CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 LIVING OFF THE LAND CHAPTER 2 SOCIETY AND CEREMONY CHAPTER 3 FUNCTIONAL ART CHAPTER 4 FACING CHANGE CHAPTER 5 A THRIVING LAND AND CULTURE NOTABLE PLATEAU INDIANS TIMELINE GLOSSARY SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY FURTHER INFORMATION INDEX 5 10 18 24 30 36 42 43 44 45 45 47
N O R T H W E S T P ARCTI C S U B A R C T I C C O A S T C A L I F O R N I A L A T E A U G R E A T B A SIN ST E W H T U O S P L A I N S T S A E T H S NORT A E H SOUT PLATEAU REGION OF NORTH AMERICA CULTURAL REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA Plateau Northwest Coast California Plains Southeast Southwest Great Basin Northeast Subarctic Arctic Other Cultural area border International border State province border
INTRODUCTION C oyote was angry because a giant monster had eaten all of his friends He decided to stop the monster and told the monster to eat him too When the monster had eaten him Coyote found all the other animals safe inside the monster Coyote started a fire inside the monster’s belly The monster died and all the animals escaped To celebrate Coyote decided to create a new creature humans Coyote cut the monster into four pieces and threw the pieces to the north south east and west Where the pieces landed humans came to be Finally Coyote washed the monster’s blood from his hands The drops of blood created more people This is one of many stories describing how the Plateau Indians came to live in the Columbia River plateau This area is a flat raised surface of land a plateau surrounded by the Rocky Mountains Canadian Coast Mountains and Cascade Range The region covers parts of Canada and the United States including British Columbia Montana Idaho Washington Oregon and California It is filled with lakes rivers and trees The Plateau Indians who live in this area descended from people who spoke languages from several language families 5
