Bruce Granville Miller( 1996 ) work with the Apache, for one notable example, and Ortiz’s
( 1969 ) studies of his own home, the Tewa Pueblo community.
In the Coast Salish world, it is a mark of one’s status as an adult
of significance to skillfully encounter the spiritual world immediately
surrounding the human world or to know when to back away. Miller
( 1991 ) has glossed “Real People” from Tshimshian, but the idea has
applicability in the Coast Salish case as well. Real People are those
with spiritual training and knowledge sufficient for them to inter-
cede with the outside world on behalf of kin. In this case, the outside
world includes members of other families; other human communi-
ties; the leaders of the animal world, especially the salmon; and many
other entities, including spirits. While some people are known for this
knowledge and ability and are called upon to help on ritual occasions
or during times of difficulty, to some extent everyone, including visi-
tors such as anthropologists, have these skills. This is similar to what
Ridington ( 1990 ) referenced in the Dunne-Za phrase glossed as “little
bit know something,” which speaks to the knowledge derived from
direct experience, dreaming, and the vision quest.
At sundown in Coast Salish territory, shades are pulled in family
homes to avoid harm from ghosts or other beings; it is only reason-
able, but consider: if one does not share these beliefs, one might not
pull the shades or take other prudent actions to safeguard others. Simi-
larly, at spiritual burnings following funerals or other important events,
where ancestral spirits are called forward to feed on meals provided
them (but consumed in fire so that the spirits can participate), ritual-
ists commonly call on those in attendance, including anthropologists,
to move out of the path of the spirits. Failure to do so could result in
soul loss and illness on the one hand, and concern and alienation on
the other. Not all ritualists can carry out this work, and it requires
judgment to determine if one is ready and able to do so.
I don’t wish to render indigenous people exotic, spooky, and mind-
lessly spiritual by these descriptions. I recognize the mundane features
of their lives. However, there are complex understandings that cannot
be discounted and that are overlooked at one’s peril. Another brief
story illustrates this point: a man in his seventies frequented his Coast
Salish tribal community’s biweekly elders’ lunches held in the tribal