The Northwest Coast had one of the richest Indian cultures in North America - but left the poorest archaeological record. In compensation, the journals, writings, and sketches made by European traders and explorers who reached this area in the eighteenth century provide an excellent record. They relate almost a century of contacts with the Indians before more extensive white settlement began to bring great changes. Erna Gunther, one of the foremost authorities on Northwest Indians, has studied every available eighteenth-century travel account written about the Northwest Coast from the first Spanish expedition of 1774. In addition, Dr. Gunther has visited museums throughout the world to examine the artifacts acquired by the explorers, and when possible, has traced their acquisition in the journals. Dr. Gunther's unique integration of information concerning actual ethnographical specimens with accounts by the earliest explorers provides the fullest picture to date of the Northwest Coast Indian groups. The author has shown that there are many aspects of Native culture that even extensive archaeology could not illuminate. The tableau depicted by her colorful sources is vivid and realistic. Perez of Spain describes the Indians' ceremonial trading procedures and their irksome effect on the businesslike Europeans. Webber, the artist of Captain Cook's third voyage, tells of cutting all the brass buttons off his coat to trade for the privilege of sketching ceremonial posts and the interior of an Indian dwelling. Captain Vancouver and Bodega y Quadra are honored at an Indian feast, but display improper etiquette by bringing their own food. Dr. Gunther's ethnohistorical method extends knowledge of the Northwest Coast cultures beyond the contributions of either ethnography or archaeology. Her thoroughly illustrated study provides a complete catalog of all known Northwest Coast Indian artifacts gathered in the eighteenth century. Her work is a significant field of ethnohistory; it should interest archaeologists, ethnologists, and all students of Indian culture.
Record details
ISBN:0226310884
ISBN:9780226310886
ISBN:0226310892
ISBN:9780226310893
Physical Description:xiv, 277 pages : illustrations, portraits, map ; 21 x 23 cm. print
Publisher:Chicago, Illinois : University of Chicago Press, 1972.
Illustrations -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. The Russians seek the "Great land" and thereby arouse the Spaniards to reconsider the Northern boundary of "Alta California" -- 2. Captain Cook's third voyage to the Pacific Ocean arrives at Nootka Sound -- 3. The challenge of the Coast South of Nootka: the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Columbia River -- 4. The Inside Passage, where the Spaniards in the Sutil and the Mexicana proceed more slowly and Vancouver hastens to establish the insularity of Vancouver Island -- 5. The Haida, the shrewdest of traders, who set the style for demands for trade goods -- 6. The aggressive Tlingit, who’s discouraged Vancouver's surveying and stood off the Russians for half a decade -- 7. The Northernmost Reaches, with the Chugach of Prince William Sound, the Athapascans of Inlet, and the Aleut and Russians at Unalaska -- Appendix 1. Eighteenth-century objects in European museums -- Appendix 2. Technological processes of the Eighteenth century -- Bibliography -- Index.
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