Religion One of the primary beliefs of traditional Snohomish religion is in the spirit power or guardian spirit (). Spirit powers are used in many ways, from daily activities to warfare. For example: a hunter might sing their spirit song during their hunt, and if they heard the spirit singing back, they would be successful. Certain professions were only open to those with certain helpful spirits. Traditionally, Snohomish children were trained from a very young age to go on a spirit power journey () to remote locations where they would receive a power. Popular places to get spirit powers were at Stevens Pass and Lake Getchel in the Cascades. Generally, a spirit quest would take place during the spring, and it was best done during a storm. In order to acquire a spirit power, one had to do something challenging. This usually involved fasting, bathing many times a day, and diving deep into water. The longer someone fasted, or the more difficult the challenges they overcame, the more powerful spirit they would obtain. Spirits could also be obtained later in life due to overcoming personal challenges or developing skills. Traditionally, both women and men could get spirits, although men tended to get more powerful spirits. The winter was historically a common time for many religious ceremonies, but especially prominent was the winter spirit power ceremony (). In Snohomish religion, spirit powers travel around the world but return during the winter. When a spirit power returns, a person feels sick and hears their spirit power song. When this happens, one would traditionally host a large ceremony, often lasting several days, in which they would sing, dance, and give out gifts to friends and family. Unlike other ceremonies where people sang their spirit power songs alone, in this ceremony, friends were invited to help sing and dance. At the end of this ceremony, a person would usually give a potlatch. Snohomish religion also features the , which is a type of spirit in the shape of a board. The tradition emerged in the Puget Sound region during the early historic period and a Snohomish woman claimed to be the first to get it. The boards are painted red and black and were about one-and-a-half feet long with a hole in it. This spirit is said to help people in catching fish, as well as searching for people lost in the woods. During the winter ceremony, people with this spirit did not perform their spirit dance themselves; rather, they hired four men to dance for them in pairs. In each pair, one danced with a larger board and one danced with a smaller board, putting their hand through the hole in the board and dancing counter-clockwise. The dances traditionally lasted four days and four nights, and the songs were sung four times fast and four times slow. Traditionally, the most powerful and desired spirit powers was (also spelled or ). This spirit power is primarily a wealth spirit which helps one acquire wealth and property in life. Someone with was said to receive more gifts during a potlatch than others. Another highly powerful spirit is , which is a war spirit which came to people in time of war or courage. People with often were great and famous warriors. Both of these spirits were found only in deep water. The only spirit which one did not ever want to meet was the (Ayahos). The Ayahos is a highly-powerful elk-snake spirit which has two horns and lives in the forest. Hunters which follow this spirit are believed to die soon after meeting it. Also a feature of traditional Snohomish religion are shamanistic spirits. Shamans, also called doctors, (), are marked by their ability to get unique spirits which can be used to heal or hurt people. Traditionally, a did not have a winter dance, and their spirits are said to remain with them at all times. Unlike many other
Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast, the Snohomish did not have secret societies for their shamans. The traditional belief is that shamans can cure people from many things, but those wounded in war could not be cured by a shaman, only by their own spirit powers. Shamans could also restore the spirit of a person who had their spirit power stolen. It was said that a shaman showed their power by wearing a stone or belt which could turn into a snake. After colonization, many Snohomish also converted to the
Indian Shaker Church, a
syncretic Christian denomination. A
Shaker church was built at Tulalip.
Architecture The main dwelling of the Snohomish was the winter longhouse. Longhouses were often between one-hundred to two-hundred feet long. The Snohomish had two types of longhouses as identified by their roof shape: the slanted
shed-roof houses and the triangular
gable-roof houses. Longhouses were constructed out of long cedar planks tied to vertical posts for support. Houses were divided into rooms for each family. Inside the longhouse, the house posts were carved and painted by the oldest member of the family, and cattail mats were hung over the walls for insulation and storage. Two rows of sleeping platforms were around the wall, and above them were located storage shelves where provisions, blankets, and other belongings were stored. Fireplaces were never in the center of the house, but rather were located around the sides to allow for easy passage throughout the entire house. A replica of a traditional shed-roof longhouse was constructed at the Hibulb Cultural Center for gatherings and storytelling. The Gathering Hall at Tulalip Bay is inspired by the design of a traditional gable-roof longhouse. Longhouses were owned by those who built it, with many longhouses being owned by the whole community. In larger longhouses with partitions, each room would be owned by one or several families. Other longhouses were owned by just one man and his family, all living in the longhouse. The potlatch house was a special type of longhouse that wealthier communities could afford. Although any longhouse could be used for potlatches, large and wealthy communities often elected to build special longhouses exclusively for potlatching. Such houses were constructed in a similar fashion to normal houses, but had generally no partitions inside. The largest Snohomish potlatch house was located at . A large shed-roof house, it was 115 feet long and 43 feet wide, with ten carved house posts. The Snohomish also built smaller, temporary summer lodgings. They were square shaped, either like a lean-to or with a gabled roof. It was constructed of a frame with large mats stacked on top of each other and overlapped to be waterproof to form the roof and walls. Generally, only one family at a time occupied a summer house.
