Salish Indians

The Salish Indians were a Plateau group of people . their region lies between the Rocky Mountains and the coastal area which in parts is brush and sage semi-arid with pine groves and rivers .

They had loosely scattered bands that were autonomous but related to one another .

The Western groups like the Lillooet and Shuswap traded with the North Western coastal Indians and adopted some of their customs .

The Eastern Salish such as the Flathead were horsemen buffalo hunters and warriors with a well-developed system of tribal Chiefs and councils the same as the Plains Indians who they traded with .

The coastal Salish were good fishermen and hunters along the Pacific coast. These included the Bella Coola ,Tillamook ,Duwamish ,Chehalis ,Samish and Suquamish .

These groups like the Haida also practiced the Potlach  ceremony and had their own totem poles as they lived similar lifestyles to the Haida and other Coastal peoples .

They also kept a breed of dog called a Clallam Indian dog with   thick white woolly fur ideal  for making clothes and Blankets from .

To day some of the Salish people live-in North-west Montana on a reservation with 1.3millian acres of land known as the Flathead reservation .

The Coastal Salish to day live along the strait of Georgia ,Puget Sound ,Southern Vancouver Island ,and western Washington State .