By kuvin and christianna People of the plateau By kuvin and christianna

Location and environment The plateau people lived in south east bc and southwest Alberta. They lived in the Okanagan and Shuswap area. It was surrounded by the rocky mountains. They figured to live here because of a lot of water resources and hunting resources witch they can kill an animal and eat it. They feasted off the salmon runs and they would get so much salmon that they could put it in storage and it could last them a very long time.

clothing Its was the woman's job to make all the clothing for the entire family. They made dresses, leggings, shirts, jackets, and robes. They used animal hides (skin of a dead animal), grass and soft tree bark. For the hides they mostly used beavers, muskrats and deer. The woman had to scrape the animal hide to make it smooth and soften it and this took a very long time for them. Their moccasins were made out of deer and salmon skin and were decorated also. A woman scraping an animal hide:

Art They often made rock paintings out of red ochre mixed with animal oil and fish eggs. They were very common in south bc. The paintings were human like paintings and spiritual paintings. The women were excellent weavers and they made baskets, blankets and mats. The baskets were for carrying and storing goods. They were made out of cedar and spruce tree bark

Language The languages they spoke were divided into three major groups. They were athapascan, salishian and Ktunaxa. Athaoascan was in northern bc and alberta. Salishian was based in Okanagan, Lillooet and Shuswap. Ktunaxa was based in kootenay which the least popular of the three.

Food The men were very good hunters and there were a lot of animals in the the plateau regions. They hunted mostly deer and caribou as food. They would only get salmon on the yearly salmon run. They were also amazing fishers. They had several methods of fishing and they caught a lot of fish in one time. It was the woman's job to prep and cook all the food while the men had to get all the food and hunt it.

Shelter The plateau people lived in pit houses or teepees. Pit houses were used mostly during the winter so they can stay warm. A pit house was a shelter built mostly under ground with an entrance and ladder at the top. The first step in making a pit house was to dig a deep hole into the ground using a shovel. The walls of the house were built with logs and sealed with dirt to insulate it. The dome roof was also made out of wooden sticks, and covered with layers of tree, dirt and bark. The chiefs put house was twice the size of the normal persons house.to build a pit house often took a very long time. Teepees were mostly used in spring fall and summer. It was above ground and was built from wooden sticks.

Politics The leader of the tribe was called the chief. He would make sure that there is no crime in the village and would be like a prime minister to them. He made all the laws and make sure people did their job and punish criminals. He would have the loudest voice in decision making for anything.

Culture and religion The most important religious leaders were called shamans. They had special powers that they could heal the sick and tell the future. They would do this by communicating with the spirits. They believed that a coyote would carry salmon from the river to the very top of the mountain in spring and each salmon represented each person that is in their present form. They called the coyote the creator. This is one of the cultural and religious myths they told.

Technology/tools For their fishing tools they had harpoons and they used nets and set up barriers so they couldn’t pass through and they could catch them. For hunting they also used harpoons. They also used knifes, bow and arrows and fox knives. A fox knife is a knife that is curved at the blade part and a wooden handle shaped as a horses head.

Survival They made amazing use of their resources. How could you not? They had everything. Tons of water resources. Such as rivers creeks and lakes. They could easily fish with all the lakes and rivers. They had fresh clean water and salmon. On top of that the wildlife was a lot. The lived near the mountains so there were deer, caribou, hare, muskrats and coyote. These animals were also clothing with the fur. They can also use the hides for making homes. There is so many trees so they can also make their homes. Clothes, foods, water and shelter. That’s all you need to survive.