文档介绍：Test 1 1~275
The Northwest Coast, plex pattern of
islands, coastal plains, foothills, and mountain
ranges, extends from California north to Alaska,
passing all the territory west of the Cascade
and Coast Ranges. Its climate is one of even,
moderate temperatures (except in the mountains)
and relatively heavy rainfall. bination of mild
temperatures and abundant rainfall produces a lush,
dense forest vegetation of conifers, deciduous trees,
mosses, and ferns.
To its Native American inhabitants of the 1400's,
the long, slender coastal region presented both a
favorable and a forbidding environment. The sea and
the rivers held many resources, but to exploit them
required the development of super craft to navigate
waters that were often stormy and rough. The forests
were rich with game and many edible plant foods, but
the vegetation of much of the area was so dense that
land travel was extremely difficult, and large parts of
the heavily forested foothills and rugged mountains
were unsuitable for human settlements. Villages
instead were located along the rivers, on the
shores of bays and low-lying offshore islands, and
occasionally even at sheltered locations fronting on the
open ocean.
It is estimated that the Northwest Coast of the
1400's had a population of about 130,000 and thus
was one of the most heavily populated areas of
North America north of Mexico. The people had
no agriculture but, over thousands of years, had
developed techniques and equipment to exploit their
environment, basing their economy on fishing in
streams and coastal waters that teemed with salmon,
halibut, and other varieties of fish; gathering abalone,
mussels, clams, and other shellfish from the rocky
coastline; hunting land and sea mammals; and
collecting wild plant foods. By the end of the century,
they reached a high cultural level usually found only
among agricultural people, enjoying