The Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest, on both the Coast and the inland Plateau, were the last to encounter white traders and settlers. When contact occurred in the late 18th century the explorers and traders found two distinct cultures. The fairly recent adoption of the horse had opened up the Plateau tribes to influences from the peoples of the Plains; but the tribes of the Coast lived in a very different culture of rigid class hierarchies, an economy based on fishing and hunting. Marine animals, and frequent inter-tribal warfare which involved slave raiding and head hunting. This fascinating text describes the ways of life, in peace and war, of both the coastal and inland peoples of this region. Book jacket.