Heidi Bohan
Native Plants, Pacific Northwest Ethnobotany, Traditional Knowledge
Permaculture Design, Sustainable Living, People of Cascadia book

The People of Cascadia
Pacific Northwest Native American History

go to People of Cascadia website

180 pages, 300+ color & B&W illustrations and photographs; laminated soft-cover, 8"x10": $24.95

Now available directly from the author:
Mail order: Order Form

Pick-up in Carnation, WA: Email

Or through Paypal:
Also available exclusively through independent bookstores throughout the Northwest.

For students and adults who want to learn about the culture of the people who occupied the Pacific Northwest when the first schooners arrived in the late 1700's. This book provides a highly visual and comprehensive glimpse into the daily life of four major cultural groups centered around the Cascade Mountains extending from British Columbia to Oregon, and east to Idaho. This project was originally funded by a King County 4Culture Special Projects grant.

'The People of Cascadia' has a strong focus on the environment, natural history and natural resources that resulted in an amazingly complex and advanced material, social and spiritual culture in the Pacific Northwest. It covers four major language groups centered around Washington State; the Wakashan, Coast Salish, Chinookan and Sahaptin. This includes tribes as far north as the Kwakwakwa'wakw, south to the Chinook and east to the Yakama and Nez Perce.

I have created over 300 pen and ink drawings which I consider to be at the core of the book, along with dozens photographs I've taken, historic photos and paintings, with accompanying text for a current total of 181 pages.

Bill Holm has blessed the cover with his extraordinary painting titled 'First Sail', depicting the moment of first contact with a Spanish frigate off the west coast of Vancouver Island, which speaks perfectly of the perspective of this book. 

 The book is divided into two major sections:
¨ an overview section about major ecosystems, natural resources, and common uses of these resources for food, shelter, fishing and hunting, woodworking, clothing and personal adornment, music, artwork, toys and games and more
¨ specifics of cultural groups in the region, divided into language groups- Coast Salish, Wakashan, Chinookan and Sahaptin which include most of the local native tribes in the Washington State areas.

This book has been approved by Lake Washington School District as a component of their Social Studies Curriculum after a rigorous review by educators and Native American education group, and has been approved by their Instructional Materials Committee (IMC) for inclusion in school libraries.