The experiences of the Native peoples of the Northwest were both similar to and different from those of other indigenous peoples of North America. The general patterns of adaptation and dispossession were not unlike the rest of the continent; yet there were variations on these themes that were distinctive and even unique. There was also great internal diversity within the Northwest. Geographically, the common denominators of this long, narrow region were the Pacific Ocean in the west and the mountains in the east. Otherwise the natural setting ranged from the arid, broken topography of central Oregon, through the wet, relatively rich environment of the Northwest Coast, to the cold, hard climate of the Alaskan coast and islands. Given this geographical range, it is not surprising that there was also a wide variety of indigenous cultures. Indeed there was greater cultural diversity in this region than in any other in North America. Adding to this complexity of original cultures, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Northwest was touched by most of the major imperial systems of the world. Russia, Spain, Britain, and the United States of America each had a profound influence on the region’s Native people.

THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

By the eighteenth century, when Europeans came to the Northwest, the Native people were no longer newcomers. Over 12,000 years of accommodating to the seasonal round, they had learned to exploit the region’s abundance and to survive its scarcity. From the Aleutian Islands in the north to Cape Mendocino in the south, and from the damp west coast to the semiarid plateaus of the interior, their traditions were strong and their cultures were rich and diverse. While they were not always constant, the boundaries between groups were well defined. The rights to harvest valued resource gathering locations were also clearly understood. In summer the people scattered over their land to hunt and gather food, in winter they congregated in larger villages and celebrated the spiritual side of life through ritual and ceremonial. Social patterns based on kinship and lineage were deeply ingrained. The extended family was the basic unit of social organization. Particularly on the coast, the societies were hierarchical and individuals knew their place in the order. Birth, wealth, and ability were the attributes of leadership; yet leaders had a mutual relationship with their people and also led by consent.