Intro/Index

This Blog will be all about the Makah Culture.  The culture originates from Washington, United States.  This blog will talk about different topics to get into the details of the Makah cultures. The blog topics will include:

• History of the Makah
• Washington: Homeland of the Makah 
• World of the Makah 
• Makah Cosmos
• Birds of the Makah 
• Makah and their Neighbors
• Makah Migrations of Diaspora 
• Interview 
• Makah Cultural Survival 

I hope that anyone who reads this blog will enjoy my journey through the Makah Culture!

Makah Music

     Music to the Makah Tribe is very special.  In the past Makah music was most important in ceremonies that would uphold the power and position of the chiefs, ceremonies for birth, puberty, marriage, and death, medicine and curing, hunting, secret society activities, whaling, fishing, games, warfare and recreation.  There is rules that are handed down to each generation about how to handle a song.
     In the past Makah people would teach the songs to the next generations by "Oral Tradition" which was singing the song so others could hear the song and learn it.  It also was the families responsibility to teach their children the songs and music traditions.  Each Family would own their own set of songs and pass those songs down throughout their family line.  One way the Makah tribe maintained a strong "singing tradition" was by having "Singing Sessions".  During these sessions the tribe members would gather at someones house and and spend the entire night singing the songs of the members who were there in attendance and also telling story.  This way the children were learning the songs while the adults were renewing the songs. 
    In today's time we have more technology so the children can learn the songs that have been previously recorded on tape recorders.  Although they still can use the oral method.  The elder members of the tribe enjoy teaching their grandchildren, they teach the children a little different then the parents.  The elders like to make the children ask questions and the elders will respond to those questions and teach the children the traditions.  As said in the past blog about the cultural survival, the Makah people sing these traditional songs at the annual Makah Days fair.  I would have liked to link a video of some tribal songs, but I couldn't find any online.  Ill post back if I have any luck in the future! 

References

• "Makah Tribe (Neah Bay, Washington): Tribal Info, History and More."Makah Tribe. N.p., n.d. 
• "Makah Indian Fact Sheet." Facts for Kids: Makah Indians (Makahs). N.p., n.d.
• "The Makah People." Makah NALEMP Program and Accomplishments:. N.p., n.d.
• "Natural and Cultural Resources of the Makah People." Makah NALEMP Program and Accomplishments: Natural Resources of the Makah People. N.p., n.d.
• "Makah." Mr. Gessaman's Classroom Wiki -. N.p., n.d. 
• "Native Languages of the Americas: Makah Indian Legends." Makah Legends (Folklore, Myths, and Traditional Indian Stories). N.p., n.d. 
• "Makah Days - Makah Tribe (Neah Bay, Washington)." Makah Tribe. N.p., 
• "Makah: About the Tribe - Makah Tribe (Neah Bay, Washington)." Makah Tribe. N.p., n.d.
• http://ebird.org/ebird/subnational2/US-WA-009yr=cur&m=&rank=hc&hs_sortBy=count&hs_o=desc
• Colson, Elizabeth. The Makah Indians; a Study of an Indian Tribe in Modern American Society. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1953. Print.
• Goodman, Linda J., and Helma Swan. "Makah Music: Preserving the Traditons." Spirit Of The First People: Native American Music Traditions Of Washington State. Ed. Willie Smyth and Esme Ryan. Seattle: U Of Washington, 1999. 81-105. Print.
• Erikson, Patricia P., Helma Ward, and Kirk Wachendorf. Voices of a Thousand People: The Makah Cultural and Research Center. N.p.: U of Nebraska, 2002. Print.

Makah Cultural Survival

     Many cultures today have problems with keeping their heritage alive and continuing their culture as the world around us changes.  The Makah tribe has no problem with that. The Makah tribe still practices their ancient heritage, hold dance practices, participate in canoe adventures, and teach the native language to their children. 
      Each year the Makah tribe hold an Annual Makah Days Fair.  During the fair the members of the Makah tribe who have moved away gather and reunite to celebrate thousands of years of the Makah Culture and also becoming U.S citizens.  They also include their neighbors from Washington State and Vancouver Island in Canada. Each year they hold the fair on the weekend closest to August 26th, the anniversary for when the first American flag was raised in Neah Bay.  They prepare an entire schedule of events where they combine new modern activities with their ancient traditions.  
     The more traditional activities include traditional dancing, war canoe races, and salmon bakes.  This bribe is very serious about keeping their culture alive for generations to come. I think by holding theses annual celebratory get together its a great way for new and old members of the tribe to reunite and keep the traditions going. Below I have included a video from one of the past Makah Days fair I hope you enjoy! 

