Essay

Plateau Indians

The Plateau Indians lived in teepees and pit houses. The pit houses were made out of fine timber wood. Villagers would ask neighbors to help make a pit house because it would take more than one or two people to build this pit house. Twenty or more villagers would help complete a pit house. Most pit houses would be completed in a day. Women began to the pit house by digging out dirt, with digging tools such as, scrapers and sharp flat blades. They were named pit houses because the houses were dug into the ground making a pit.

Plateau Indians didn't really have time to make art. Their art was more for survival than decoration such as mats that were used for protection from wind and rain and their baskets that were used for gathering camas bulbs. Cradle Boards more decorative than usual every day decorations. They were meant to be artistic and beautiful.

The Plateau Indians believed in a creator. This creator was known as old chief, the ancient one, or father mystery. Young ones were suppose to go on a journey to find their guardian spirit (vision quest). The children would find their guardian spirit by going off alone and fasting. During this time they sang and prayed for a vision. Their guardian spirit would usually appear as an animal species, or a sun, moon or mountain. This guardian spirit would help them guide him or her through life.

For food the Indians would travel between known sites on a yearly basis like the Dalles and Kettle Falls. They would fish in the same spot every year. Spring and summer was when the women and children would dig for camas bulbs. In late summer they picked huckleberries in the mountains. Women cleaned salmon and put them on wooden racks to dry. For hunting they would use a special technique this technique would be to surround their prey and then attack leaving the prey no way to escape or get out. They