ANST-601 Lessons

Upon entering the Ancient Studies classroom for the last time this year, the students discover the professor sitting cross-legged upon her desk. Her eyes are closed while her hands rest gently in her lap. She smiles, opens her eyes, and gestures for the students to take their seats.

Have you ever tried to meditate, my dears? I find it to be a wonderfully relaxing and calming practice, which I often employ during times of great stress. Speaking of which, your O.W.L.s are looming. Now, do not be afraid of these tests. As long as you study hard, take good care of yourself, and are thoughtful before you answer the questions, you will do just fine.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we still have one final group to discuss this year: the Salish. You may have noted that I said group instead of civilization in reference to the Salish, which is a purposeful choice. The term Salish does not refer to a civilization per se, but to an ethnically and linguistically linked group of separate civilizations living in the same general area.

Located on the west coast of Canada and the United States, there are actually two subdivisions of the Salish linguistic group: the Coast Salish and the Interior Salish. For our discussions today, we will be focussing more specifically on the Coast Salish peoples, who are located around Vancouver and Victoria area in the province of British Columbia as well as in the coastal areas of Washington and Oregon in the United States. Within this group of people are several civilizations, including the Nooksack, Squamish, K’omoks (sometimes referred to as Comox), and more. You can see a more comprehensive, albeit not quite complete, list of the civilizations here if you are interested, however you are not required to memorize it.

To be clear, these peoples are related historically, and have many similarities in their daily life, but are distinct in many ways. For example while their languages are certainly related (much like the Romance languages of Spanish, French, and Italian are) they are certainly not the same, nor even mutually intelligible, in some cases, meaning that a person from one Salish civilization might not be able to understand one from a different civilization despite both being part of a similar ethnographic and linguistic group. Naturally, they also have many distinct differences in their cultures. However, what we will reflect on today are the aspects of their cultures that link them together, as well comparing and contrasting the general Salish group with the other cultures we have discussed this year.

Coast Salish Way of Life

The Coast Salish people arrived via the Beringian Bridge, which we discussed in Lesson One this year, approximately 10,000 years ago and still live in the coastal area of British Columbia, Canada today. Similar to all coastal peoples, they subsisted mostly on fish and game as well as berries and vegetables foraged from the grasslands. They had both summer and winter camps, with the winter camps being permanent and the summer camps moving around wherever game could be found.

Dissimilar from other civilizations of that era, Coast Salish civilizations were based on a patrilineal system instead of a matrilineal  one. That is, when a couple married, the wife joined the husband’s family, and family possessions and status were passed down through the male line.

While you may extrapolate that this patrilineal system would mean that a male chief led these peoples, you would be incorrect. In fact, the Coast Salish civilizations were rather democratic in nature. Historically these societies were led by a group of individuals - male or female- who were highly respected by their communities. These groups, or councils would discuss the nature of the issues at hand and come to an agreement on how they would be handled.

The people who made up these councils were quite fascinating. Firstly, there was more than just one main council, which is what you may be imagining. There were usually several, all with different jurisdictions, and furthermore these councils were in a constant state of flux. A question regarding where to find live game this season would go to a different group than a question about potential acts of war. But how did people decide who weighed in on what? The people simply took the issues to those with the most experience and best judgement to decide what to do.

Secondly, the members of these councils were highly respected for various reasons. Some members of the council came from families who were considered wealthy, as they had gathered a great number of possessions and respect through their prowess at hunting, gathering, fighting, etc. The other members of this council were valued for their great intellect, especially in terms of strategy, as well as their ability to work with spirits.

If you spotted the word “spirits” and then immediately thought about magic use, you are starting to think like a magianthropologist! Well done! Indeed, these individuals were generally referred to as shamans or medicine men/women, and they had the ability to work with spirits. More specifically, they used their magic to confer with spirits (a form of divination), diagnose illness, and heal the sick, the latter of which was their primary focus as shamans. The abilities of a shaman were, for the most part, inherited and both men and women were equally able to join the community of shamans as long as their ability to communicate with the spirits proved to be strong. They began their training around the age of ten and learned directly from the other shamans of their tribe. As highly respected individuals, they were expected to work only to heal, and not to injure. There is enough anthropological evidence to conclude that the majority of these shamans over the years were indeed what we now term witches and wizards.

Aside from the shamans, there is also some evidence that the Salish peoples had an unusually large number of animagi within their society, as evidenced by a significant number of traditional stories that involve those abilities, along with the number of living Salish witches and wizards that have mastered that skill. It is a situation that seems rather prevalent in the native witches and wizards of North America, but not a phenomenon that is widely understood at this time. There is a great mythos in the Salish community regarding shapeshifting, which will be discussed in greater detail in Mythology.

The Totem

One final aspect of the Salish peoples that I would like to touch upon is their relationship with nature. Similar to the Mi’kmaq, the Salish always placed a strong value on their relationship with nature and other living creatures. This respect was demonstrated not only in their mythology, but also in their artistic creations. For example, their totem and spirit animals were carved into totem poles representing their clans and histories.

Did you get a close look at the image? Do you see what is depicted at the top of several of the totem poles? Yes, that is the thunderbird! Here again is a reference to a known magical creature that had a significant influence on the cultures of a number of peoples. I will save most of the details for Mythology class, but suffice to say that the thunderbird is greatly respected by the Salish and comes to aid the people in their histories, along with other creatures such as Raven, who brought the people the sun, moon, stars, and fire, as well as coyote and fox who guided the people.

Conclusion

And that is all for Ancient Studies this year! You do have a quiz to complete today, as well as some optional class feedback, however, neither will be too taxing. I do hope you have enjoyed our class this year, and hope to see you in Year Seven, where we will be exploring the ancient civilizations of Asia and Oceania.

Best wishes!

Image credits here, here, and here
Original lesson written by Professor Liria Morgan