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The Northwest coast natives lived along a long stretch of land from  southern Alaska to southern Oregon.  It was 2000 miles long and 100 to 150 miles wide.

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People often living in villages comprised of clans.  Clans were part of larger groups called phratries.  They would oversee marriage and provide aid.  The 3 groups of people in clans were known as nobles, commoners and enslaved people.  Nobles were the richest.  They would live with several in a plank house that was owned by the wealthiest person in the clan.

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Northwest coast people did not ever develop a form of government. Instead they ruled based on wealth. The clan with the most wealth had the most power.

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People of the Northwest coast  traded foods, fish oil and sea otter skins.  The Russians arrived in the Northwest in 1741.  Then the Britain's arrived in 1778.  They were most interested in trading for sea otter furs.  The natives  would exchange furs for guns, flour, sugar and items for their canoes.  This trading with outsiders caused a major problem though.  The outsiders carried diseases that the natives were not used to and could not resist.  Whole communities were wiped out.  The Northwest coast people may have lost 90% of their population to these diseases from 1800 to 1900.

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They used materials all around them to make art.  Woman were good at weaving and men were know for carvings such as canoes and wood sculptures.  They believed in spirits of all forms giving great respect to the spirits of animals they hunted for to eat.  Every year they would return the bones of the first fish caught to the water because they believe it would resurrect themselves and return to be caught the next year.