The Evolution of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Abundance, Prosperity & Complexity

NOTE: The map of the Northwest coast in this episode is not aligned to North but East. This was done to allow a more detailed map. Apologies for any confusion it may cause.

The lush coast Pacific Northwest is home to some of North America’s most well-known nations who are renowned for their rich culture. Despite never using agriculture, these nations formed vibrant communities with very complex societies. Discover how these cultures developed over thousands of years.

[dylanthomas]

As a Coast Salish person, I think you did a great job covering the region. I’m a big fan of your channel and have enjoyed learning about all the fascinating cultures of the Americas.

[icantthinkofanameb]

As someone who lives in this region (Vancouver Island, not Indigenous), thank you for choosing to cover the Indigenous people who live here. The cultures that have flourish here for millennia are quite fascinating. They not as flashy as those of Central and South America, but are unique in there own right.

[Land-Shark]

I'm from the Tlingit tribe (Alaskan coastal Tlingit), Tlingit means "the people of the tides", and I've been told by elders that "Each time the ice comes, it chases us away from the coast and, as the ice melts, we always follow it back to the coast.". Back in the early 1970's, I was also told a story by an elder after I asked for a story from when the world was covered in ice and snow, and she told a story of how the tribe had been living in the ice-free zone in Canada for many, many generations, with winters lasting 2 to 3 years until, one winter lasted 5 years, and the next winter lasted 8 years, and while this was happening the ice walls grew and moved in, closing off the route south, and they were trapped in between the ice walls for many, many generations, with the food supply getting smaller each thaw season until they feared the tribe would all die. So they sent out expeditions of men & women to either find a way out and return for the tribe, or find a way out and leave the tribe behind if too dangerous to return. None returned (the Navajo tribe grew from one of those expeditions), but the ice had begun to melt quickly, the ice walls receded, and the tribe was no longer in danger of extinction. To survive the lack of food, they ate saw dust, wood chips, tree bark, animal hides, and some ate the dead tribe members.

[veggieboyultimate]

Your channel is probably the only one where it explains Native American cultures in exquisite detail. Thank you for existing.

[petergray]

42:02 It's important to note that the much of the Camas and Wapato eaten by the southern coastal tribes was actually acquired by trade with tribes living further south and inland on the Columbia Plateau and Basin, where growing conditions were more ideal for mass cultivation. The Coast Salish traded as much as a quarter of their oceanic fish and mollusc catch and large amounts of dentalium shells in exchange for the desired amounts of both plants.

Camas was especially desirable. A member of the Asparagus family, Camas produces edible grape sized bulbs that- when slow roasted for 12 to 24 hours- would have their polysaccharides hydrolyze into simpler sugars, making them one of the few native sources of sucrose. Camas is fireweed, meaning that it was the first plant to colonize areas of land cleared by wildfires, and the Plateau tribes deliberately used manmade fires to clear level ground (Camas Prairies) so the wild plants would grow in large clusters.

Wapato (Sagittaria¹ latifolia), AKA Katniss¹, Broadleaf Arrowhead or Duck Potato is a waterborne plant that possesses chestnut sized, starchy rhizomes that greatly resemble regular potatoes in consistency. Wapato can be found across North America and featured heavily in the diet of many other Native American nations (most notably the Cherokee). But the plant really thrives in the heavily inundated Columbia River Basin, and it was an abundant food source for many PNW tribes.

Incidentally there are the towns of Camas (across the Columbia from Portland) and Wapato (SE of Yakima) in Washington state that were named for their chief native crops.

¹: Suzanne Collins- the author of the Hunger Games trilogy- has confirmed that main character Katniss Everdeen was both inspired by and direct allusion to Wapato and its archer based scientific name.

[TheFatblob]

I flew from Seattle to Juneau a few years ago & was incredibly lucky to have a window seat & unusually clear weather. The number of glaciers & fjords & valleys & rivers & estuaries & tideflats & coves & bays & inlets & spits & islands upon islands is absolutely staggering. I was immediately struck with the understanding of a saying I heard from a Yakutat native "When the tide is out, the table is set". The richness of these unique ecosystems allowed for culture & art to thrive, and are an absolute reflection of the landscape.

[kevinfoster]

Once years ago, while building the sweat lodge fire I said to my grandmother "hey our ancestors didn't use chainsaws and touches to build the sweat fire" so she said "if they'd had them they would." ❤
Talk to your elders I don't care where you're from you might be surprised what you learn.

[atlasaltera]

Great to see clam gardens and candle fish get some spotlight. Shellfish and hooligan grease are basically the historic beans and butter of the PNW haha. I know this is already a packed video, but it would've been cool to see the linguistic diversity of the PNW if you showed the Quileute and Nuxalk on your map, or talked about just how many language families and isolates exist here! Also, im curious when canoes and bentwood boxes became so intricately designed. I wonder if the archaeological record is able to show this, though it's probably tough for preservation...

[pholdren]

Just want to say that this episode is not "too long" and I love details, so if you ever want to go MORE in depth, I, for one, would welcome it. Thanks for the great video.

