Like other tribes of the region, the Duwamish were organized in a complex social structure with classes of nobles, commoners, and slaves. They built their villages of cedar-plank homes, each housing a family, along the shores of water, bays, lakes, or rivers. Some buildings were erected for ceremonies, such as the gifting ceremonies known as the potlatch. Temporary structures of planks and cattail mats were built during warm-weather trips away from permanent villages.
The Duwamish, like other Northwest Coast Indians, used cedar dugout canoes for travel to fish, hunt, gather wild plant foods, and trade. Their boats, considered homes on the water, were built in varying designs depending on use. River canoes were rounded at both ends to deal with currents. Lake canoes were sleek and made for speed on calm waters. Ocean canoes had high bows and pointed ends to cut through tall waves. Part of the education of Duwamish youths involved developing skills in canoe building and repair and gaining knowledge of ocean tides, river currents, snags, and logjams.
Although the Duwamish possibly had contact with Spanish explorers sailing along the coast as early as the late 16th century, they remained isolated from outsiders until the late 18th century when Spanish and British interests competed for the region. European trading ships frequented Puget Sound, followed by overland traders of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In the 19th century, after being jointly held by Great Britain and the United States, the region became a territory of the latter. Non-Indian settlers arrived in the homeland of the Duwamish by the early 1850s.
@ Infobase Publishing
Coast Salishan shaman's board
World History
