Pre european contact which tribes were the most powerful in coastal pacific north west? Post contact?

by tupacarrot
retarredroof

I'm sorry but there is no anthropological metric for "powerful" that I am aware of. You could consider the size of standing armies but they didn't have any. You might consider an economic indicator, but we don't have that data either. So I don't think there is a correct answer to this question that can be measured objectively.

However subjectively and intuitively the Haida and Tlingit stand out as showy examples of complex culture.