Makah Days

Parade

Tribal Dancing

Tribal Dancing

Salmon Bake

Makah Days 2009 Snipe Dance

Makah Clothing

     The Makah people dress in regular every day clothing that is appropriate for their type of work.  The fishermen wear raincoats and rubber hip boots that they roll down to the knees.  The lumber camp workers wear great calked boots with overalls and heavy shirts.  For dress occasions the men wear suits.  
     The women wear clothing similar to neighboring areas.  They wear cotton house dresses that they order in bulk for everyone.  Their dresses can also be made from silk, rayon or wool when they have to go to special occasions.  High school students wear skirts and sweaters or slack suits.  
     The children wear overalls, slack suits, and cotton dresses.  Babies wear little dresses or knitted suits.  The Makah people do not dress very different from other cultures.  A few older women wear scarfs on their heads and shawls over their shoulders.  After the European influence some Makah people began wearing blanket robes instead of long headdresses that other tribes wore. 
      Some members have long hair and young girls are allowed to have their hair straight and loose at shoulder length, and others have their hair cut short and have it permanently waved.  Below are some pictures of Makah people in their usual Attire.

Makah Children 

Makah Woman 

Interview

After getting into contact a representative from the Makah Culture Research Center I was able to reach out to a Makah Native.  His name is William he told me that he is a "sometimes artist" and that he has"been working on the halibut fishing gear for 8 yrs 8 months now. [he has] been trying to figure out a easy way on making the wooden halibut hook for the young people."  He is interested in keeping the culture alive in the new generations. He works with younger people of the tribe, he said" I still have two individual group/individual working on their wooden halibut hook. I do not push I let them go at own speed." He is interested in art but said, "I haven't gotten into the artwork totally but this year I am hoping to open up."  Regarding his artwork he said" Now I have to expand on how to express more for me. I have to sell my products, its different being new to this artwork." His stated other contributions like, "I have always harvested items for the basket weavers, I have made different things; cedar bark rope, stinging nettles fishing line, the whole halibut gear system." Overall it was a great interview and I was really excited that after all this researching I've done about this culture that I was actually able to speak to someone from the culture! 

Makah Migrations and Diaspora

     The Makah people have confusion about their background of Emigration.  During parties it is common for the older generation to argue about when the first ships appeared and members voyaged out of the reservation, where did they go to? Some say south of California to serve as seal hunters or the Hawaiian Islands, also they think they were taken to China and Japan.  On and Near the Reservation members moved to the Hudson Bay Trading Post on Vancouver Island to trade seal furs, whale oil, and fish. 
      Families also moved by the Strait of Juan de Fuca to work in the salmon canneries.  Other Members moved to eastern Washington to work in the hop fields, where others moved to Seattle to work in the lumber camps.  It is said that during the summer season Neah Bay was almost completely empty until the winter months. 
      In the book "The Makah Indians" it says that "at least 56 of the 104 men and 53 of the 99 women over the age of 25 have lived away from the reservation".  Some members went to Portland, Bellingham, Yakima, and California, but mostly these members only moved temporarily and came back to the reservation.
      Most of the older members of the tribe will never leave Neah Bay.  The new generations will most likely move to areas around the reservation or attend schools at other places in the United States much like young people today.  Stay tuned for my next blog post about a interview I had with a Makah tribe member.

Makah and their Neighbors

     The Neighbors of the Makah community are also known as 'Aliens'.  They live at Neah bay with the Makah people,  some of them are men and women and children who have lived with the Makah people in their homes.  It was documented in 1942 that there was 410 Makah people, with 97 Makah households, 56 people or approximately 13.6% of them were Aliens of the Tribe.  
     The reasoning for a good amount of aliens is the fact the Makah tribe allow out of tribe marriages.  Most of the neighbors are from groups on Washington or Vancouver island.  Some examples of the other tribes these aliens came from would be, Silctz, Shoshone, Lummi, Sook, Cowichan, Nitiant, Clayoquet, Quinault, Quilcute, and Callam.  There were other people who came to become residents of Neah Bay to work on construction projects in the Cape Flattery area.  They came from the Quinaults, Quileutes, Lummi, Clallam and few Dakota tribes.  
     These neighboring tribes were interested in trading whale products with the Makah tribe, and in return would trade other products.  The Makah tribe were not warlike people so they didn't have many conflicts with their neighbors, they are very accepting people.

