The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is a

federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...

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 ...

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 lang ...

Native Americans. They are on the northern

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large peninsula 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 ...

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 ...

state in the northwestern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe was formalized by members of S'Klallam communities along the eastern end of the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The Canada–United States border, international boundary between Canada and the ...

in 1874 when, faced with the threat of forced relocation by European colonizers, a group purchased a tract of and established a community near

Dungeness Dungeness (, ) is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the ham ...

named " Jamestown" in honor of village leader James Balch. This was a notable feat, since at the time Native people were legally barred from buying property. Despite periodic pressures to relocate to reservations, and without the Federal financial assistance that such relocation would have enabled, the Jamestown band maintained its independent community, and developed a viable economic base. A century later, after a six-year effort to receive official recognition as a tribe, the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

granted them such recognition on February 10, 1981.

Reservation

The Jamestown S'Klallam Indian Reservation is very small in area, comprising 0.145 km (13.49

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s) of land area on and near

Sequim Bay Sequim Bay is a bay in northwestern Washington (U.S. state), Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The bay is on the Strait of Juan de Fuca of the Pacific Ocean and is located east of Sequim, Washington and north of Blyn, Washington, Blyn. Sequ ...

along

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

in the community of

Blyn Blyn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 101 at the 2010 census, down from 162 at the 2000 census. It is located near the city of Sequim on the shores of Sequim Bay. The area inc ...

, in extreme eastern

Clallam County Clallam County is a List of counties in Washington, county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 77,155, with an estimated population of 77,616 in 2023. The cou ...

at the southwest corner of the Miller Peninsula. The reservation is the location of the tribal government administration, not a residential area. It includes the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Center (location of the tribe's administration, natural resources, social and community services departments as well as the Tribal Library and Jamestown Family Dental Clinic), the Tribe's Seven Cedars Casino, Longhouse Market Deli and Fueling Station, Cannabis and natural remedies shop, and newly built resort hotel. In addition to the small parcel of reservation land, the Tribe also owns more than 1,000 acres of land in Clallam and Jefferson Counties. That land includes Railroad Bridge Park and The Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course in Sequim, and Tamanowas Rock, a sacred S'Klallam site in Chimacum.

Language

The S'Klallam language (called Clallam or

) belongs to the

Salishan The Salishan languages ( ), also known as the Salish languages ( ), are a family of languages found in the Pacific Northwest in North America, namely the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Ida ...

family of Native American languages. The word S'Klallam means "the strong people."

Tribal government

The community is governed by a democratically elected

tribal council A tribal council is an association of First Nations bands in Canada, generally along regional, ethnic or linguistic lines. An Indian band, usually consisting of one main community, is the fundamental unit of government for First Nations in Can ...

. , the tribe had 594 enrolled citizens, and provided services to almost 640 Indians in the northeast Olympic Peninsula.

Mission statement

The tribal mission statement reads:

''The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe seeks to be self-sufficient and to provide quality governmental programs and services to address the unique social, cultural, natural resource and economic needs of our people. These programs and services must be managed while preserving, restoring and sustaining our Indian heritage and community continuity.''

Tribal council

The Tribe is governed by the five-member Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Council. Council members are elected on a staggered basis by the registered adult tribal members for two-year terms. The council acts in accordance with the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Constitution and is led by the Tribal Chairman.

Native American Advocacy

On April 4, 2014, the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

, part of the

, approved the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe leasing regulations under the HEARTH Act after testimony from the Tribal Chairman, W. Ron Allen. With this approval, the Tribe is authorized to enter into the following type of leases without BIA approval: Business leases.HEARTH Act Approval of Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe Regulations, 80 Fed. Reg. 122 (June 25, 2015) ''Federal Register: The Daily Journal of the United States''. Web. April 21, 2019. This has allowed the tribe to expand their business ventures for the welfare of the members with the prosperity and benefits of a casino, golf course, medical and dental facilities, and other small enterprises. The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is also heavily involved in protecting and preserving their ancestral lands. Their natural resources department works to reach all parts of the diverse Pacific Northwestern ecosystem, but is mainly focused on the Dungeness River watershed. Headed primarily by their Dungeness River Management Team, the tribe has been involved in the completion of over 40 watershed planning documents, studies, and recovery plans since 1989.

Notes

References

*Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe homepage
www.jamestowntribe.org
(retrieved July 12, 2006) *Joseph H. Stauss. ''The Jamestown S'Klallam Story: Rebuilding a Northwest Coast Indian Tribe''. Sequim, Washington: Jamestown S'Kallam, December 2002. .
Jamestown S'Klallam Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Washington
United States Census Bureau

External links

Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe
official website

A web-based museum showcasing aspects of the rich history and culture of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula communities. {{coord, 48.0275, -122.999167, type:_region:, display=title Klallam Native American tribes in Washington (state) Federally recognized tribes in the United States Clallam County, Washington