The Kathlamet people are a tribe of Native American people with a historic homeland along the Columbia River in what is today southwestern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

state. The Kathlamet people originally spoke the Kathlamet language, a dialect of the Chinookan language. They were also called "Guasámas, or Guithlamethl, by the Clackamas", and "Kwillu'chini, by the Chinook." Lewis and Clark reported "that about 300 Cathlamet occupied nine

plank house A plank house is a type of house constructed by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, typically using cedar planks. History The oldest plank house village found is located in Kitselas Canyon at the Paul Mason Site in western British Col ...

s on the south side of the Columbia River", and lived between Tongue Point and

Puget Island Puget Island is a 7.5 sq mi(4,785 acre; 19.365 km) island and Census-designated place (CDP) in the Columbia River in Wahkiakum County, Washington, United States. The Julia Butler Hansen Bridge (built in 1938) carries State Route 409 acros ...

Clatsop County, Oregon Clatsop County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,072. The county seat is Astoria. The county is named for the Clatsop tribe of Native Americans, who lived along the coast ...

. On the north side, they lived "from the mouth of Grays Bay to a little east of Oak Point." Their villages were:

* Ika'naiak, on the north side of the Columbia River at the mouth of Coal Creek Slough just east of Oak Point. * Ilo'humin, on the north side of Columbia River opposite Puget Island and near the mouth of Alockman Creek. * Kathla'amat, on the south side of Columbia River about 4 miles below Puget Island. * Ta'nas ilu', on Tanas Ilahee Island on the south side of the Columbia River. * Wa'kaiyakam, across Alockman Creek opposite Ilo'humin.

Clark wrote:

November 11th Monday 1805
About 12 o'clock 5 Indians came down in a
canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...
, the wind very high from the S.W., with most tremendous waves breaking with great violence against the shores. Rain falling in torrents, we are all wet as usual and our situation is truly a disagreeable one. We purchased of the Indians 13 red char which we found to be an excellent fish. We have seen those Indians above and are of a nation who reside above and on the opposite side who call themselves (Calt-har-ma). They are badly clad & ill made, small and speak a language much resembling the last nation. One of those men had on a sailor's jacket and pantaloons and made signs that he got those clothes from the white people who lived below the point &c. Those people left us and crossed the river (which is about 5 miles wide at this place) through the highest waves I ever saw a small vessels ride. Those Indians are certainly the best canoe navigators I ever saw.

"In early January 1806 Cathlamet Chief Shahharwarcap, together with 11 men, visited

Fort Clatsop Fort Clatsop was the encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Oregon Country near the mouth of the Columbia River during the winter of 1805–1806. Located along the Lewis and Clark River at the north end of the Clatsop Plains approxi ...

". "About 1810 the Cathlamets moved across the Columbia and joined the Wahkiakums in a village at the present site of Cathlamet." About 50-60 Cathlamet remained in 1849. On August 9, 1851, the Kathlamet ceded lands to the United States in exchange for money, clothing, and other items. They retained two small islands in the Columbia River. On August 24, 1912, the Kathlamet were awarded $7,000 for the loss of their lands. "The last speakers of Kathlamet died in the 1930s," and the tribe is no longer distinct from the

Chinook people Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE Chinookan peoples have resided along the Lower and Middle Columbia River (W ...

. Queen Sally's Spring in

Cathlamet, Washington Cathlamet is a town located along the Ocean Beach Highway in Wahkiakum County, Washington, United States, where it is the county seat. The population was 532 at the 2010 census, though it has an additional rural population outside of the town ...

is named after the former head of the Kathlamet people, who told stories about her memories of Lewis and Clark as a young girl.

See also

References

Further reading