The Makah Indians are a Pacific Northwest tribe in Washington state who have lived in the region for over 3,000 years, surviving through fishing and whaling. They refer to themselves as “people who live near rocks and seagulls”. The tribe’s traditional dwellings were longhouses made of red cedar planks, and they used red cedar bark to make hats or clothing and weaved cedar roots into baskets. The Makah tribe established a tribal government in 1934 and maintains a museum in Neah Bay. Forestry and fishing are the main sources of income.
The Makah Indians are a native Pacific Northwest tribe residing in Washington state in the vicinity of Neah Bay. The tribe is believed to have continuously inhabited this region of Washington for more than three millennia surviving from fishing and whaling in the Pacific Ocean. Makah Indians prefer to refer to themselves as “people who live near rocks and seagulls” as the name Makah is a corruption of a Salish word meaning “generous with food”. The Makah Tribal Reservation on the Olympic Peninsula is approximately 46 square miles (121 square kilometers) in size and was created in 1855 when the tribe agreed to cede most of its territory to the U.S. government in exchange for the right to fish, seal and whales in their waters.
Prior to contact with European settlers in the 18th century, the Makah Indians lived in a series of permanent and summer villages along the coast of Washington state. Traditional dwellings were longhouses made of red cedar planks that could be opened up to allow in more light or ventilation. The Makah Indians used red cedar bark to make hats or clothing and weaved cedar roots into baskets. The tribe’s diet consisted mainly of whales, seals, fish and shellfish as well as bear, moose and deer. Nearly every part of a whale was useful to the Makah who fashioned weapons and jewelry from the bones, consumed the meat, and made precious oil from the blubber.
In the late 18th century, the Makah Indians began to have incidental contact with European settlers and explorers. European diseases such as the flu, smallpox, and tuberculosis spread rapidly through the tribe, and many members died in a wave of epidemics. The loss of so many Makah broke the chain of the tribe’s oral history and disrupted the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next. On January 18, 1855 Makah representatives negotiated a treaty with the United States that would have preserved the tribe’s main village as well as fishing and whaling rights. The treaty was ratified in 42 and the tribe was threatened with assimilation by missionaries, teachers and government agents, but was ultimately able to resist these efforts even though the last native speaker of the Makah language died in 1859.
The Makah tribe established a tribal government and ratified its constitution under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The five-member Tribal Council under the direction of a president enacts legislation for the Makah. The tribe maintains a museum in Neah Bay that includes exhibits such as hollowed-out canoes and a replica longhouse. Visitors can hike, visit different beaches, whale watch or fish with a local guide. Forestry and fishing are the main sources of income for the Makah Indians.
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