Why the Pacific Northwest?

I grew up steeped in the lore of the Natives of the Midwest and I knew little about the Pacific Northwest before I began thinking about The Spirit Keeper. But before I even put pen to paper, Syawa was pulling me in that direction, and the more I learned about that place and those people, the lower my jaw dropped. Here are some of the things I’ve learned which compelled me to write about what might seem to modern Americans to be an obscure group of people:

1. Prior to 1492, the Pacific NW was the most densely populated area in North America, and it was probably inhabited for the longest amount of time–much longer than the better-known regions of the Incas or Mayans.
2. The cultures of the Pacific NW were extremely diverse, with the highest linguistic variety anywhere on earth. Lots of languages means multiple waves of immigrants, which means the Pacific NW was an ancient melting pot of people and culture.
3. In 1492, more people in North America spoke a Salish language than any other, and yet few modern Americans have even heard of this language group! It’s as if we never heard of the people who once spoke Latin.
4. The mild climate and abundant natural resources of the Pacific NW enabled the people there to develop lifestyles which are rich, complex, and unlike any other on earth.
5. The interaction between the diverse peoples of the Pacific NW was unique and compelling, especially in terms of conflict resolution.
6. The artistic heritage of the people of the Pacific NW–their art, music, dance, storytelling, ceremonies, etc.–is fantastic, fascinating, and generally unknown to the average modern American.
7. The economy of the people of the Pacific NW offers a distinct alternative to the insatiably-expanding resource-depleting economy of Western Civilization.
8. The Pacific NW was one of the last areas of North America to be colonized, which means we have much more recent records of their world prior to colonization than we do of the Indians of Pennsylvania.
9. The history of the region since first contact with Europeans is shocking and largely ignored, and, in my opinion, modern Americans have a moral obligation to know the things that happened in order for us to be here now.
10. It is not too late for us to learn all kinds of wonderful lessons from people who might seem obscure to most of us, but who actually still exist and still have much wisdom to share.

Of course, as a child of Irish immigrants, I can hardly serve as the spokesman for any Native American peoples, but I can tell a story from the perspective of a child of Irish immigrants and urge my readers to find out more about this astonishing region of our world.  So now all I have to do is get Part 2 in print, and everything I’ve said here will begin to make some sense!