INDIANS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: A History (double signed)

Ruby, Robert H.; Brown, John A.

ISBN 10: 0806117311 / ISBN 13: 9780806117317

Published by OU, Norman, 1981

About this Item

1st printing. 4to hardbound. 294pp. Illus. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Maps. Presentation warmly from both authors to Pac NW bookman & historian, Jerome Peltier. Near fine in near fine dj. Very scarce double-signed.

Seller Inventory # 1302115

Bibliographic Details

• Title: INDIANS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: A History (double signed)
• Publisher: OU, Norman
• Publication Date: 1981
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806117311
• ISBN 13: 9780806117317
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Cowboys & Indians
  • Pacific Northwest

About this title

Synopsis

More than one hundred Indian tribes in fifteen language groups inhabited the area of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Western Montana in the nineteenth century. This important work, the first composite history of the region's native inhabitants, covers the period roughly from 1750 to 1900, from the first white contacts to the aftermath of the Dawes Act. It is a valuable resource both for the serious scholars and general readers. The cultures of the Pacific Northwest tribes were as diverse as their lands. Coastal peoples, such as the Makahs, hunted whales in huge wooden canoes thirty-five feet long. Near Puget Sound they developed an advanced technology and a stylized art in carved wood. Whites were shocked by the head flattening practiced by some coastal peoples and by the potlatch ceremony, in which they gave away their possessions. Farther inland, along the Columbia River, tribal economies centered around the salmon. The smoked fish was traded all over the region. On the east the horse transformed the way of life of the Shoshonis, Nez Percés, Kalispels, and Blackfeet. Each spring they crossed the Rockies to hunt the buffalo and fight for control of the hunting territory. The first whites to enter the Pacific Northwest were Spanish mariners from the south and British and American traders stopping for furs on their way to China. Later the British North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company established trading posts. The whites brought gimcracks, guns, molasses, tobacco, alcohol, and disease. They took the pelts of the sea otter, seal, beaver, and buffalo in return. Missionaries and settlers followed the traders. Catholic black robes and Protestants in buckskins competed with mixed success for the Indian's souls, while at the same time native religions held sway. Indian religious leaders, such as Spokane Garry and the Dreamer prophet Smohalla, were almost as important as the fighting chiefs.