The Coast Salish people have and continue to live, work, and reside in and around the Salish Sea, since the glaciers retreated. The first evidence of their settlement was found along the Fraser River in Mission, BC, and thought to come from 3000 BCE, although further archaeological evidence comes to suggest they may have inhabited the area since 9000 BCE and beyond. They called the region “Sqla-lot-sis”, which means “homeland”.

Although tied together by the Salish languages, there are many dialects and individual languages that differentiate people and tribes. However, storytelling as well as the passing down of tribe history was often done orally, and so language was embedded as a vital part of Salish culture.

The Coast Salish way of life is strongly associated with fishing, as fish were both a source of food and a central part of their ceremonies and legends. Salmon in specific were vital to their lifestyles and religious beliefs, founding the First-Salmon Ceremony and the Legend of the Salmon Woman. These beliefs were passed down generationally, along with their belief in and appreciation for guardian spirits, both human and animal. Some practices they share with other Native American tribes are vision quests, journey ceremonies, and soul recoveries.

Around 1800CE, the Spanish came to chart the Salish Sea area through the Vancouver Expedition. European travelers and settlers arrived in the Central Salish area (inland America) then spread to the Northwest, bringing smallpox and other diseases along with them that devastated native populations.

Around this time, Catholic missionaries also arrived in the area and brought a great change in religion and lifestyle. The potlatch, a gift-giving and traditional performance ceremony for special occasions, was banned until the mid-20th century. In both the United States and Canada, the government put pressure on Natives to convert to Christianity.

In the 1850s, the natural resources around the Salish Sea were sold to the point where traditional resources became scarce. Native people were then put to work "as loggers, in the mills, and as commercial fishers, while women sell basketry and shellfish."[2]

The Douglas Treaties was signed between the British and Coast Salish people around Victoria and Nanaimo and two Kwakwaka’wakw groups of North Vancouver Island. This quickened the drastic change in White-Native American demographics that would continue into the 20th century.

"As with the arrival of Europeans in other areas of North America, the lives of the Coast Salish people was forever changed, with tribes being split up, extensive land and population losses, traditions being discontinued and many of their ancient artefacts being destroyed."[1]

In the 1960s, native activism rose and called for civil action to uphold native treaty rights. In 1979, the Treaty of Elliott was upheld by the US Supreme Court, restoring fishing rights to federally recognized Puget Sound tribes. Interest in Coast Salish art and history has since seen a revival and has been shared in major museums.

In the present, there are an estimated 56,000 Coast Salish peoples living in the US and Canada. Many tribes continue to exist today and keep their languages, traditions, and practices, as well as developing economic autonomy, especially in the tobacco, gambling, and fishing industries.