The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (or Nəxʷsƛ̓áy̓əm ("strong people") in Klallam ) is a

federally recognized 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 ...

Native American nation in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

of the United States. The tribe is part of the larger

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 ...

culture, part of the Coast Salish peoples. The traditional territory of the Klallam is the north and northeast 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 th ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

. They traditionally had several villages in this area. Since the 1930s part of the tribe has controlled a reservation located west of Port Angeles at the mouth of the Elwha River. In August 2003 the site of an ancient Klallam village, ''

Tse-whit-zen Tse-whit-zen (''č̕ixʷícən'' in the Klallam language, meaning "inner harbor") is a 1,700- to 2,700-year-old village of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe located along the Port Angeles, Washington waterfront. It is located at the base of Ediz H ...

,'' was discovered during a construction project on former tribal land in the city. The significance of the nearly intact village site, hundreds of human remains, and thousands of artifacts led to the state abandoning the construction project at that site. Based on radiocarbon dating, the village site appears to have been occupied for nearly 2700 years. The Lower Elwha Klallam lived there until the 1930s, when the federal government persuaded them to move outside the city to a reservation west. The state has since returned of land to the Tribe and leased it another . In 2012 and 2014, two dams built in the early 20th century were removed from the

Elwha River The Elwha River is a river on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. From its source at Elwha snowfinger in the Olympic Mountains, it flows generally north to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Most of the river's course is within the O ...

as part of a major restoration project long advocated by the Tribe. This will enable the building up of the beaches and delta at the mouth of the river, as well as restore salmon runs and improve the ecology of the river and watershed. As lands were revealed, in August 2012 the tribe rediscovered their long-submerged sacred creation site near the river. In addition, an

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

has been found along the river with artifacts revealing 8,000 years of human habitation; it is the oldest site in the

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...

Demographics

As of 2007 there are 776 enrolled members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Of these, 112 live on the Lower Elwha Reservation. This is managed by the tribe and located at the mouth of the

, , about west of

Port Angeles Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. With a population of 19,960 as of the 2020 census, it is the largest city in the county. The population was estimated at 20,134 in 2021. The city's har ...

History

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is one of the four Klallam peoples, who are based in the

of the United States. Their historic territory was in the northeast of the Olympic Peninsula, approximately from the

Hoko River The Hoko River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington. It originates in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains, and runs about to the Pacific Ocean through a rugged landscape that has been heavily logged. Its largest tributary is the Littl ...

to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. They speak related

Salish languages 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 ...

. The Tribe traditionally spoke the Klallam language, one related to other

Coast Salish languages Coast Salish languages are a subgroup of the Salishan language family. These languages are spoken by First Nations or Native American peoples inhabiting the Pacific Northwest, in the territory that is now known as the southwest coast of Briti ...

. In projects already underway, a Klallam dictionary was published in 2012, with major contributions by tribal elders such as

Adeline Smith Adeline Smith (March 15, 1918 – March 19, 2013) (Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe) was an American elder, lexicographer, activist, and cultural preservationist. She was a member of one of four indigenous Klallam communities of the Pacific Northwest. ...

. Language classes are reviving use of Klallam. In historic and ancient times, the Lower Elwha Klallam occupied several villages along the Elwha River, including on the bay sheltered by Ediz Hook, the area of present-day Port Angeles. They claimed a rock along the river as their creation site, calling it a word that in Klallam means coiled basket, for its shape. This was known as the place where the Creator "bathed and blessed the Klallam people and other tribes," according to Jamie Valadez, a Klallam language instructor. It was known as a place for vision quests. This site was submerged under a lake created by construction of the Elwha Dam in 1913. Tribal members recounted it to anthropologists and other researchers in the early 20th century. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Tribe suffered high fatalities from infectious diseases carried from European traders, as they had no immunity to these new diseases, such as

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

and measles. Their numbers were markedly reduced by the late 19th century. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe was recognized by the United States in the 1855

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 ...

. In the 20th century, the federal government bought land outside Port Angeles and persuaded the tribe to relocate there in 1935–36 from their property in the city, to allow for industrial development along the waterfront. Lumber and paper mills were built over tribal land. In 1968 the land at the mouth of the Elwha River was designated as the Lower Elwha Reservation. Today tribal lands include about of land on and near the Elwha River. In 1938 the

was established to protect the upper Elwha and other rivers, mountains, and other areas of the northern Olympic Peninsula. This has preserved important habitat but dams built on the lower river in the early 20th century altered the ecology by preventing the annual salmon runs. By the late 20th century, the number of salmon returning to the river had dropped from nearly 400,000 to less than 4,000.

