Wealth in Tribal Families



Dentalia is a round tubular shell. The Alsea Indians made beads out of a few parts of the shell. Only a few people new how to make the beads. The Indians sold the dentalia by the fathom (one arm's length).
Mrs. Ludson told a story of how one man got away with dentalia. She said that they throw all the shells in a big pile. The shells would lie there until they turn white from being sun bleached. Once a man dragged his canoe through the pile and some shells stuck to the bottom and he got away with some.
The Indians used all sizes of dentalia, as neclaces. They were worn by young men as earrings. The young men would decorate the shell with red leather. Dentalia necklaces were worn for decoration by all the Indians. The
necklaces were sold for fifty cents each.
If an Indian had a slave he was rich. The slaves were worth a lot. A man would give his sister and some dentalia for one slave. And then they could trade a slave for a wife and a pair of boots. They would steal a slave from another tribe. The Indians would raid each others tribes to steal slaves. The slaves had to work for the owner. but were not abused. If the slave was not treated well he / she would run away when old enough.

        -- Billy Mahr

The Indians used all sizes of dentalia as necklaces.

Dentalia shell were used for money by Alsea Indians.

Clam Shell necklaces were made by cutting circles of shell and drilling them with a center hole.



Hunting with the Alsea Indians



Men went to the sweat house the night before the hunt. They stayed there and sang and danced with the doctor, before setting out on the hunt. They did this for good luck and to purify their weapons, just in case a menstrating woman touched them, or they became unlucky some other way.
Hunters wouldn't go into the sweat houses and sing or dance the morning of the hunt. They would set out early in the morning before light so they would have good luck. The hunter was not supposed to think of anything but the object of their hunt.
The weapons that the men used were bows, arrows, clubs and harpoons. They would use their
bows and arrows for deer and elk. They would use their clubs for sealions, and harpoons for salmon and other large fish. They hunted on the coast and up in the Alsea Valley where they lived at certain times of the year. The young men would start hunting at around the same age we do today.
      --Kyle Curtis

Men went to the sweat house the night before the hunt.

Nettle line was attached to the carved bone harpoon tips using pitch.