Current paleodemographic studies are insufficient for the examination of smaller, non-urban populations. An ecological methodology, based on research and methods in landscape ecology, may be used to analyze landscape resources availability, thereby allowing analysis of populations that are too small for examination using existing paleopopulation study methods. This new methodology, through its development of a Human Suitability Index (HSI), is applied to the Interior Salish populations of the northern Columbia Plateau of British Columbia, inclusive of the Okanogan, Lillooet, Thompson, and Shuswap tribes. The resulting application demonstrates the accuracy and inaccuracy of population counts variously applied to the area and suggests future uses in other non-urban areas in the context of maximum population size, percentage of population size achieved, location of settlement, and migration and growth factors.
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