Chimakum
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The Chimakum, also spelled Chemakum and Chimacum are a near extinct Native American people (known to themselves as Aqokúlo and sometimes called the Port Townsend Indians), who lived in the northeastern portion of the
Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...
in
Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
, between
Hood Canal Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins,Discovery Bay Discovery Bay (DB) is a resort town on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It consists of mixed, primarily residential, development, in particular upmarket residential development and private and public recreational facilities, including garden houses, ...
until their virtual extinction in 1902. Their primary settlements were on
Port Townsend Bay Port Townsend Bay, also called Port Townsend, is a marine inlet off Admiralty Inlet at the northeastern extreme of the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washing ...
, on the
Quimper Peninsula The Quimper Peninsula is a narrow peninsula forming the most northeastern extent of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state in the northwestern United States of America. The peninsula is named after the Peruvian-born Spanish explorer Manuel Quim ...
, and Port Ludlow Bay to the south. Today Chimakum people are enrolled in three
federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
s: the Skokomish,
Jamestown S'Klallam The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of S'Klallam or Klallam Native Americans. They are on the northern Olympic Peninsula of Washington state in the northwestern United States. History The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe was ...
, and Port Gamble S'Klallam tribes, although lineage is not traceable at present.


Population

The Chimakum population was estimated at 400 in 1780 and 90 in 1855. The Census of 1910 enumerated just three, according to the census of Franz Boas. The three remaining tribe members spoke only broken Chimakum language. In the present day there are people who identify as Chimakums or descendants of Chimakums.


Language

The
Chemakum language Chemakum (; also written as Chimakum or Chimacum) is an extinct Chimakuan language once spoken by the Chemakum, a Native American group that once lived on western Washington state's Olympic Peninsula. It was reasonably closely related to the ...
was one of two
Chimakuan languages The Chimakuan languages are a group of extinct languages that were spoken in northwestern Washington state, United States, on the Olympic Peninsula. They were spoken by Chimakum, Quileute and Hoh tribes. They are part of the Mosan sprachbund, a ...
and very similar to the
Quileute language Quileute , sometimes alternatively anglicized as Quillayute , is an extinct language, and was the last Chimakuan language, spoken natively until the end of the 20th century by Quileute and Makah elders on the western coast of the Olympic penin ...
. It is now
extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
. It was spoken until the 1940s on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula between Port Townsend and Hood Canal. The name Chimakum (or Chemakum) is an Anglicized version of a
Salishan The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana). They are characterised by ag ...
word for the Chimakum people, such as the Twana word ''čə́bqəb'' (earlier ). In 1890 anthropologist
Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...
found only three speakers of the Chemakum language, and they spoke it imperfectly. The Census of 1910 reflects only three speakers of broken Chemakum dialect. Language was considered to be a primary communication barrier between the tribes of the Peninsula. Each tribe was known to have their own dialect, including the Chimakum, making communication for trading and other purposes difficult between the Chimakum and other tribes. The Chimakum language is a tribal language thought to be similar in lexicographic and phonetic aspect with very little diversion to the Quileute language, implying that the Chimakum, Salishan and Wakashan tribes may be proved to be genetically related. The Chimakum language was described as "unintelligible to their neighbors" and other tribal members described the language as "speak like birds", citing this language barrier along with a predisposition for violence and disagreement with neighboring tribes for their demise. It is thought that marriage and interbreeding amongst tribes may account for some linguistic similarity. Franz Boaz, considered one of the main authorities on local Indian linguistics, cites a tribal member named Louise as his source for over 1200 original Chimakum words and dialects. Louise, a dual speaker of both Clallam and Chimakum, was able to verbally recite words for Boaz to document into his extensive logging of local Native American Languages in the Pacific Northwest Region.


