ABSTRACT
The Plateau culture area (Fig. 6.1) is located in the northwest corner of the United States and the southwest corner of Canada, inland from the Northwest Coast (D. E. Walker 1998a). People on the Plateau interacted with people in the surrounding culture areas to a considerable extent, and much of Plateau prehistory was influenced by these interactions. Salmon, roots, and large mammals were the key resources on the Plateau and are defining characteristics, much like salmon and sea mammals were on the Northwest Coast. Other major features of Plateau culture area include political complexity, broad kinship ties across groups, institutionalized regional trading networks, and settlements along rivers (D. E. Walker 1998b:3). The adoption of the horse after 1720 dramatically changed Plateau culture (see below).
