Native American prehistory—Northwest Coast
Native American prehistory along the Northwest Coast of North America encompasses a rich cultural history that spans from Yakutat Bay in Alaska to Cape Mendocino in California. This region features a rugged coastline characterized by steep mountains, deep inlets, and dense forests, sustained by a unique climate marked by heavy rainfall. The natural abundance of marine and terrestrial resources played a crucial role in shaping the lives and cultures of indigenous peoples, enabling the development of complex societies without the reliance on agriculture.
Archaeological findings suggest that the area has been inhabited for at least ten thousand years, with evidence of diverse cultures utilizing advanced stone age technologies and sophisticated fishing and hunting techniques. Numerous communities, speaking languages from distinct families such as Athapaskan, Salish, and Penutian, showcased a high degree of biological and cultural diversity. Significant archaeological sites, particularly those like Ozette, have provided invaluable insights through innovative research methods and scientific analysis.
The prehistory of the Northwest Coast also points to potential migration patterns, with early inhabitants possibly arriving from regions such as Siberia or Polynesia. The interplay of migration, cultural diffusion, and environmental adaptation contributed to the diverse cultural tapestry that defines the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast.
Native American prehistory—Northwest Coast
Date: c. 9500 b.c.e.-c. 1800 c.e.
Location: From Yakutat Bay in southern Alaska to Cape Mendocino in Northern California
Cultures affected: Bella Coola, Chehalis, Chinook, Coast Salish, Coos, Haida, Hupa, Karok, Klamath, Klikitat, Kwakiutl, Nootka, Quinault, Takelma, Tillamook, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Wiyot, Yurok
The Northwest Coast culture area extends from the modern regions of Yakutat Bay in southern Alaska south to Cape Mendocino in Northern California. It has a rugged coastline with many deep inlets. In the northern half, mountains rise several thousand feet directly from the edge of salt water. There are numerous small islands offshore, but there are few beaches or low-level areas convenient for village sites.
Natural History
Climatic conditions along this coastal strip are characterized by even temperatures and heavy rainfall (up to one hundred inches a year in many places). The abundant rainfall and moderate temperature of the region produce a distinctive and dense vegetation. Forests extend from the Pacific shoreline to near the highest ridges of the major river drainage systems, such as the Columbia, Fraser, and Skeena rivers.
As one goes southward, the terrain changes from towering mountains of raw, naked rock cut by deep canyons gouged out by glacial flow and watercourse turbulence to, around upper Puget Sound and along the Oregon and northwestern California coasts, steep but rounded coastal hills and estuaries resulting from the buildup of sand bars formed at the river mouths.
In prehuman times, wildlife and game of all sorts were unimaginably plentiful. In fact, the extreme abundance of natural resources in this culture area later gave rise to a high degree of civilization without the emergence of agriculture. Maritime, estuarine, and riverine resources were the mainstays that provided an ample foundation for the building of prehistoric human cultures.
The sea and the forests, even today, are the most important providers of sustenance. Fishing and sea mammal hunting required an intricate extraction technology that allowed the first human hunter-gatherers, after their arrival thousands of years ago, to harvest and use the available natural resources to the fullest extent. This required each community to develop the complex tools and skills necessary to ensure their individual success among the many diverse communities that eventually developed in, and occupied, the region.
Archaeological History
Archaeological research has been undertaken in this culture area since the late 1800’s. Sites such as those discovered at Port Hammond, Marpole, Vancouver, Yakutat, Graham Island, and the more recent Montague Harbor have revealed numerous peoples, languages, and communities of great biological and cultural diversity.
This culture area is thought to have been inhabited initially by maritime peoples, with highly developed Stone Age technology, and mobile cultures, who could have come from many directions. Speakers from the Athapaskan language family, Salish language family, and Penutian language family were subdivided into more than a hundred communities and dialects, spread from one end of the area to the other, which have provided modern researchers with a wealth of artifacts and information.
Northwest Coast studies entered a new phase with the 1970 discovery of water-saturated “wet” sites, where immersion of material remains below the water table and the lack of oxygen prevents vegetal decay. Sites at Ozette and Prince Rupert are particularly notable for the sophisticated methods of study used in both field and laboratory work.
Radiocarbon dating and other scientific techniques indicate constant occupation of this culture area since at least ten thousand years ago. Localized tribal creation stories suggest that peoples have always existed in their lands. If prehistoric peoples did indeed migrate into the area, linguistic and genetic distribution suggests that they could have come from such diverse places as Siberia (traveling across Beringia, the Bering Strait land bridge), northeastern China (traversing the exposed continental shelf), or even from Polynesia (boating across the South Pacific) to Mexico or Central America, then as far northward along the coastline as the Columbia River basin.
Various basal cultures have been defined by their remains through a wide variety of descriptive means. Early boreal and protowestern cultures, microblade and pebble tool traditions, and stemmed point and fluted point traditions are all names commonly used to describe these early prehistoric cultures. It is generally thought that the diversity of peoples can best be explained through a combination of migration, diffusion, and adaptation.
Bibliography
Borden, Charles E. Origins and Development of Early Northwest Coast Culture to About 3000 B.C. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1975.
Cressman, Luther S. The Sandal and the Cave: The Indians of Oregon. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1981.
Drucker, Phillip. Indians of the Northwest Coast. Garden City, N.Y.: Natural History Press, 1963.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “Sources of Northwest Coast Culture,” In New Interpretations of Aboriginal American Culture History. Seventy-fifth anniversary volume of the Anthropological Society of Washington. Seattle: Anthropological Society of Washington, 1955.
Fladmark, Knut R. “The Feasibility of the Northwest as a Migration Route for Early Man.” In Early Man from a Circum-Pacific Perspective, edited by Alan Bryan. University of Alberta Department of Anthropology Occasional Papers 1. Edmonton, Alberta: Archaeological Researchers International, 1978.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “The Patterns of the Culture.” In Indians of the North Pacific Coast, edited by Tom McFeat. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1966.