Who was it who first brought smallpox, syphilis,and gonorrhea ashore to the natives? Was it Captain Cook’s sailmaker, Captain Vancouver’sgunner, an american whaler, a Spanish trader? It mattered little. a plague worse than that which swept Europe in the Middle ages raced up and down the coast in the decades after the whites arrived.

But before the first contact natives along this coast enjoyed the fruits of a prosperous and successful culture. And the key was simply this: the sea and the forest provided. The early white settlers had a saying for the bounty of the sea: when the tide was out the table was set. First of all, as compared to much of the rest of North America, the climate was mild. Mighty cedar trees provided wood for housing, for canoes, bark for clothing and baskets. The sea was full of crab, halibut, herring, candlefish (they could actually be dried and burned) but especially the salmon, which could be caught in great numbers and dried and smoked for the winter. Typical villages were large wooden multi family lodges, set near the beach of a protected cove. The natives traveled and traded up and down the coast in their long carved canoes, fought at times, but in general, lived in harmony with the land and, by the standards of the times, enjoyed a rich and prosperous culture.

Their wealth allowed them to create stunning works of art, in particular masks, generally used in ceremonial dances, and totem poles, used to record history in cultures without a written language.
But when the first sails of the European explorers appeared off the Northwest Coast starting in the 1750s, a curtain was about to be drawn on a powerful native culture that had endured for centuries. By the 1890s or so, native culture was essentially collapsing, and spectacular works of art which had previously
symbolized their greatness were rapidly disappearing into the forest as whole villages were first decimated by disease and then abandoned.

Very fortunately, collectors from the great museums of Europe and the east coast were aware of the situation and came to the Northwest Coast to buy and salvage what they could. And they found a truly remarkable man to help them: George Hunt. His dad was the manager of the Hudson Bay trading post in a big
native village; he grew up surrounded by Kwakiutl culture, married the daughter of an influential chief, had an intimate knowledge of native traditions, and was a trusted member of the Kwakiutl community. He was able to lead the collectors deep into the island wilderness to the most remote villages, to collect the stunning pieces of art that are all that remain from that era. Much fine art simply disappeared into the forest as village after village was abandoned, destroyed by the twin scourges of disease and alcoholism.
In the 1920s and 30s and 40s, boaters here would come upon evidence of a disintegrating culture - whole villages abandoned with the big lodges standing empty, being reclaimed by the forest. Today native guides live at the old sites to protect them and share with visitors the history of their powerful culture that once ruled the coast, but was swept aside by disease.
Today, native culture is more prosperous, thanks to fishing, logging, and government programs. Many tribes have their own museums, and the legacy masks and other art is slowly being returned to their rightful owners. Today coastal natives - called First Nations in Canada - live in modest communities called reserves among the coastal islands. As in Alaska, their economy is a combination of state provided social services, and income from logging, commercial fishing, and in Alaska, income from tribal investments.

Alaska natives (and other Native Americans) initially came from Siberia, across Bering Strait on a land bridge that was created in the last ice age, around thirty thousand years ago, and spread out all across North America. The tribes that settled in Northwest Alaska became known eventually as the Inuit or Eskimo. In the harsh Arctic climate, theirs was a much harsher life. Before modern transportation - mainly the bush plane - and social services, winter could be another word for starvation. In those early days when the life of a family depended on the success of the hunter who led the clan, in a particularly hard winter or if game was scarce, grandma or grandpa would sometimes take it upon themselves to walk out into the wilderness to die, so that there would me more food for the younger generation.

The seminal event in modern times for Alaska tribes was the discovery of oil in the 1970s. In order to build the oil pipeline to the North Slope, many Native land claims had to be settled first. The years long process culminated in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which settled claims by allocating land grants and cash to the tribes. The funds were used for various enterprises to generate dividends for the tribal members.
For example, the SeaAlaska Native Corporation, comprising many of the Natives in Southeast Alaska owns and operates the Mt. Roberts Tramway in Juneau.

Another very successful tribal venture is the Icy Strait Point cruise ship facility, where the Huna Tlingit tribe repurposed their local cannery into a unique visitor attraction.
In Southeast Alaska, the main tribal villages are Metlakatla, Angoon, Hoonah, Craig, and Klawok. Generally speaking, most tribal incomes comes from a combination of logging, commercial fishing, and dividends from tribal investments.