the Native American peoples inhabiting the high plateau region between the Rocky Mountains and the coastal mountain system.
The Plateau culture area comprises a complex physiographic region that is bounded on the north by low extensions of the Rocky Mountains, such as the Cariboo Mountains; on the east by the Rocky Mountains and the Lewis Range; on the south by the Blue Mountains and the Salmon River (excepting a narrow corridor to present-day California); and on the west by the Canadian Coast Mountains and the Cascade Range. It includes the watersheds of the Columbia and Frase
