Their voices insist upon a hearing and the cumulative wisdom of their long residence in this land offers rich insights to those willing to listen. This site provides an extensive digital collection of original photographs and documents about the Northwest Coast and Plateau Indian cultures, complemented by essays written by anthropologists, historians, and teachers about both particular tribes and cross-cultural topics. These cultures have occupied, and in some cases still live in parts of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
Maps are available that show traditional territories or reservation boundaries.
The essays include bibliographies and links to related text and images as well as study questions that K-12 teachers may use as they develop curricula in their schools. An introductory essay provides an overview of the cultures, this Project, and the other essays. The digital databases includes over 2,300 original photographs as well as over 3,800 pages from the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior from 1851 to 1908 and six Indian treaties negotiated in 1855. Secondary sources include 89 articles from the Pacific Northwest Quarterly and 23 University of Washington publications in Anthropology. The essays and digital databases may be accessed by clicking on one of the images on this page, or you may enter your own search topic by using the keyword search at the top of pages throughout the site.