The peoples of the Columbia Plateau were relatively few in number and depended on a wide range of roots and bulbs, seeds, berries, greens, fish, and animals that required them to travel many miles to gather, hunt, and fish. A village group that wintered on the lower John Day River, sheltered from storms and living in mat-covered longhouses, would venture in the spring first to nearby ridges for roots and then southward to present-day Spray and beyond, searching for camas that would be stored for the winter. Summer brought them to the Columbia River and its major tributaries to fish and to mountain meadows to pick berries. Most hunting occurred in the fall, as men traveled into the hills and mountains. The Plateau peoples’ proximity to one of the region’s great trading marts, near present-day The Dalles, enabled them to acquire goods from far-away places. But local plants constituted the most important source for manufacturing tools. Hemp became string and netting, tule rushes became soft mats, and cedar roots were transformed into baskets.
The Plateau peoples’ modest levels of population and wealth made for societies characterized by general equality. Very few held slaves, and leaders relied heavily on the consent and support of their people. Women were seldom political leaders but commonly became shamans or healers, religious specialists. But all people were expected to learn the daily and annual rituals required to navigate in a world shaped by powerful spiritual forces. Like other indigenous groups, Plateau peoples put a great deal of emphasis on kinship and intra-group harmony. They traced their descent through both parents and spoke various dialects of Sahaptin that peoples across the region could understand.
© David Peterson del Mar, 2005
