Qualla: Makah Reservation

Makah Reservation: Introduction

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Makah call themselves qwidichchaatx -- 'people who live by the rocks and seagulls.' Their neighbors called them Makah, meaning 'generous with food.' Both names fit. The Makah Reservation occupies the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, a 47-square-mile wedge of land where the Strait of Juan de Fuca collides with the Pacific Ocean. To the north, the strait stretches toward Vancouver Island. To the west, nothing but open water until you hit Japan. It is one of the most exposed positions on the American coast, which is precisely why the Makah chose it. For at least 6,000 years, they have built their lives around what the ocean provides.

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Makah Reservation: Five Villages at the Edge

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Before European contact, the Makah occupied five major villages strung along the coast: Waatch, Sooes, Deah, Ozette, and Bahaada. Each was positioned for access to the marine resources that sustained the tribe -- whale, seal, salmon, halibut, and an enormous variety of shellfish....

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Makah Reservation: The Treaty That Preserved Whaling

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On January 31, 1855, the Makah signed the Treaty of Neah Bay, ceding 300,000 acres of their traditional territory to the United States in exchange for the reservation, a $30,000 annuity, and rights that remain unique in American law. The treaty explicitly preserved the Makah's ri...

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Makah Reservation: Longhouses and Moving Walls

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The excavation at Ozette revealed traditional longhouses roughly thirty by seventy feet, each divided into five living quarters with a cooking fire at the center of each room. What surprised researchers was the engineering. Because the Makah moved with the seasons, their longhous...

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Makah Reservation: Neah Bay Today

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Neah Bay is the reservation's largest community, a small fishing village where most of the approximately 1,600 enrolled Makah live. The median household income is roughly $47,000. Forestry and fishing remain the primary economic activities, supplemented by a growing tourism econo...

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