Title: Northwest Coast Indians  - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
Headings: Northwest Coast Indians
Northwest Coast Indians
Introduction
Traditional Culture
Peoples and Languages
Food
Settlements and Housing
Clothing
Technology and Arts
Society
Religion
European Contact and Cultural Change

Content: On the Northwest Coast, however, food was plentiful. Less work was required to meet the needs of the population, and there were food surpluses. These circumstances were similar to those of some farming societies, such as those of the Southeast culture area. As in the Southeast, the Northwest Coast peoples developed a system of ranked social classes. Their class system of ruling elites, commoners, and slaves was unique among nonagricultural societies. Tribes often organized themselves into groups called “houses.” These were made up of a few dozen to 100 or more people who considered themselves to be related, though sometimes only distantly. They lived together for at least part of the year and shared the rights to particular resources, such as sites for fishing, berry picking, and hunting. House groups also held a variety of other privileges, including the exclusive use of particular names, songs, dances, and, especially in the north, totemic representations or crests. Within a house group, each member had a social rank that was determined according to the individual’s degree of relatedness to a founding ancestor.