ABSTRACT
The Northwest Coast culture area (see Suttles 1990a) was home to a number of hunting and gathering cultures that developed very complex social and political organizations, complex economies based on marine resources (particularly salmon and sea mammals), a material culture based on woodworking, and a tradition of distinctive art. Northwest Coast cultures can be divided into three broad regional divisions: northern, central, and southern (see discussion in Suttles 1990a:9-12). The northern group includes the Tlingit (or Lingit), the Tsimshian, and the Haida; the central group includes the Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl), the Nuxalt (Bella Coola), the Heíltsilk (Bella Bella), the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), and the Coast Salish north of Puget Sound; and the southern group includes the Coast Salish south of Puget Sound, the Chinook, and the coastal tribes south to the California border (some researchers have included several northern California tribes in the Northwest Coast).
