What were the main subsistence techniques of the people that first lived in western washington?

Mining, logging, railroads of couse. link

Sounds like a homework question…so no direct answers here.

Well, presuming you mean Native Americans- think of what the resources are, even today, in Western WA. What’s in the rivers and streams? What migrates up the waterways? What plants grow wild and are native and edible? What do the oceans provide?

@blueiiznh there were people in Western Washington for thousands of years before mining, logging or railroading were viable activities there.
Western Washington is a large and ecologically diverse area. Many different groups of people lived there and functioned within their local environments differently.
The Duwamish, for example, lived near the shores of local waterways in and around what would later become Seattle; they fished for salmon, gathered blackberries, and did some farming in the rich alluvial soil. The Coast Salish, on the other hand, survived by beating up the Duwamps, taking their salmon and blackberries, and taunting them. (Paraphrased from “Sons of the Profits” by Bill Speidel).
Other tribes lived in the high desert east of the Cascade Mountains- is that still Western Washington? They didn’t get much salmon there. They must have done something else to survive.

@koanhead referencing the land as western washington state places an era on it. If it was stated as the land that is now western washington state then the timeline is wide open to your thousand years of life statement.

fishing for salmon

You might want to look into the Missoula Floods. Our soil is more fertile than octomom.

Really, there is just so much stuff to eat here. Squirrels, tons of veggies, deer, and the list goes on.

@Not_the_CIA

And don’t forget the mushrooms! Western WA is a mycological paradise…

@koanhead

That sounds like a fun book- have to see if I can get a copy!

One small thing for the OP- just be aware that the “blackberries” referenced are the native species like Rubus ursinus, not the terribly invasive and non-native Himalayan and evergreen blackberries which came much later. (I have to admit a personal loathing for these non-natives- my peaceful soul screams “Die, die, die!” and I chuckle with glee when I see the spots of rust enervating their leaves…)

“Other tribes lived in the high desert east of the Cascade Mountains- is that still Western Washington?”

Nope- east of the Cascades is Eastern WA :>)