Northwest Coast Trade Networks in the Pre-Contact Period

The Ozette assemblage provides evidence, in various ways, of the trade and exchange networks that connected the Makah community to a broader regional world.

Understanding these networks enriches the picture of Ozette as a community that was economically and socially integrated into the larger Northwest Coast cultural area.

The specific commodities that moved through Northwest Coast trade networks in the pre-contact period included whale oil, dried fish, processed eulachon oil (a product of a small fish found further north), canoes, dried seaweed, and various raw materials and finished goods.

Different communities had comparative advantages in different goods based on their specific ecological resources and their specialized knowledge and skills.