Shoalwater Bay Tribe is a Native American tribe in western

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 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. They are descendants of the Willapa Chinook,

Lower Chehalis Lower Chehalis (''Łəw̓ál̕məš'') is a member of the Tsamosan (or Olympic Peninsula) branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages. In some classifications, Lower Chehalis is placed closer to Quinault than it is to Upper Chehalis ...

, and the

Northern Athabaskan Northern Athabaskan is a geographic sub-grouping of the Athabaskan language family spoken by indigenous peoples in the northern part of North America, particularly in Alaska (Alaskan Athabaskans), Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. The Northe ...

speaking Willapa (Kwalhioqua). The Shoalwater Bay tribe lives on the southwest coast of Washington in northwestern

Pacific County Pacific County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,365. Its county seat is South Bend, and its largest city is Raymond. The county was formed by the government of Oregon Territory in Feb ...

, along the shores of

Willapa Bay Willapa Bay () is a bay located on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state in the United States. The Long Beach Peninsula separates Willapa Bay from the greater expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With over of surface area Willapa Bay is the ...

where the 2.693 km² (1.0397 sq mi) Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation () with 70 inhabitants ( 2000 census) is located. The reservation is just west of

Tokeland, Washington Tokeland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 151 at the 2010 census, a sharp decrease from the 194 at the 2000 census. The town was named after Chief Toke, an Indian chief of the ...

. The original language of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe, belonging to the

Chinookan The Chinookan languages were a small family of languages spoken in Oregon and Washington (state), Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples. Although the last known native speaker of any Chinookan language died in 2012, the 2009-2013 ...

family of Native American languages, is extinct.

References

Shoalwater Bay Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Washington
United States Census Bureau

External links

Shoalwater Bay Community WebsiteShoalwater Bay Tribe website
{{authority control American Indian reservations in Washington (state) Native American governments in Washington (state) Populated places in Pacific County, Washington Populated coastal places in Washington (state)