Alaskan Tlingit and Tsimshian

Coastal Alaska is spectacular, if rain-drenched, with rugged mountains and fjords. An archipelago of islands, 80 miles wide and scraped up by continental plates, protects the mainland shore. Covered by forests of spruce, hemlock, cedar, and brush, these lands were home to marten, beaver, mink, deer, bear, Dall sheep, and mountain goat, while the sea teemed with seal, sea otter, and many kinds of fish, particularly salmon and halibut.