Over the past few weeks, Contributing Writer Nicoletta Maestri has been assembling a new guide to the prehistoric cultures of the Northwest Coast of North America.
Totem Pole in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Photograph taken by Theodor Horydczak, ca 1920-1950.
Photo Credit: Library of Congress, Theodor Horydczak Collection, LC-H822-0798-002-x
The Northwest Coast is probably most famous for its totem poles, which although iconic, in truth were a very late addition to the culture. The earliest sites along the Northwest Coast are some of the oldest sites in the New World, as the Pacific Coast was likely one of several pathways into the New World by the first colonists some 12,000 years ago or more. The Northwest Coast peoples' historic descendents include the Tlingit, Haida, Makah, Tsimshian, Coastal Salish, Tillamook, Kwakwaka'wakw (once known as the Kwakiutl) and Nuu-chah-nulth (or Nootka).
In between the first colonization and the historic cultures, the people of the Northwest Coast were complex hunter-gatherers, who relied on ocean-going dugout canoes to hunt whale, and fished for salmon in the rivers along the North American coastline from Alaska to Oregon. Their villages were organized, some seasonal and some year-round, and their societies had classes, slave labor and organized warfare.
But the best known aspect of the Northwest coast must be the fantastic artwork and ceremonial paintings, woodcraft and stone carvings.
Nicoletta's guide includes the history of archaeology in the region, as well as a summary of the prehistory and cultural characteristics of the Northwest Coast, a detailed timeline, articles on cedar boxes, labrets and dugout canoes, and articles on a number of important archaeological sites. Well done, Nic!
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