Makah
The Makah are a Native American tribe located on the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. They are part of the broader Northwest Coast Native American culture area, which includes various tribes stretching from Northern California to southeastern Alaska. With origins believed to date back approximately ten thousand years, the Makah developed a rich culture characterized by a complex social structure based on wealth and rank, with a notable absence of agriculture. They thrived primarily on abundant marine resources, engaging in hunting, fishing, and gathering, which allowed them to trade surplus goods with other tribes and European merchants.
Whaling was a significant aspect of their culture, with elaborate rituals surrounding the hunt. The Makah held deep spiritual beliefs, viewing salmon as deities that sacrificed themselves for humans and conducting ceremonies to honor their catch. Social gatherings known as potlatches were essential for reinforcing status and wealth among families. As a people who have navigated the challenges of modernization while striving to preserve their heritage, the Makah continue to exemplify the historical wealth and complexity present among Indigenous communities of the Pacific Northwest.
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Makah
- CATEGORY: Tribe
- CULTURE AREA: Northwest Coast
- LANGUAGE GROUP: Chinookan
- PRIMARY LOCATION: Washington State
- POPULATION SIZE: 1,500 on reservation (2025; Makah Tribe); 3,350 total (2025; International Whaling Commission)
Living on the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula of present-day Washington State, the Makah were one of twenty-eight groups of Indigenous Americans living along 1,400 miles of coast from Northern California to southeastern Alaska who collectively formed the Northwest Coast Indigenous American culture area. The Makah were bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the east by the Klallam people, and on the south by the Quileute/Hoh. Although Makah origins are unclear, anthropologists believe ancestors of the Makah were living in the same area ten thousand years ago.
About the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the Makah were part of a thriving culture and society. At this time, a Makah village at Ozette was covered in an enormous mudslide. In 1966, Washington State University anthropologists began excavating the site. This natural disaster perfectly preserved thousands of artifacts, including several wooden longhouses, harpoons, whale lances, and various wooden artworks such as totem carvings. This find is now preserved at Neah Bay, Washington, at the Makah Cultural and Research Center. Dale Croes and Eric Blinman also wrote about a find at the Hoko River, believed to be a twenty-five-hundred-year-old fishing camp.
When Europeans arrived after 1775 and docked at Makah settlements, they found a people who were willing trade partners and had an abundance of goods to trade. The Makah had little to no agriculture, but they were probably among the wealthiest groups of Indigenous Americans in North America. There was such an abundance of food in the Pacific Northwest that the Makah needed to hunt, fish, and gather only from May through September. This provided them with plenty to eat and enough surplus to trade for externally produced goods, both with other tribes and with European merchants.
The region’s climate, which is moderate and wet, yielded food in abundance. Salmon, trout, cod, halibut, herring, whales, sea lions, sea otters, clams, mussels, sea urchins, seaweed, berries, bird eggs, deer, elk, bear, wolves, mountain goats, and beavers were some, but not all, of the available resources.
Perhaps the greatest excitement in the Makah cyclical calendar of events involved whaling. When a whale was seen near the coast, the men would jump into cedar or redwood dugout canoes and chase it. On the bow, the chief harpooner (a position passed down from father to son), who held a mussel shell-bladed 18-foot harpoon with attached buoys, stood ready to throw. Once the whale tired and died, the canoes would pull the mammal back to shore, where the village would make use of every part of the catch (meat, oil, and bones). After a twenty-five-year battle, in 2024, the Makah once again received federal permission to resume their treaty right to whale hunt. Prior to the 2024 ruling, the last Makah whale hunt took place in 1999.
Although anthropologists have generally considered agriculture a prerequisite for a sophisticated civilization, the complexity of the Makah culture emerges when one examines a few of the Makah rituals, beliefs, and ways of life. The Makah believed that the salmon were gods who lived during the winter in houses under the sea but who sacrificed themselves each year to humans. An elaborate ceremony surrounded the year’s first catch of salmon, and the Makah were careful to throw the salmon bones back into the water to ensure a return of the fish the following year.
The Makah had a strict social division based on wealth and rank. A combination of material ownership and birth determined one’s position in the village. Sometimes, though not often, a lower-class person could wield great influence, perhaps as a shaman (man or woman) who was believed to possess great magical powers.
Several families lived within the long wooden houses that always faced the sea; the highest in rank would receive the premium sleeping and storage space near the back wall of the house. The wealthiest Makah would periodically host potlatches, or extended feasts intended to impress neighbors and reinforce the host’s status in the society. Often, many guests were invited, and gifts were given liberally. At these potlatches, private and exclusive songs might be performed that would signify and reinforce the rank of the performer and their family.
The Makah represent the wealth, trade, and social structuring present among Northwest Coast Indigenous Americans before the arrival of the Europeans and exemplify the efforts of Indigenous American groups in the twenty-first century to preserve the heritage of their ancestors. In the twenty-first century, around 1,500 members of the over 3,350 Makah Tribe live on the Makah Indian Reservation, located at the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.
Bibliography
Coté, Charlotte. Spirits of Our Whaling Ancestors: Revitalizing Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth Traditions. University of Washington Press, 2015.
Colson, Elizabeth. The Makah Indians: A Study of an Indian Tribe in Modern American Society. Manchester University Press, 2009.
“Description of the USA Aboriginal Subsistence Hunt: Makah Tribe.” International Whaling Commission, iwc.int/management-and-conservation/whaling/aboriginal/usa/makah-tribe. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.
Erikson, Patricia Pierce, et al. Voices of a Thousand People: The Makah Cultural and Research Center. University of Nebraska Press, 2002.
Kirk, Ruth. Ozette: Excavating a Makah Whaling Village. University of Washington Press, 2015.
"Makah Tribal Info." Makah Tribe, makah.com/makah-tribal-info. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.
Pailthorp, Bellamy. “After Nearly 25 Years, Federal Officials Approve a Limited Makah Whale Hunt.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, 13 June 2024, www.opb.org/article/2024/06/13/federal-approval-makah-whale-hunt. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.