258 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 179 



was Spinden, who characterized the Plateau from his observations 

 among the Nez Perce. He wrote : 



The culture of the Basin area, as shown by one of its representative tribes, 

 was purely a transitional culture. Its elements were drawn in nearly eqiial 

 proportion from the Plains and from the Pacific Coast. Only a small residuum 

 autochthonous ideas are found when the borrowed ones are excluded. [Spinden, 

 1908, p. 270.] 



Such an extreme view was not shared by Spier, who refuted the im- 

 portance of the overlay of Plains traits. 



There can be little doubt that much, if not all the overwhelming part of the 

 Plains Traits among them (Nez Perc6), dates only from the introduction of 

 the horse into the Snake-Columbia basin sometime between 1750 and 1800. 

 [Spier, 1930, p. 40.] 



In addition to the fact that the list of traits from the Plains is of 

 recent acquisition, there is another consideration. It seems to be com- 

 mon practice in the space-time consideration of traits, to look for 

 sources. If a trait appears in a relatively unknown area, someone 

 always seeks to trace it to an adjacent area which happens to be better 

 known archeologically and ethnologically. This is done in spite of 

 a complete lack of any information on how old the trait may be in 

 either area. Some of the Plains traits in the Plateau can be shown 

 to be recent, and to have been derived from that area. The horse, 

 gun, tribal organization, honors by war achievement, and the elbow 

 pipe have been proved to be of Plains origin (Ray, 1939, pp. 14, 146). 



Kroeber apparently was not willing to concede that the Plateau 

 was an authentic culture area. He considered it to be a hinterland 

 of the Northwest Coast and influenced by the Plains Area since — 



. . . the relatively poor subsistence conditions and consequent low level of 

 culture along the Columbia and Snake would have strained out many of the 

 more specialized traits, and most of all of the luxury developments, of both 

 eastern and western culture. [Kroeber, 1931, p. 37.] 



There is no doubt, now, that Kroeber made two mistakes. Since there 

 were few data available on the culture of the Plateau, he assumed 

 that it did not exist, except on a very low plane. Secondly, he was 

 apparently misled by Boas' glowing descriptions of Northwest Coast 

 culture. Beyond the spectacular "potlatch" ceremony, the large plank 

 houses with elaborate wood carving, and the seagoing canoes, the 

 Northwest Coast had only a few high cultural attainments, and these 

 were restricted to a minority of coastal peoples, the Haida, Tlingit, 

 and a few others. Most of the Plateau ceremonies were never recorded 

 for comparison. Lacking wood over most of the Plateau, the Indians 

 did not develop carving or elaborate houses. 



Wliether they did or did not, does not affect the question at hand. 

 Relative attainment of culture is not involved, only classification. 

 If Wissler's concepts were followed no one would question the fact 



