The Abundance of the Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest has an abundance of natural resources. From the time of the Indians, this abundance has shaped the way people live there.

The Potlatch

The Indians of the Pacific Northwest coast had plenty to eat: animals, berries, and salmon and other fish. The tall cedar trees were another important resource. The Indians used cedar for houses and even for clothes. They also used cedar to make totem poles.

Totem poles are tall poles on which figures are carved and painted. The figures tell a story, often about a person's ancestors. This beautiful and complex art form could develop because of the abundance of the Pacific Northwest. As food was easily obtained, there was time for leisure.

Abundance also made possible the most unusual aspect of Pacific Northwest Indian culture: the potlatch, or gift-giving ceremony. The host of a potlatch invited hundreds of guests to a great feast. At the feast, the host gave everyone gifts. The greatness of the gifts showed the host's wealth and power. The guests then had to invite the host to a potlatch with even greater gifts.

Trapping, Mining, Logging

The first whites who came to the Pacific Northwest came looking for something the region did not have: a "Northwest Passage," or sea route joining Europe and Asia. They found otters and other animals whose furs were highly valued in China. This fur trade brought Russians, British, and Americans to the area.

As more animals were killed, fur trapping and trading became less profitable. Settlers turned increasingly to the region's other resources: land, fish, and trees.

With new techniques, fishing and logging soon became very efficient - too efficient. One area in the state of Washington, for example, cut down 90 percent of its vast forests in less than ten years!

The Situation Today

The Pacific Northwest still has abundant resources, and these resources still make possible a good way of life. But the Pacific Northwest cannot just use up its resources. So, the region has been diversifying its economy, to avoid depending on logging and fishing.

High-technology manufacturing has become important. So has trade with the Far East, especially with Japan. Ports in Washington and Oregon handle one-quarter of all trade between the United States and the Far East. Farming, including grape cultivation, has also become more important. In 1975 there were fewer than 10 wineries in Washington and Oregon; now there are over 150.

Randee Falk: Spotlight on the USA; Oxford University Press, 1993, page 139 ff.