Muckleshoot People - Traditional Culture

Traditional Culture

Although they were skilled hunters, salmon fishing was the mainstay of traditional Muckleshoot life. Salmon was gathered and cured, and very often traded with other peoples along the coast and inland. Salmon was treated with reverence, which continues until this day. In the elaborate First Salmon Ceremony, which is still observed, the entire community shares the flesh of a Spring Chinook, then returns its remains to the river where it was caught, so that it can inform the other fish of how well it was received.

With a seemingly endless supply of food, the Muckleshoots could engage in various crafts, including weaving, wood-carving, and basket-making. A complex social structure also emerged, consisting of a nobility, middle class, and slaves, generally captured members of other tribes.