pip. No!' 2^3T McNARY RESERVOIR — SHINER 165 



War was important, at least after the horse and gun became common. 

 With it was a complex of raids, coups, scalps, and slaves. The bow 

 and arrow which were used in warfare were the principal hunting 

 weapons. Deer, elk, rabbits, antelope, and probably bison were 

 hunted, and both the drive and stalking techniques were used. 



The Columbia was one of the main food sources. Chinook salmon 

 were said to be the most important fish and they were taken by spear, 

 nets, traps, and weirs. From the river came also numbers of shellfish. 

 Surely as important as fishing in the economy was the gathering of 

 camas and kouse (tuberous roots) , berries, pine nuts, as well as seeds, 

 bark, and sap. Cooking was done by roasting food in an earth oven 

 or by boiling it. 



The Umatilla are said to have had dugout canoes and rafts. Their 

 houses were normally multifamily dwellings 60 feet long and 16 feet 

 wide. These were constructed of poles and mats over a shallow exca- 

 vation. Conical semisubterranean lodges were also used, as well as 

 sweat lodges and diying racks for fish. 



Other traits listed include armor, drums, flutes, whistles, pipes, 

 outdoor sports, and a first sahnon ceremony. 



THE SANPOIL* 



The people of this group shared a language and culture but were 

 not a political unit. The 1,200 to 1,300 Sanpoil lived in autonomous 

 villages along the Columbia in northeastern Washington. Their ter- 

 ritory of some 16,000 square miles included about 85 miles of the 

 Columbia as well as the Sanpoil Kiver drainage. Much of their river 

 frontage that included all their villages is now under the pool of Grand 

 Coulee Dam, 



Theirs was a classless, democratic society with no slaves. All mar- 

 lied men could vote and claim citizenship. Anyone was eligible for 

 chieftainship, a position of advisory powers only. Since the village 

 was the political unit there was no real tribal organization. There 

 was no imity in war, for the Sanpoil did not make war. Pacifism was 

 stressed to the point that even enemy raids were not retaliated. 



The permanent habitations were along the Columbia River, which 

 in this area is still a desert. Just north of the river there were forested 

 hills, but they were used only for hunting. It was the river that pro- 

 vided food, firewood (driftwood), water, and transportation. Shell- 

 fish also were used, as well as plants that grew along the banks of the 

 river. 



Fishing began in May and lasted until about the end of November. 

 The most important species was the Chinook salmon but others were 

 readily taken and dried. Several methods of fishing were employed ; 



^Material taken from Ray (1932). 



