Indians 101: The Coast Salish vision quest

The area along the Pacific Coast north of California and between the Cascade Mountains and the ocean, is the home to many Indian nations who traditionally based their economy on the use of seacoast and river ecological resources. This is an area which stretches from the Tlingit homelands in Alaska to the Tolowa homelands in northern California. The southern portion of the Northwest Coast, in what is now Washington and Oregon, was the homeland for many different Salish-speaking tribes known collectively as the Coast Salish. While these different Indian peoples spoke related languages, they were culturally, politically, and religiously distinct.

In Indians of the Northwest Coast, Peter Gerber reports:

“The Coast Salish are the most heterogeneous of the Northwest Coast Indians; the only actual connection among them is that their languages belong within the same language family.”

In terms of territory, the Greater Puget Sound region tends to be Salish territory, with some Coast Salish groups in British Columbia.

Dreams and visions were, and often still are, an important part of traditional Salish spirituality and young people would often fast in a special place so that spirits, particularly animal spirits, would appear in their visions to guide them during their lives. For a person—either male or female—to be successful in life, they would have to have the assistance of a guardian spirit.

Among the Coast Salish, the vision was the source of a song which would give the individual direct access to the spirits. The vision was their source of personal power and the basis of professional status as a warrior, seeress, or shaman. In his chapter in Indian Art Traditions of the Northwest Coast, Wayne Suttles writes:

“In theory, though not always in practice, the exact nature of the vision experience was something one ought to keep secret, perhaps until old age.”

Writing about the Indians of Washington’s Puget Sound area, Carole Seeman, in a chapter in Indians, Superintendents, and Councils: Northwestern Indian Policy, 1850-1855, reports:

“Everyone acquired spirits and similarly, all were Dreamers who put great faith in interpreting the meaning of their visions.”

With regard to the Upper Skagit in Western Washington, anthropologist June McCormick Collins, in her book Valley of the Spirits: The Upper Skagit Indians of Western Washington, writes:

“The central theme of their religion was the deep, warm, lasting, personal relationship between each individual and his own guardian spirit.”

Among the Upper Skagit it was equally important for men and women to obtain guardian spirits. Children often discuss their guardian spirit experiences with family members who help them interpret them.

Among the S’Klallam, training to receive a guardian spirit began in childhood. In his chapter in Shadows of Our Ancestors: Readings in the History of Klallam-White Relations, Peter Simpson writes:

“Sent out during the stormiest weather in winter in which the spirits were believed to run about, a child remained for days, even weeks. Upon return from the quest, the child did not speak of the experience immediately for fear of losing its power.”

According to Joseph Stauss, in his book The Jamestown S’Klallam Story: Rebuilding a Northwest Coast Indian Tribe:

“Traditionally, while prayers were offered by the S’Klallam to the sun, earth, sky, dawn, dusk, or related natural phenomena, these were of secondary importance to guardian spirits and the acquisition of spirit powers, which guided people through everyday life.”

Some guardian spirits are more powerful than others. Writing about the Jamestown S’Klallam, Joseph Stauss reports:

“Men or women who had thunder as their guardian spirit were respected and feared by both their own people and others.”

With regard to the Indians of Yaquina Bay on the Central Oregon Coast, E. Wayne Courtney, in his book The Indians of Yaquina Bay, reports:

“The context of the nature of the Yaconas was not toward ceremonial rituals, but rather directed to an individual’s supernatural expressions. Many species of animals and birds, plus the sun, moon, stars, thunder, and the west wind, all were thought to possess guardian spirits.”

Spiritual power was obtained through these spirits.

With regard to the Indian nations of the Oregon Coast, Stephen Dow Beckham, in his chapter in The First Oregonians: An Illustrated Collection of Essays on Traditional Lifeways, Federal-Indian Relations, and the State’s Native People Today, writes:

“At puberty, most boys and many girls went on a spirit quest.”

At the vigil site, often a promontory overlooking the ocean or a river, they awaited a visitation from the spirits.

Regarding the acquisition of spiritual power among the Central and Coast Salish people, Michael Kew, in his chapter in the Handbook of North American Indians, reports:

“A spirit power may come to an individual unsought or unannounced and lie dormant, perhaps giving strength or aid in unknown ways. It may also be purposely sought in a quest, and it may be conferred upon a person or inspired by actions of another spirit dancer.”

Among the Northern Coast Salish, at puberty boys would begin training to acquire spiritual power through the acquisition of a guardian spirit. In their chapter on the Northern Coast Salish in the Handbook of North American Indians, Dorothy Kennedy and Randall Bouchard write:

“Quests for such spirit helpers were conducted alone and lasted for up to a year, during which time the seeker bathed in cold water, took sweatbaths frequently, and ate little. The guardian spirit power was received in a dream or trance from a bird, an animal, or even from an inanimate object. Some of the powers provided the seeker with special skills such as those to be used for hunting, fishing, or canoe-making.”

With regard to the acquisition of vision power among the Central Coast Salish, Wayne Suttles, in his chapter in the Handbook of North American Indian, reports:

“The vision experience was described as an encounter with an animal or with a being in human form who revealed himself to be an animal, tree, or ‘natural phenomenon, such as the sun.’ In the encounter the seeker loses consciousness and is given some desirable knowledge or skill.”

In the vision experience, the seeker is given a song which provides the most direct access to the spiritual powers of the vision.

Among the Southern Coast Salish peoples, skill and success in life was traditionally attributed to help from a guardian spirit. In their chapter in the Handbook of North American Indians, Wayne Suttles and Barbara Lane report:

“Guardian spirits were usually acquired through the vision quest. The training that began in early childhood had the purpose of preparing this, so that from the age of about eight on children could be sent out away from other human beings to seek visions. The child was instructed to get rid of human pollution by fasting, bathing, and purging.”

Both boys and girls sought visions. For girls, it was important to have vision quests prior to their first menstruation and then again directly after. With regard to the encounter with the spirit, Wayne Suttles and Barbara Lane report:

“The seeker often first heard some manifestation of the spirit and then saw it, perhaps in animal form. The seeker approached the spirit, made physical contact, and fell into a trance. The spirit, perhaps now in its human form, transported the seeker to its house, where it gave the seeker power and, especially, a song to be used in later life.”

With regard to the Southwestern Coast Salish people, Yvonne Hadja, in her chapter in the Handbook of North American Indians, writes:

“Religious interest centered primarily on individual relationships to guardian spirits. Success in life depended on acquiring such a spirit.”

As with other Coast Salish peoples, children—both boys and girls—began training for the vision quest at about the age of seven or eight. According to Yvonne Hadja:

“When the spirit appeared, it instructed the person as to what occupation to follow, what paraphernalia to use or wear, and the appropriate song and dance to perform.”