The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of salmon as a resource and spiritual symbol, and many cultivation and subsistence practices. The term Northwest Coast or North West Coast is used in anthropology to refer to the groups of Indigenous people residing along the coast of what is now called British Columbia, Washington State, parts of Alaska, Oregon, and Northern California. The term Pacific Northwest is largely used in the American context.
At one point, the region had the highest population density of a region inhabited by Indigenous peoples in Canada.[1][2][3]
- ^ Aboriginal Identity (8), Sex (3) and Age Groups (12) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census-20% Sample Data Click to view table notes, BC Archived 2016-09-23 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2009-10-05.
- ^ Number and percentage of population reporting Aboriginal identity, Canada, provinces and territories, 2006 Archived 2008-09-25 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2009-10-05.
- ^ Percentage of Aboriginal people in the population, Canada, provinces and territories, 2006 Archived 2008-09-25 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2009-10-05.