Culture
Social Organization
Members of a family lived in groups called bands. These bands were formed and dispersed with the seasonal activities. Everyone in the band had to work and if someone failed to do a good job it can lead to freezing or starvation in the winter. The Men of the band hunted, fished, made weapons and tools, and took care of the horses, while the women set up tipis, cooked, dried fish, dug roots, picked berries and made clothing. The Headman(Chief) only had the power to persuade his people and he represented his band in tribal councils. The council of elders supported the chief and sometimes sub chiefs were elected to direct activities. Decisions were made democratically and the opinion of the majority is followed. The plateau people had slaves who were taken through war. These slaves often married their captors. Intermarriage was practiced to solidify political and economical unions between different groups.
Trading
Trading was important to the plateau people because they were located in the center of other tribes. Trading systems networked around fishing territories. These territories protected salmon suppliers from attacks and the salmon supplier supplied the groups around them with salmon. The plateau people traded with dried berries, tanned skin and mountain goat wool for seashells, dugout canoes and persevered fish with the Pacific Coast groups. The plateau people also traded dried salmon and salmon oil for shells, dried sea food and coastal wood, skins and moccasins for cedar boxes and blankets. They also exchanged ideas regarding social systems, technologies, and economies.
The plateau area is located in the center of the other areas
in western north America
What they believed
The plateau people believed that nature is sacred and the power of the world goes works circles. They belief in the circle of life comes from what experienced such as the season changes and the pattern of the stars. The plateau people believed that personal spirits guided them through life and without the guardian spirit they would not survive many battles. Children who are 7 - 8 years old would walk in the wilderness and stayed overnight by themselves seeking spiritual power(tiwatitmas); these vision quests were very important to boys. Purification rituals were preformed on boys who could not find their spiritual guardian. In this ritual the boy baths in hot or icy water and his skin is then teared with thorns. The medicine wheel represented the circle of life. The wheel points in four directions and each direction ment different things. South is the qualities of warmth and growth, West is the place to look within oneself, North is the direction of strength, endurance and wisom, and East symbolized peace and light. The plateau people used spiritual stories to explain natural activities.