Musical Instruments

Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast

The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are the many First Nations and Alaska Native peoples whose traditional homelands lie along the Pacific coast of northwestern North America. The region is defined as a long, narrow coastal zone from the Alaska Panhandle through to British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon, and Northern California. Each ethnic group has distinct histories, political identities, and languages, but they share cultural and subsistence practices, certain beliefs, ceremonies, traditions, and artistic forms. Salmon is a central resource and spiritual symbol. The term Northwest Coast or North West Coast is used in anthropology to refer to the groups, while the term Pacific Northwest is largely used in the American context. The environment of the Pacific Northwest supported unusually dense settlement for hunter gatherer societies, with ample salmon runs, shellfish, herring, halibut, sea mammals, cedar forests, berries, roots, and game making possible large permanent or semi-permanent villages, extensive trade, and highly complex political and ceremonial life. At one point, the region had the highest population density of a region inhabited by Indigenous peoples in Canada.

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See also

• ▸Giovanni Battista Guadagnini
• ▸Indian classical music
• ▸César Concepción

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