Food and Cooking
of the
Northwest Coast Indians
The rich Northwest coast environment provided a variety of foods for the Indian inhabitants. Fish, along with land and sea mammal meat, were the principal foods. This diet was supplemented with shellfish collected from the beaches and plant foods such as berries, fern roots, and camas bulbs.
There were several methods of cooking these foods. Boiled meals were heated in water-tight wooden boxes or baskets by means of heated stones, which were lifted from the fire with wooden tongs and dropped into the container. A second method was steam cooking, using large shallow pits lined with hot stones. Food was placed on the rocks, covered with leaves and mats, and soaked with water to produce steam. Fish and meat were also roasted over the open fire, baked on beds of coals, or dried for future consumption.
The main meal of the day was prepared in the late afternoon, although food was available for snacks at any time.
Each meal usually included two main dishes – a boiled liquid food serve in a wooden bowl and eaten with spoons, followed by meat or fish, served on small cedar bark mats and eater with the fingers.