[callusklaus]

As someone born in the shadow of Tahoma and on the shore of the sound, this is excellent mate, and I really appreciate your coverage of the history. In my PNW history course, we touched on indiginous history for a measly chapter, which essentially just breezed over indiginous history in favor of European extraction.
Also, there's something really incredible about turning home on it's "side" like this. It really highlights our coastal islands.
Love from Tacoma!

[iggysmice]

My partner is mixed Tlingit and white, her dad grew up in Sitka, Alaska! She has some carved bone and obsidian jewelry that her great grandmother would have made a hundred years ago! Tlingit families are very focused on the maternal lineage, and so all the information we have about her family comes from her grandmother's side. The nuances of these cultures is super interesting!

[MilkyPancakes]

Hello! I am so grateful that youve made this video, i'm a pacific northwest anthropologist in training(workin' my way thru getting a degree), and honestly this video was an amazing introductory piece that i think you should be very proud of. i have small nitpicks here and there (like how western redcedar is NOT a cedar, but rather a species of cypress, misidentified early on) however all in all those dont matter that much and i had a lot of fun watching this and couldnt take my eyes off for the whole duration! also very glad you mentioned the complexities of the word "chief"(which i frankly think doesnt fully apply but that is no fault of yours), in fact in several PNW languages the word for "rich person" is also the word for chief (tlingit=aank̲áawu, haida= íitl'aagdáa). Final note i have is that the property laws and shaming laws applied to the revenge wars as well and in fact one would be required to(at least for the tlingit) compensate fairly for the death of a person(usually in the form of death of an equally important person on the offender side) or be attacked. The life of a commoner was not equal in compensation to that of an aanyádi(elite), so even if the murderer is a commoner, their death would not be fair compensation(take Isaac N. Ebey's beheading for example)

Two things i wish you had touched upon more were the trade networks that reach all the way down to mexico and the presence of japanese shipwreck iron usage.

This was an AMAZING thing to wake up to, thank you. (oh and your sources are great, love it and love your work)

[ladyofthemasque]

Another fun fact: The clay in the coastal Pacific Northwest sucks for making functional pottery. You can make bricks out of it, but most of the clay types found deposited in the area will slump rather quickly at low temperatures instead of sintering. (Sintering means sticking together and holding its shape, an absolute necessity for functional pottery. Vitrification, turning glass-like--what porcelain and stoneware can do, as opposed to earthenware, happens on the 2nd firing at much higher temperatures.)

[brokenrulerlabs]

You handled this episode very well. I have been following your educational work. Very well put together. The PNW is my home. Live on a river with lots of complex history. You should come visit. You have earned it with a very respectful and informative episode. Your sense of humor makes it easy to access... fishing jokes...lol

[errantlyerin]

This is awesome! I've lived in Seattle and the northwest all my life, super happy to see the Native cultures of my home getting the spotlight.

[portalthefella]

the Americas seem to be inexhaustible in it's amount of incredibly unique cultures so I'm always glad to see you still making these videos, this one vaguely reminded me of the people of Key Macro Florida specifically with the mask work and aquaculture. Also i always appreciate hearing these traditions still exist in ancestor communities today!

[AshLmfao]

Seems weird to see such a big YouTuber talk about my culture (Aka, the Haida), but am impressed by the amount of research you must’ve done!

[deannademerritt]

I’m not native myself (that I know of) but I grew up on the Oregon coast, Gold Beach to be exact. I moved to different areas of Oregon and grew there too, as well as moving to California for a bit and now back on the coast. Our Native American culture here is a huge part of the culture, names of cities/towns, and lifestyle among the coast, and almost every place you drive through has some sort of style or influence and tribe history. I’ve always loved growing up around it and my friends who are native, the stories they would tell and the history of how things were and how people lived in our cold wet winters and spring, and our hot summers. My ex was 100% native- Modoc, Klamath and Seminole, and would always tell me about the customs they had within their different areas.

[bigsanchez]

My mother was born in Canada on Vancouver Island half Indigenous and half English Canadian. She was put up for adoption at a very young age and then was adopted by my grandparents who lived here in America. For years my grandparents had offered her the the chance to go back to Canada and meet her parents and tribe, but she always refused. Time passed she moved to Cali, met my dad, got married, had kids and lived her life. Eventually my sister became interested in our moms past and created a Ancestry for her. my sister found a cousin who was looking for my mom. To make be quick we went on trip the very northern tip of Vancouver Island do meet our family that we had never known. Ever since then I've had an interest in the area so thanks for the video.

[bustavonnutz]

I'm a 2nd gen native to Humboldt & my grandfather used to run with the Yuroks in Klamath, who my family is still cool with to this very day. I think a major reason why these tribes were so stratified despite practicing limited agriculture was due to production surpluses combined with living in settled societies. What isn't said is that the population never increased to meet that surplus because of high mortality rates due to how dangerous it was to brave the waters or venture too far inland. Local predators like the Grizzlies, Wolves, & Cougars are maneaters even to this very day, whereas at sea the volatile weather patterns due to the cold Humboldt current mean it's very easy to get caught in freak waves. My cousin was lost at sea in 2008 this way; this is a very tough & wild place to live in 2023, let alone all throughout antiquity. Sure, the land is rich, but it is also incredibly savage.