pip. Ifo!* :lY' McNARY RESEARCH — SHINER 257 



a little younger than Thompson's estimate, and if his memory had 

 not been of the best, the first occurrence of horses may have been 

 nearer 1750 than 1735. This later date tends to fit better the archeo- 

 logical and ethnological evidence. 



Travel on horseback did not, however, replace canoe travel, for 

 Parker noted : 



My three Indians were well acquainted with the river and the art of managing 

 the canoe. [Parker, 1845, p. 133.] 



Trade in the Plateau was most important at The Dalles, a situation 

 recognized to date from prehistoric times. The Americans and the 

 British, however, came out to meet the Indians. They established 

 posts in various parts of the Plateau, and traveled up and down the 

 rivers, trading as they went. The fur trade, which began on the coast 

 in 1790 and in the Plateau by 1810, did not last much beyond 1830. 



CEREMONY 



Several ceremonies were witnessed by the early travelers, but only a 

 few of them were described in any detail. The use of burial goods 

 has been cited, and it conforms to archeological patterns. Evidences 

 of other ceremonies however are less easy to recover archeologically. 

 The "first fruits" ceremony was observed by Lewis and Clark in 1806. 

 They wrote : 



The whole village was filled with rejoicing today at having caught a single 

 salmon, which was considered as the harbinger of vast quantities in four or 

 five days. [Thwaites, 1904-5, vol. 4, p. 302.] 



Puberty rites were also recorded for the early historical period. 

 In 1806, Lewis and Clark wrote : 



The daughter of the man is now about the age of puberty, and being incom- 

 moded by the disorder incident to that age, she is not permitted to associate 

 with the household or kitchen furniture, or to engage in any occupation. [Ibid, 

 p. 89.] 



Lewis and Clark also mention several dances, but failed to describe 

 them fully or to determine their function. 



CONCLUSIONS 



The argument over whether the Plateau should be considered a sep- 

 arate culture area or a peripheral area is not merely academic. It 

 is not dependent entirely on the definition of what a culture area 

 should entail, but on an understanding of Plateau Culture and Plateau 

 Culture History. Certain misconceptions in the past have caused a 

 few anthropologists to overemphasize extra-areal influence on the 

 Plateau. One of the first to disparage the individuality of the Plateau 



