Coast Salish Cultural Survival

While reading this article, it was difficult not to get lost or completely confused as to what the author wanted me to take away from this writing. The Coast Salish people were often called Indians, which confused me a little. I often pictured them as Native Americans although this may be completely wrong, making this comparison made the most sense to me. Just like the Native Americans the Coast Salish people were pushed off of their land and forced to conform to a different culture in order to fit into the new settlers society. The most difficult obstacle for the Coast Salish people was the fact that schools were trying to disintegrate their culture and wanted them to conform to their culture instead. This was very frightening for the Coast Salish people and the resisted this change. One interesting fact was that the Coast Salish community is located on the border of USA and Canada, so the Coast Salish people often traveled between countries. Most of the time the travel was required to preform a ritual or ceremony. Eventually the Coast Salish people decided that the best option was to create their own schools within their community to allow their children to learn in a peaceful environment that incorporates their heritage. Even though the Salish people faced many hardships they did not give up and continued to instill their culture into their children.
indigenous resistance