The Nootka (Makah, Nitinat, Clayoquot, and Kyuquot)

Notes from the North American Indian by ES Curtis

Language: Wakashan
Location: The west coast of Vancouver Island from Cape Cook to Port San Juan

Dress: Both sexes wore cedar-bark or fur robes pinned together at the right side, and women had in addition bark aprons extending from the waist to the knees.

Dwellings: The primitive Nootka house had a roof sloping from front to rear and supported by beams running in the same direction, which in turn rested on heavy posts. The wall boards were horizontal.

Religion/Ceremonies: The principal ceremony was the wolf dance, "Tlugwana," which was an elaborate winter performance of masked dancers who dramatically portrayed a myth concerning a capture of a youth by the Wolf people and his recovery and "taming" by his friends. A ceremony called "Tsayek" by the Makah was performed by medicine-men when other means had failed to heal a patient.

Quotes from "the North American Indian":
"The Nootka tribes, composing one branch of the great Wakashan linguistic stock, of which the Kwakiutl are the other, inhabit the west coast of Vancouver island from Cape Cook to Port San Juan, and in the United States, the territory about Cape Flattery from Hoko creek to Flattery rocks. The Cape Flattery people are the Makah, a name applied to them by their Salish neighbors. The Nootka of Vancouver island embrace a considerable number of tribes inhabiting favorable portions of the shores of the intricate fiords that cut deep into the island. Among the better known of these tribes are the Nitinat, Clayoquot, and Kyokuot."

"As to their mentality, it is sufficient to say that it ranks no higher than their physical attractiveness. They believe, of course, that the earth is flat, but have never speculated as to its extent or the shape of its boundaries. The celestial orbs are thought to pass over and under the earth, but as to the nature of these bodies the Nootka possess no opinion. The tides have so important a bearing on their daily existence that their recurrence is accurately anticipated, but the Nootka mind is blank when asked to explain the phenomenon. For all that, it must not be inferred that the Nootka is an utter savage; he possesses a relatively abundant mythology, and in the product of his hands he stands high among the natives of northern America."

"The various groups of Nootka villages were mutually hostile. Permanent peace and friendship existed only within the limits of the dialectic unit, and not always then. Between these groups there were intervals of peace for purposes of trade, the news of the truce being spread by means of messengers sent among the nearest neighbors from the villages that desired to be visited by trading parties of the other tribes. From these neighbors the report quickly flew to the most distant parts of the west coast. In the absence of such a truce, any canoe passing the village of another tribe was fair game for the fighting man who felt impelled to enhance his reputation by taking a head or capturing a slave."

"The most successful whalers are those who, even though they inherited the profession, have found an object which represents the supernatural whale. This object is either a double-headed, black worm eleven inches long and an inch and a half thick, or of a certain species of crab. Seeing either of these creatures, a man must throw his spear at it. If it be the worm, he takes it up and preserves it as a charm; if the crab, he removes the right claw and the breast of the shell."

"When a hunter died, they erected at the grave a pole bearing a carved image of the animal he was most accustomed to hunt; or the image was set in a canoe placed near the coffin. Sometimes the house in which a person of very high rank died was torn down, and the material was burned or erected in a new spot. The contents were given away, and contributions by the people provided the family with the necessities of life."

"Like the other tribes of the North Pacific coast, the Nootka recognized three classes of society: hereditary nobles, commoners, and slaves. The nobles, or chiefs, ruled with a high hand, and the common people were, in most instances, servile henchmen, grateful for the protection of their masters. Slaves were prisoners of war, or their children born into captivity."

from the Curtis Collection