ABSTRACT
The Northwest Coast of North America, extending from Cape Mendocino in California to Yakutat Bay in Southeastern Alaska, presents us with yet a third cluster of family systems within the supercluster of rank societies. The N-cluster shows both similarities to and differences from the family systems of the A- and O-clusters. In particular, Northwest Coast family systems in the 18th century resembled those of Africa in that they existed in a natural setting of abundance of resources, making for a loose and artificial allocation connection between prestige and subsistence spheres. In all three clusters, wealth and status were closely intertwined, but the emphasis was different in each place. Whereas for the Africans and Oceanians, wealth was a means to a following; for the Northwest Indians, wealth was itself an integral part of high status, sometimes more important than a political following itself.