History

According to Quileute tradition, the Chimakum were a remnant of a Quileute band. The Chimakum had been carried away in their canoes by a great flood through a passageway in the
Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easter ...
and deposited on the other side of the Olympic Peninsula. The last remaining floods of this region were thought to be 3000 years ago. Around 1789, there were about 400 Chimacum Indians living on the Quimper Peninsula and along Hood Canal, about 2000 Clallams spread in 16 villages from Discovery to Clallam Bay, another 2000 Makahs and Ozettes at Neah Bay and west of Lake Ozette, and another 500 Quileutes to the south, making the number of native peoples roughly about 6000. Shortly before 1790 they were fighting a number of tribes, including the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Klallam,
Makah The Makah (; Klallam: ''màq̓áʔa'')Renker, Ann M., and Gunther, Erna (1990). "Makah". In "Northwest Coast", ed. Wayne Suttles. Vol. 7 of ''Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institut ...
, and
Ditidaht The Ditidaht First Nation is a First Nations band government on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The government has 17 reserve lands: Ahuk, Tsuquanah, Wyah, Clo-oose, Cheewat, Sarque, Carmanah, Iktuksasuk, Hobitan, Oyees, Doo ...
(or
Nitinaht Ditidaht (also Nitinaht, Nitinat, Southern Nootkan) or diitiidʔaaʔtx̣ is a South Wakashan (Nootkan) language spoken on the southern part of Vancouver Island. Nitinaht is related to the other South Wakashan languages, Makah and the neighboring ...
). In 1847, a disastrous conflict with the
Suquamish The Suquamish () are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American people, located in present-day Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish people. Today, most Suquamish people are enrolled in the federally recognized Suquami ...
devastated the Chimakum, effectively wiping them out. According to Wahélchu of the Suquamish, various conflicts and tensions between the Suquamish and Chimakum had reached the point where the Suquamish decided to launch of "war of extermination" as soon as some immediate provocation was offered. At least two pretexts for war soon came to pass and a war party was organized. Because
Chief Kitsap Kitsap or Ktsap (died April 18, 1860) was a war chief of the Suquamish Native American tribe. One source says that he was the most powerful chief on Puget Sound from 1790 to 1845. Kitsap County, Washington and the Kitsap Peninsula are named for ...
, the Suquamish war chief, was either dead or unable to lead,
Chief Seattle Chief Seattle ( – June 7, 1866) was a Suquamish and Duwamish chief. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with "Doc" Maynard. The city of Seattle, in th ...
, for whom the city of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
was named, became the leader of the war against the Chimakum. The Suquamish under Chief Seattle were assisted by about 150
Klallam Klallam (also Clallam, although the spelling with "K" is preferred in all four modern Klallam communities) refers to four related indigenous Native American/First Nations communities from the Pacific Northwest of North America. The Klallam cult ...
warriors. Before long, the Chimakum were confined to one village with a stockade, located near the mouth of Chimakum Creek, near present-day Irondale. The village stronghold was named Tsetsibus, or C'íc'abus, and had long been an important gathering place. The Suquamish warriors hid themselves near the village and waited for a good chance to attack. A Chimakum family left the village and headed north, passing by the hidden Suquamish. The father was recognized as the man responsible for the death of respected Suquamish Tulébot, which had been one of the pretexts for war. The Suquamish immediately fired a volley of bullets. Many of the Chimakum villagers rushed to help the man and his family. Seeing the village mostly empty, the Suquamish rushed through the woods and entered the village from behind. Once their numbers inside the stockade were sufficient, the Suquamish opened fire upon the Chimakum inside the village. The Chimakum were taken completely by surprise and found themselves unable to resist or escape. According to
Edward S. Curtis Edward Sherriff Curtis (February 19, 1868 – October 19, 1952) was an American photographer and ethnologist whose work focused on the American West and on Native American people. Sometimes referred to as the "Shadow Catcher", Curtis travele ...
, recounting Wahélchu's telling, "the rapid rain of bullets mowed them down." Women and children were captured and taken away as slaves. The Suquamish paddled away, leaving the last Chimakum village in ruins and nearly all of the people either dead or captured. One of the few Suquamish who died in the encounter was Chief Seattle's eldest son. The few surviving Chimakum, including the primary chief who had gone upstream early that morning, subsequently joined the Twana, or Skokomish, at the head of Hood Canal. The Chemakum were strictly opposed to leaving their grounds, despite being promised under the Point No Point Treaty that they would be given the means to continue fishing and hunting as they always had if they agreed to consolidate with other tribes at the head of the Skokomish river mouth. At the time of the Point No Point Treaty in 1855, the tribe was not viable for relocation to the Skokomish reservation because of the population decline through warfare, attrition to the Klallam tribe, and disease depletion of the tribe. After the extinction of the Chimakum their country was occupied by the Klallam. In 1855, the Twana and Chimakum, along with the Klallam, signed the
Point No Point Treaty The Point No Point Treaty was signed on January 26, 1855, at Point No Point, on the northern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula. Governor of Washington Territory, Isaac Stevens, convened the treaty council on January 25, with the S'Klallam, the Chim ...
, which established a reservation at the mouth of the
Skokomish River The Skokomish River is a river in Mason County, Washington, United States. It is the largest river flowing into Hood Canal, a western arm of Puget Sound. From its source at the confluence of the North and South Forks the main stem Skokomish River ...
near the southern end of Hood Canal. One of the Chimakum signatories of the treaty was Chief Kulkakhan, also known as General Pierce. The Point No Point Treaty required the Klallams to move to the Skokomish Reservation, but few did. In 1936–37 the federal government established Klallam reservations for the Lower Elwha and Port Gamble communities. The Jamestown community was not federally recognized until 1981. The Klallams filed a claim with the
Indian Claims Commission The Indian Claims Commission was a judicial relations arbiter between the United States federal government and Native American tribes. It was established under the Indian Claims Act of 1946 by the United States Congress to hear any longstanding clai ...
for compensation beyond that already received for lands ceded under the Point No Point Treaty. The Klallams claimed that the Chimakums were nearly extinct at the time of the Point No Point Treaty and that those few Chimakums left had been absorbed into the Klallam tribe. The Klallams had occupied the former Chimakum lands and claimed them as their own. In 1957 the commission recognized the Klallam claim of possession of the Chimakum lands at the time of the treaty and granted compensation of over $400,000. In 1962, skeletal remains of slain Indians were discovered by a dozer doing some work around the Chimacum Creek area, and after proper excavation by Lewis Agnew, a retired archaeologist recently relocated to Port Townsend, two Indian skeletal remains were unearthed with stone arrows still lodged in their bones from sometime prior to the road being constructed through that area in 1860. The Indian skeletons were of individuals killed violently and left for an earthen burial rather than a ceremonial one. These skeletal remains are theoretically from the Chimakum tribe, although this is unproven at present.


Namesakes

Chimakum Creek and
Chimacum, Washington Chimacum is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Washington, United States, located in the center of the primary agricultural area of the eastern Olympic Peninsula. It was named after the Chimakum (also spelled Chemakum or Chimacum) ...
, both located in the Chimacum Valley, are named after the Chimakum. There is also a
Washington State Ferry Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals lo ...
, the M/V Chimacum.


See also

*
Point Wilson Point Wilson is at the end of the Quimper Peninsula, a northeast extension of the Olympic Peninsula and the northeasternmost point of Jefferson County, Washington, United States, approximately two miles north of the Port Townsend business distri ...
*
Salish Sea , image = PNW-straits.jpg , alt = , caption = The Salish Sea, showing the open Pacific Ocean at lower left, and from there, heading inland: the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the narrow Puget Sound at lower ri ...


Notes


External links

* {{authority control Native American tribes in Washington (state)