User:OldManRivers/Sḵwxwú7mesh culture

Historical and cultural context
An important distinction is to be made about Sḵwxwú7mesh culture. With the history of colonization and assimilation stategies, Sḵwxwú7mesh culture has been drastically changed from their pre-European contact times. Despite these attempts, their culture remains intact and thriving. Even though still, some cultural practices and customs are not done in the same fashion, but still occur. These could be things like construction of cedar bark clothing, where modern clothes are worn just like the rest of Canadian society, the art of cedar bark weaving is still passed on and cedar park clothing is still made. So it's important to understand that the practices of the Sḵwxwú7mesh have changed, many still continue, same as before, and some slightly changed.

Architecture and shelter
Sḵwxwú7mesh buildings and architecture is similar to neighboring indigenous peoples. The most common dwelling household was a longhouse, typically around 30 feet wide, 40 feet long and from 19-13 feet high. Sḵwxwú7mesh, and by extension Coast Salish, architecture was significantly different from northern or western counterparts like Kwakwaka'wakw or Nuu-chah-nulth households. Villages would be situated with a number of longhouses, each holding numerous families. Sometimes, up to 5 or 6 families, all related through kinship would be living under one roof. For larger villages, larger longhouses were constructed for hosting large festivals and ceremonies. These longhouses measured at 200 feet long by 60 feet wide.

Longhouses were made with cedar, either red or yellow, found in abundance in their area. For some longhouses, large beams would hold up the room with the walls built around the beams. Foods, tools, and other items belonging to the families would be storage underneath the bleachers build around the wall or hanged from above. The floor was largely made up of dirt or sand.

Another occurrence was the use of rock shelters. Large boulders situated around their traditional territory were used as shelter during hunting or other trips.

Ceremonies and events
In Sḵwxwú7mesh culture, ceremonies, events and festivals were the highly of community life. Ranging from community gathers in feasts, to spiritual endevours in ceremony, these events were a big part of the culture. The most studied and practiced event was the potlatch. It is important to note that a Sḵwxwú7mesh potlatch differed quite differently from the Northern tribes and their festivities. In a Sḵwxwú7mesh potlatch, a large feast is held and the community, nation, or neighboring nations are invited to partake. Highly wealthy families and individuals host these potlatch for different events taking place, and to distribute the resources and wealth accumulated. A potlatch would usually occur around events such as birth, coming of age, naming ceremony, marriage, or memorial event for the diseased. It is in the winter months that most potlatching take places, where historically summer was used for traveling and harvesting.

At at potlatch, in their language a tl'e7en k , the host would invite guests to feast in foods prepared and harvested. Blankets would be purchased or made, then distributed to guests. At the events, the host would hire a speaker to speak for the family in the proceedings. For special potlatches, a special platform would be constructed, around 10 or 15 feet high, 5 feet wide, where the host and his speaker would pile a number of blankets, either bought or made by the hosts own family, and distribute the blankets to the guest. The speaker would call out names of guests, usually highly respected or high ranking, taking a blanket and throwing it out for that guest. But typically a crowd would amass below, ready for the falling blankets, waiting for it to fall. While the blanket came down, the other guests would have knives and spears ready to tear apart the blanket. Thus, the blanket would be torn and split up into multiple pieces. After attended a few potlatches, the guests would procure enough wool to construct their own blanket.

In other ceremonies, a young woman, sometimes the daughter of a highly respected man, would be placed atop a mound of blankets. This mound would match her hight. Sitting atop the blankets, a ceremony would take place around here, while she sat atop and her family nearby. During some ceremonies, people situated around the house would take wooden batons and beat on plank drums situated through the house. When a young girl would stand up, she would dance around the house with a shawl on, and everyone else would beat and sing. When she was done, one man would take down, from duck, swan, or eagle, and sprinkle it over her.

For large festivities, a bigger house then the normal dwelling would be built. These are Potlatch Houses or tl'e7en k áẃtxw. One longhouse was measured at 200 feet long by 60 feet wide. These houses could hold over a thousand guests, invited from far along the coast. The house would be decorated would down, sprinkled through out the floor of the house. The longhouses in Xwemelch'stn is one of these types of houses. One potlatch was recorded at Xwáýxway in 1875. In the longhouse, a large cedar slab dwelling, a large ceremony with guests of people from nearby nations, Vancouver Island, and the Interior British Columbia. This potlatch was hosted by August Jack's father, named Supple Jack.

Language
The Sḵwxwú7mesh snichim, or Sḵwxwú7mesh language, is of the Coast Salish linguistic group, most closely related to Sháshíshálh (Sechelt), and Sḵ'emin'em (Halkomelem) and Xwsa7km, which is called in its own language Nowxs'a7aq (Nooksack). Many anthropologists and linguists have worked with these people and their language including Franz Boas, Charles Hill-Tout, Homer Barnett, and Aert J. Kuipers. In 1968 the BC Language Project undertook more documentation of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh language and culture. Randy Bouchard and Dorthy Kennedy were the main collaborators on this project. They devised the present writing system that is used for the Sḵwxwú7mesh language. At around 3,300 people, the language has only 15 or so fluent speakers left, many who are in their 60s and 70s.

Language revival has been ongoing since the 1960's. Different elders and teachers have recorded the language, then taught it in classess. Currently four elementary schools and one high school in North Vancouver offer Squamish-language classes. There is also a immersion school, from K-4 to Grade 3, in Xwemelch'stn. There are plans to expand the school to Grade 7.

Visual art
Tatooing!

Games and sports
Sḵwxwú7mesh daily life included an array of games and sports. One of the most well known game played is bone game or slahal. The game is played with two opposing teams. There is two sets of "bones", and two sets of sticks, numbering from 7-11 for each team. When a game is in play, one of the two teams will have two sets of "bones", shown above. When your team is guessing, you objective is to get the right bone, the one without the stripe. When you have the bones, your objective is to make sure the other team guesses wrong on the bones set. When the other team guesses wrong, you gain a point. When a team has the two sets of bones, two individuals will hide the bones and swap them around from hand to hand. Eventually the bones are brought forward, but are concealed as to now show the other team what one has a stripe on it. The game is usually accompanied by drumming and singing used to boost morale of the team. The side that has the bone sings, while the other tries to guess. The musical accompaniment is also sometimes used to taunt the other team. Gambling could be done by players, or spectators of a match. Placing bets on teams, or individual matches within the game between one guess and the other teams bone hiders.

Other games included some played by children, and some played specifically by the warriors to prepare and train themselves. Some sports are similar to modern day lacrosse, rugby, and soccer.

The Sḵwxwú7mesh game called t k '7kw'ala, similar to lacrosse was played in villages. A smooth oval stone, weighing about three pounds, would be used by teams of two, around 6 on each team. There were no sticks or nets on open spaces. The goal posts were six feet apart on each side of an open space.

In the last few decades, canoe racing has become popular among Coast Salish. It's done with specifically designed canoes, called War Canoes or Racing Canoes. They are based off of the more traditional canoe styles, but it is quite modern design. The canoe is usually a foot or two above water level, with enough width for one man. Different races include single, double, or 11-man races. The races themselves are held in the summertime.

Transporation
The Sḵwxwú7mesh transportation methods was either foot or by canoe. Different styles existed for different types of sea's. Sea-going canoes, typically larger, would utilized on the open ocean. They could also be cargo-canoes for trading large amounts. Smaller Inlet-style canoes, used in calmer waters and shorter travel to near-by villages or neighboring people. Being a coastal people, the main way or transportation was through canoe pulling. Intricate paths and trails also existed with more interior nations.