The modern Tulalip is a mixture of several older indigenous peoples: the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Sauk-Suiattle, Samish and Stillaguamish; all these groups spoke a Salishan language called Lushootseed. Like many Northwest Coast natives, the Tulalip relied on fishing from local rivers for food and built plank houses (longhouses) to protect themselves from the harsh, wet winters west of the Cascade Mountains.