Political activism

The Tribe collaborated with others in the Pacific Northwest in pressing its treaty rights, including to traditional fishing. They long depended on salmon for a major part of their diet. Salmon runs on the Elwha River had been sharply reduced due to the barriers of two dams constructed in the early 20th century, and the Tribe sought their share of salmon and other fish. By the Boldt Decision of 1979, the tribes' treaty rights were affirmed and they were granted half the salmon runs. An annual process of consultation and negotiation over fishing has developed in collaboration with the

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...

of NOAA, and commercial and sports fishermen, to maintain sustainable fisheries. From the beginning, the Tribe opposed the dams on the Elwha, and increasingly as their negative environmental effects became obvious. Removal of the dams was supported as the only way to restore the salmon fisheries in the upper Elwha River. The Tribe worked with national and regional environmental groups to lobby state representatives and Congress, ultimately gaining passage of the 1992

Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act Elwha may refer to: Places * Elwha River, a river in Washington, US * Elwha, Washington, an unincorporated community in Clallam County, Washington * Elwha Dam, one of two dams on the Elwha River until being removed in 2012 * Elwha snowfinger, a ...

. This has been the largest restoration project undertaken by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

after the

Restoration of the Everglades An ongoing effort to remedy damage inflicted during the 20th century on the Everglades, a region of tropical wetlands in southern Florida, is the most expensive and comprehensive environmental repair attempt in history. The degradation of the Eve ...

and the Tribe has been one of the stakeholders consulted in its development and implementation. Removal of the dams began in 2011 and was completed in August 2014.

Recovery of ancient sites

In August 2003, the Tribe's ancient village of

was rediscovered during construction of a

graving dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

in Port Angeles by the

Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...

(WSDOT). This project was for building pontoons for the replacement of the

Hood Canal Bridge The Hood Canal Bridge (officially William A. Bugge Bridge) is a floating bridge in the northwest United States, located in western Washington. It carries State Route 104 across Hood Canal of Puget Sound and connects the Olympic and Kitsap P ...

. The Tribe and WSDOT initially collaborated on exploring the artifacts but, with the discovery of 10,000 artifacts and 335 human remains, and recognition that the site was nearly intact, the Tribe demanded that the construction project be abandoned. On December 21, 2004, the state governor announced that WSDOT would halt all construction efforts relating to the graving dock at that site. In a later settlement of the suit brought by the tribe, the state gave of land of the village site to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe for reburial of remains, and agreed to WSDOT leasing another to the Tribe for a structure to curate the 67,000 artifacts recovered from the village site from 2003 to 2005. The settlement provided a payment of $2.5 million by the state to the Tribe, and $7.5 million each to the city of Port Angeles and the Port of Port Angeles due to abandonment of the construction project. As of 2012, certain terms of the agreement, intended to prevent construction or operation of gaming casinos on the site, were delaying the federal government's taking this land into trust for the Tribe.Paul Gottlieb, "SPECIAL REPORT: Tse-whit-zen museum, curation center held up by dispute over three words"
''Peninsula Daily News'', 7 January 2012 This would enable their control of the land. The Tribe intends to build a museum or curation center at this site. According to radiocarbon dating, the village of

dates back over 2,700 years. It was occupied by the Tribe into the early 1930s, when they relocated to new reservation land. The ground was filled and a number of mills were built on top of the village site during the 20th century. Because the ground was covered with of fill, the village site was preserved. Archaeology has revealed the evidence of possibly eight

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...

structures, as well as areas for food preparation and ceremonies, and the cemetery. In August 2012, Tribal members rediscovered their sacred creation site along the Elwha River. It was revealed after Lake Aldwell, the reservoir created by the

Elwha Dam The Elwha Dam was a 108-ft (33 m) high dam located in the United States, in the state of Washington, on the Elwha River approximately upstream from the mouth of the river on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Res ...

, was drained as part of the Restoration of the Elwha River Project. Some members journeyed to the sacred site, where they gathered water to take back to elders who could not get there, including

. It was the first time living members of the tribe had ever seen this site. In a related find on formerly submerged land, archeologists discovered a site that revealed 8,000 years of human habitation. It is the oldest archeological site within the Olympic National Park. In consultation with the Tribe, researchers removed some artifacts for study, and reburied the site to protect it. Both locations are being kept secret to preserve them.

Notable members

(1918–2013), worked with a noted linguist to develop the

Klallam language Klallam, Clallam, Ns'Klallam or S'klallam (endonym: Nəxʷsƛ̓ay̓əmúcən), is a Straits Salishan language that was traditionally spoken by the Klallam peoples at Becher Bay on Vancouver Island in British Columbia and across the Strait of Ju ...

alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...

and the first Klallam dictionary, published in 2012. She contributed 12,000 words and phrases to the dictionary, becoming its main source. She also was known for supporting preservation of Tse-whit-zen and for encouraging removal of dams from the Elwha River.

References

External links

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, "The Strong People"
official website {{authority control Federally recognized tribes in the United States Clallam County, Washington Klallam Coast Salish governments Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast Native American tribes in Washington (state) Populated coastal places in Washington (state)