Makah Cosmos

          The Makah People have many different folk stories, myths, and legends.  Some of their more important Mythological Figures include, Hohoeapbess also known as the Two Men Who Changed things, they are the brothers of the the sun and the moon who where put on the earth to create animals, people, and the land.  The Raven is known as a cultural hero, it is known as a benevolent animal who helps people but is also known to get into a lot of trouble in most of the stories it appears in.  Lastly the Basket Ogress is a giant monster who catches human children and puts them in their pack and takes them away to eat them. 
           One of the makah ledgends about the two men who changed things is a story about two men: the sun and the moon, who came to change humans into birds and animals, explain how animals and birds came to be on the earth.  They changed their wife into a raven, and another into a crow, and gave them strong beaks to tear apart their food. Another story about the children stolen by the cannibal basket women is very similar to hansel and grettel. The story is about a group of children who went on a camping trip with their parents, they get kidnapped by Basket Ogress and she takes them to her cabin. She starts a fire of coals to prepare to cook the children.  One of the children come up with an idea to push the Basket Ogress into the hot coals so they can run away, they successfully push her into the coals and run back to safety with their parents and tribe.  
          Makah legends, stories, and folk tales were a way to entertain the children and adults around the campsite, and to also extend their culture down the line of generations.  Stay tuned for the next blog post about the birds of the Makah Culture! 

Birds of the Makah

     Birds are important to the Makah culture literally and figuratively.  As said in the last blog post the Raven was an important Makah Mythological figure.  But Birds have a different importance to the culture.
      Olympic Bird Fest is a two-day birding experience at one of the most remote and wild birding areas of Washington State. You take a tribal van to bird filled hot spots. Also walk around cape flattery, and a boat trip to see mammals and pelagic sea birds that you don’t really see from land.  Cape Flattery provides habitat for hundreds of species of birds. Murrelets and Murres are prized sightings. You can see mostly Shore birds, ducks and gulls. In the fall and spring you see  Canadian geese, trumpeter swans, falcons, hawks and Sandhill cranes. Between January and April, hundreds of bald eagles 'winter over' from British Columbia on the coastline between Clallam Bay and Neah Bay. On a typical day, 50 or more eagles can be seen perched in the trees, especially at low tide. 
      Some birds that were only spotted once in 2014 in Clallam County are Bullock's Oriole, Rusty Blackbird, Harris's Sparrow, Townsend's Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat.  Some of the most popular birds of the year would be the American Wigeon, counted 2000 times this year, the Northern Pintail counted 1000 times this year,  the Brant seen 875 times this year.  Below are some photos of birds found on or around the reservation.  

Bullock's Oriole

Rusty blackbird

Harris's Sparrow

Townsend's Warbler

Common Yellowthroat 

World of the Makah

     Dating back to 1941,there were two types of residents on Neah Bay, the Makah's and the Whites.  The whites that permanently reside on the reservation control most economic positions.  They own the power plant, hotel, two stores, the fish jetty, and oil business.  The Makah men work at the lumber company and the construction company that the white members own.  
     The Makah men have a few of their own business but are often patronized by the white members of the area.  They own a filling station and garage, three tourist camps and two restaurants.  The clan also owns a fish house, which is used for importing and exporting fish to independent fish buyer's who come to the village in the summer.  By having this fish it it allows for maximum independence and also ability to make the prices to what they want.  Only Makah people can own the land which makes them landlords of their piece of land, they can rent out rooms to residents but also have eviction rights.  Makah people also have a  good handle on firewood.  They use the firewood to cook meals and heat their houses.  
     Makah women have jobs as well, most of them work for the White families by coming in and helping with the laundry and cleaning.  Makah people do not usually work for each other, except for positions in the restaurants owned by Makah people.  Although Makah people work for white they do not have an inferior status to them economically. 
     The Makah people do not use the reservation as much as they have available to them so it has been rumored that they do not care about their reservation.  The history of the Makah land explains that the makah people are almost bound entirely to the natural features of the region, in their myths and folk stories speak on how important the land is.  The story The Two Men who Created Everything is a story about how the land and animals came to be.  Stay tuned for the next blog that goes more into detail about the myths and cosmos of the Makah culture!