Bountiful sea life and a sophisticated technology for taking and storing it helped to ensure prosperity and leisure among Northwest Coast peoples. When European explorers first encountered them in the 18th century, an involved system of social classes and ceremonialism was already well established.
Woodworking was the major craft among the Tlingit, Kwakiutl, and the other tribes. Festive and utilitarian objects were decorated with carved designs; this sculpture in wood was one of native America's finest arts. The Northwest Coast's greatest whaling tribe, the Nootka, hewed oceangoing dugouts from cedar logs.
