Kitsap County
Kitsap County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, Washington, Port Orchard; its ...
,
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
, United States. It is located on the east side of Port Gamble, an inlet or bay of
Hood Canal
Hood Canal is a fjord-like body of water that lies south of Admiralty Inlet in Washington State that some consider to be the western lobe and one of the five main basins of Puget Sound.Port Gamble. Little Boston is within the Port Gamble Indian Reservation, which houses the Port Gamble band of the
S'Klallam
The Klallam (; also known as the S'Klallam or Clallam) are a Coast Salish people Indigenous to the northern Olympic Peninsula. The language of the Klallam is the Klallam language (), a language closely related to the North Straits Salish lan ...
tribe.
The Port Gamble S'Klallam Reservation consists of of land held in trust by the federal government. There is no private land ownership on the reservation. Most of the land is in the forest with residential, business, and office areas. The land is listed by the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
as the Port Gamble Tribal Community census-designated place, with a population of 916 as of the 2010 census.
The reservation receives approximately of rain per year due to its location in the Olympic Mountain rain shadow. The reservation lands rise from the beach to gently rolling terrain.
Port Gamble Bay is the last bay in Kitsap County that is still open for commercial shellfish harvest. The Tribe has a hatchery on Middle Creek. Bear, deer, and other wildlife also live on the reservation.
History
On June 16, 1938, the S'Klallam tribe receives a reservation on Port Gamble Bay, which is their historic home.
At the time that the United States organized Oregon Territory in 1848, the S'Klallams lived in villages on the west side of Port Gamble Bay. In the summer of 1853, Josiah Keller arrived by ship to build a sawmill for the Puget Mill Co. He asked the Native Americans to move across the bay to make room for the mill and he offered free lumber for their homes, free firewood, and Christmas gifts. The S'Klallams agreed. Keller's mill prospered and many S'Klallams worked there. Eventually, the Puget Mill Co. and other lumber companies acquired title to all the land around Port Gamble Bay.
The S'Klallams ceded their rights to the land in the treaty of Point No Point on January 26, 1855. Under that agreement, the tribe was supposed to move to a reservation along with the Skokomish. Few S'Klallams were interested in moving. They continued to make their living from the water and the land and they got jobs at the mill.
Little Boston (named by a Yankee sea captain) consisted of frame homes built on the sand spit. Water was carried in a wood trough and residents used diversion boards to direct their share from the flume. The homes stood on stilts because of tides and sanitary facilities consisted of privies over the mudflats connected with wooden walkways.
Some individual S'Klallams bought their own land along the bay either for cash or under the Indian Homestead Act. Once the land had been logged, it was of little interest to the logging companies. Much of these titles were lost in the Great Depression when the owners could not pay county taxes.
Under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the U.S. Government purchased land for reservations. The Department of the Interior bought up land from Puget Mill Co. and established the S'Klallam (spelled Clallam) Reservation in 1938. Health officials burned the community of Little Boston because it represented a health hazard, and new homes were built on the reservation.
Notable residents
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Jeffrey Veregge
Jeffrey Veregge (March 13, 1973 – April 12, 2024) was a Native American (Port Gamble Band of S'Klallam Indians) artist. His work, which blended traditional Coast Salish aesthetics and pop culture references into what he called "Salish Geek ...
(1975-2024),
S'Klallam
The Klallam (; also known as the S'Klallam or Clallam) are a Coast Salish people Indigenous to the northern Olympic Peninsula. The language of the Klallam is the Klallam language (), a language closely related to the North Straits Salish lan ...