Why Did The Makah Indians Use Their Environment

Imagine living in a world where supermarkets and shops were not invented yet. What would you do? The Makah Indians and the Umatilla Indians had to hunt for their food. They also had to build their homes using the resources their environment provided to them. Some wore lots of clothing, while the other wore little to none. Body 1 - Food The Makah and the Umatilla used their environment in different ways to provide food for their village. From the encyclopedia, page 1209, paragraph 2, the text states “The centerpiece of the Makah diet was sea mammals, especially whales. Both men and women participated in the butchering of the whales, and every part of the whale was used for some purpose; tendons,
To prove this, in The Washington Journey, page 38, paragraph 3-4, the text states “ The coastal Indians used wood as their basic building material. Red cedar was the most important wood. Red cedar was easily split into wide, straight planks for building houses and ceremonial lodges. Longhouses, or long dwellings where many people lived, were built by overlapping cedar planks. Planks, or, cedar shavings covered the dirt floors. Several related families lived together in one longhouse that faced the sea.” In another piece of evidence is “Pit houses: at times, the plateau people built more permanent dwellings called pit houses. This type of house was widely used until the early 1800s. The house was built partially in the ground and partially above ground. The walls were made of tall poles covered with thinner poles ,or, in other places or in later years, with woven grass mats. The builders placed a large notched log down through a hole in the top of the house to be used as a ladder. The person who wanted to build the house to be asked all his neighbors to help. Twenty or more came, so that the building was sometimes completed in a single day. Tule houses: After the early 1800s, tule houses replaced pit houses. Tule is a grass-like plant that grows in swampy areas. Tall bunches of tule were cut, dried, and laid flat side to side. The ends were tied to form mats. Tule
In the encyclopedia for both pieces of evidence, bottom of page 1208 to top of page 1209, paragraph 4, the text says “Because of mild climate, Makah men hand sometimes women) went naked or wore very little clothing year-round. The clothing they did wear consisted of woven capes, skirts made of cedar bark (soaked and pounded soft), cattail fluff, and wovendown-feathers. Rain gear included cone-shaped hats and bearskin robes. The Makah rarely wore shoes, but in cool weather, they sometimes wore donned moccasins.” The other piece of evidence, on page 966, paragraph 7, the text says “Umatilla dressed in robes, vests, and aprons, al made from skins and furs. Women wore basket-shaped hats woven from dried leaves. After they began to hunt buffalo, their clothing styles changed to resemble the leggings and dresses of the Plains Indians.” The Makah wore very little to no clothing year-round, while the Umatilla wore lots of traditional robes and aprons, and skins and