The
Puyallups lived in wooden houses built along the banks of the Puyallup River
and shores of Commencement Bay. Many of these wooden houses, made of planks
and bark of the cedar tree, were grouped together to form villages which helped
protect each other and share in their work. The main village for the Puyallup
tribe was located along the northern bank of the river, with a smaller village
at Browns Point. The "potlatch house", a larger wooden lodge where
many tribe members gathered for important ceremonies, such as feasting and
entertaining, was located along the northeastern bank of Commencement Bay.
Their "medicine house" was near the present day Thea Foss Waterway
on the southwest side of the bay. The "medicine house" was where
they came to act out ceremonies they believed kept sickness away and dance
special dances to frighten "evil spirits."
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