Geography
Location
The people of the plateau lived in western North America to the west of the Rocky Mountains. The Native tribes lived in where present day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Western Montana and British Columbia.
Map of the Plateau people's location
The land and how it affect them
The land consists of mostly tablelands and mountains. There are two major rivers in the plateau area the Fraser River, and the Columbia River. These river supplied the Plateau people with great amounts of salmon which was their major food source. In the past there was a land slide known as "Hell's Gateslide" that made the Fraser River impassible for Salmon; This landslide had a great impact on the natives. The plateau area had hot dry summers and cold humid winters. Because of the cold winters of this area, the plateau natives would move to their pit houses in the winter because of its ability to retain heat. The plateau area had large amounts of precipitation being located on the windward side of the Rocky Mountains. The land comprised of pine and alder in high elevations and grasslands or sub-arctic forests in low elevations, which supplied the native plateau people with a variety of different food sources. The plateau area was located between the Plains and the Northwest Coast areas, which granted them the ability to trade with different people from different areas and tribes.