ABSTRACT
The Plateau culture area is located in the north-central portion of western North America, nestled among four other culture areas (Fig. 5.1). The small size and location of the Plateau ensured that its people would interact with, and be affected by, groups in their neighboring culture areas to a considerable extent. As such, the Plateau culture area is difficult to define (see Walker 1998a). The key resources of the Plateau (salmon, the roots of certain plants, and large mammals) could be viewed as defining characteristics, much as salmon and sea mammals contributed to the lifeways of the Northwest Coast. Other major features of Plateau culture include limited political complexity, broad kinship ties across groups, institutionalized regional trading networks, and settlements along rivers (Walker 1998a:3). The adoption of the horse after 1720 dramatically changed Plateau culture (discussed later in this chapter).
