders in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Trade brought new goods such as metal tools, beads, and firearms, which were quickly integrated into Salish life.
Contact also introduced devastating diseases such as smallpox, which decimated populations. In the 19th century, missionaries arrived, and many Salish adopted elements of Christianity while retaining traditional beliefs.
The expansion of the United States into Salish territories brought conflict, displacement, and treaties that confined tribes to reservations. The Bitterroot Salish, for example, were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands in Montana and placed on the Flathead Reservation. These changes disrupted traditional ways of life but also led to new forms of cultural adaptation and resilience.
Political Organization and Leadership
Traditional Salish governance relied on consensus and leadership through respect rather than coercion. Chiefs were chosen for their wisdom, generosity, and ability to lead in times of war or negotiation.
Spiritual leaders, often shamans, held equal influence, advising on ritual matters and healing. With the reservation system, tribes were forced to adapt to Western-style governments, adopting constitutions, councils, and federally recognized governing bodies. Today, tribal governments oversee not only political representation but also economic development, education, and cultural preservation, balancing modern challenges with traditional values.
Reservations and Modern Communities
Today, Salish tribes live on several reservations across the United States.
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes reside on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, a large and resource-rich homeland.
The Spokane Tribe maintains the Spokane Reservation in eastern Washington, while the Kalispel Tribe resides on the Kalispel Indian Reservation, also in Washington.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe lives on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation in northern Idaho. These reservations serve as political, cultural, and economic centers for their communities, supporting schools, cultural preservation programs, and enterprises such as forestry, fisheries, and gaming.
In Canada, the Secwepemc, Okanagan, and other Salish-speaking nations occupy reserves across British Columbia, maintaining their traditions while engaging with modern governance structures.
Cultural Continuity and Preservation
Despite centuries of upheaval, the Salish peoples continue to preserve and revitalize their cultural traditions. Language revitalization is a major focus, with tribal schools and programs teaching Salishan languages to younger generations.
Traditional ceremonies, dances, and storytelling remain vital, ensuring that cultural knowledge is passed down. The production of beadwork, basketry, and other crafts not only maintains artistic traditions but also provides economic opportunities.
Powwows, cultural festivals, and tribal museums further showcase Salish identity, bringing together community members and educating outsiders about their heritage. Through these efforts, the Salish tribes sustain their cultural integrity while navigating the challenges of modern life.
