Put yourself in our ancestors' time, long, long ago. They needed shelter, food, clothing, and tools to live. What did they have to work with? What resources did they have to draw upon? What tools did they have? How were they made? The answer to these questions is what technology means.

These may seem like simple questions. If you need something nowadays, you can usually buy it in a store. Our ancestors could not. They needed to figure out what they had to work with and how to use it in order to survive. Our people were resourceful and creative in problem solving. They looked around and saw rocks, trees, plants, animals, water and all the gifts of nature. These were there for anyone to use, because no one owned them.

Boating on the Stikine

They also were masters at knowing the materials they had to work with. Everything has its own characteristics. We knew which type of material works best for different uses. "Best" means most effective and most efficient. It is easy to see that in their time, they would not pick up a stone and try to two pieces of wood together.

So, our people worked through a trial and error method. If something did not work out, then another solution was tried. Or they adapted their idea. Or someone came along with a better solution. That was good, too. We knew that it takes the efforts of many people to find a good solution to a problem. And we also knew that there are usually more than one solution.

Our people also believed that everything in the world was created by a Creator. We saw that we were part of a sacred family. Everything in the world is related. We might say that everything in the world has an effect on everything else. That is why we always treated everything in our world with respect.

Modern vehicles make hunting easier

We showed our respect in many ways. Our people made certain that they hunted in a way that supported animals. They did not over-hunt. When they set traps, they tried to choose traps that killed animals quickly so that they did not suffer. They knew that if they did not take care of what was provided for them, then the consequences could be serious. Over-hunting would cause starvation in later years, for example. Of course, they used only things in nature. So, everything returned to the earth when they were done with it. Our old houses were made of logs, pitch, and earth. So they fell down and became soil.

And, each person took responsibility in learning how to live in harmony with their environment. As you travel through this chapter, you will see the different skills that our people used. Many are different from what we need today in order to survive. Many are the same, or very similar. Notice which skills are still needed today. Which skills do you have? Which would you like to learn?

The most important skill that our ancestors learned was how to live and work in co-operation with each other. It took many people working together to be able to build a smokehouse. It took many people working together to put up salmon for the winter. We realized how important we were to each other. Our family and extended families were our main support.