What role did stories about earth processes play in developing a sense of place for North West Cascade Indian Socities?

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5 May 2008

Indian Society in Cascade Mountain Range

Earth , our home planet was created through different processes . This includes volcanism , earthquake , plate tectonics etc . which made up the earths interior . These earth processes play a major role in developing a sense of place for North West Cascade Indian Society

Cascade Mountains which consist of several volcanoes with a distance of 700 miles across Northern California , Oregon , Washington , and Southern British Columbia , parallel to the Pacific are a product of volcanism

found in western North America . These mountain ranges were created through the subduction of Juan de fuca plate to the North American continental plate . These subduction processes began in Cenozoic time (400 million years ago . Some of the popular volcanoes found in cascade mountain range were Mount St . Helens , Mount Adams , Mount Baker , Mount Rainier etc . These volcanoes have same characteristic but each of them have unique geological traits and history . Inland from these mountains were series of valleys namely : Shasta , Willamette , and Puget . In the south of this volcanoes were great rivers namely : Wauna , Nchi 'wana Oregon , the River of Kings , the River of the West , the Columbia

The geographic location of this volcanoes and rivers created a linguistic and ethnic diversity among Indian civilization in the North-West America . One of which are the tribal stories or myths which tells us a story about the creation of the cascade mountain range through mythological concept of gods and goddesses . They believed that the earth was created by many gods and goddess and the mountains were the home of supernatural beings and considered as a sacred place . Aside for having a rich culture , their geographical location also affect the livelihood of the Indians . The Olympic rampant of the mountains absorb almost all the precipitation from the clouds , leaving the place dry . The mountains along the Cascade Range serves like a shield to the storms and typhoons that came along . These mountain ranges are also considered as a tourist spot where most of the scientists conduct their study because of their characteristic and uniqueness . The forest along the mountains gives the people different resources that they need , such as food shelter , clothing etc . Magma of the Cascades was made by the partial melting along the subduction zone or trenches . The most typical lava of Cascade volcano eruptions is andesite , a rock which is made from igneous composition which can be found in the subduction zones almost around the world . These lava from volcanic eruption fertile the soil , this will make their land an appropriate place for planting fruits and vegetables which may become a source of their income . Rivers on the other hand will be their primary source of water and other marine species . It could also serves as a means of transportation for trade to other countries . Also because they are surrounded by mountain range , communication outside their homeland is difficult . This is one of the reasons why they still contained their culture...