Sustenance Food was always abundant on Puget Sound before colonization, and the traditional diet of the Snohomish was well-rounded. The Snohomish took
steelhead,
dog,
pink,
sockeye, and
king salmon, as well as
trout,
sturgeon, and
flounder, on the lakes, rivers, and saltwater. Many types of shellfish such as clams, cockles, and mussels were gathered on the coast. Bear, deer, beaver, elk, goat, and duck, and goose were all hunted in the surrounding forests. Fish was mainly dried, while meat was both smoked and dried. Fishing is highly important to the Snohomish, and there are many traditional techniques used to catch many types of fish, both in rivers and on the saltwater. The most famous method of fishing on the river is with
weirs (). Weirs were built over a river so that one could walk on the platform and lower a dip-net () down into the trapped fish. Traps, hooks, and spears were used as well. Flare fishing, using flares made of pine chips, was done on rivers at night. Plant resources were also widely used. Roots and berries, as well as certain native vegetables were gathered in the prairies, forests, and marshes. Berries, especially blackberries, were dried and made into cakes for dessert, or for future use. Flour and potatoes were also added to the diet, obtained through trade with settlers. The Snohomish domesticated and kept the native
Salish Wool Dog (), which were sheared for their wool. The wool was highly valuable and could be made into clothing and blankets. According to ethnologist Colin Tweddell, the Snohomish were the center of the woolly-dog craft among the Coast Salish. The Snohomish also made blankets out of feathers and fireweed, as well as from high-quality mountain goat wool caught high in the Cascade Mountains.
Trade and transportation The Snohomish were central in the trade of mountain goat wool and dog wool to many saltwater groups which had limited access to such resources. The Snohomish sold large quantities of mountain goat wool and blankets to the Indigenous peoples of Vancouver Island, in particular. A common currency used by the Snohomish was shell money, called
dentalium or solax. While many tribes had to trade for shells, the Snohomish were able to gather some types in their own territory, although certain shells did have to be traded. Shells were strung together with a string, and some high-class people wore shells as jewelry, on the end of a necklace or as earrings. The
canoe was the primary method of transportation in historic times. Even today, they are widely used in cultural contexts. Traditionally, the Snohomish utilized five types of canoes. The largest kind was the
Quinault-style canoe, an ocean-going canoe manufactured by the Quinault, who traded it to the Snohomish. It could hold as many as 60 people. The smaller Nootka-style canoe (), also called the war canoe or Chinook canoe, was a saltwater canoe originally from the Makah, but was widely adopted by the Snohomish for traveling. The Snohomish painted this canoe black on the outside, and red on the inside. It could carry as many as fifteen people. A smaller variant of this canoe, the , was made for women and hauling trade goods. The Nootka-style canoe replaced a similar type of canoe, the , which was manufactured natively by the Snohomish. The Snohomish used two types of canoes for river travel, the river canoe and the shovel-nose canoe. The river canoe () was the smallest of the two, usually built for two people, and was made to look like the larger canoes. It was used most commonly for duck hunting and fishing. The more common shovel-nose canoe () was used widely by the Snohomish for quick river travel and for fishing.
Traditional clothing and appearance In the summer, Snohomish men generally wore long pants made of buckskin, fastened with a belt made also of buckskin or otter skin. Men wore shirts with or without sleeves which were trimmed with otter skin. Women wore long cedar-bark skirts and long-sleeved shirts made of buckskin. Women also used cedar-bark capes to shield themselves from the rain. Both men and women wore capes of bearskin or sealskin, fastened with pins of bone or
yew, and both men and women wore
moccasins or went barefoot. Both men and women wore cedar basket hats, which were secured with buckskin chin straps. In the winter, men wore warm racoon-skin hats with fur. Snohomish women wore their hair parted down the middle and hung lose on each side, covering the ear. Below the ear it was braided. Men wore their hair parted down the middle and tied in a knot at the neck. When at work or at war, men tied their hair in a bun at the top of their head, which was decorated with shell money. High-class men decorated their hair for ceremonies, braiding otter skin into the hair and painting it red. Very young children wore their hair loose. A slave's hair was cut short. Both men and women painted their faces with red paint to prevent chapping and to keep the skin cool during summer. Paint was sometimes in decorative designs representing one's spirit powers. Women also tattooed their arms and legs, but there was no religious significance. == Society ==