Makah - Nootka - Quinault - Chehalis

The Makah Tribe is an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast based in Neah Bay, Washington, known for their deep maritime culture, longhouse traditions, and treaty‑protected right to hunt gray whales. Their name, “Makah,” comes from a S’Klallam term meaning “generous with food.” The Makah Tribe today continues to balance cultural preservation, marine stewardship, and community resilience while maintaining their deep connection to the sea.

The Nootka tribe—now properly known as the Nuu-chah-nulth—are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, traditionally living along the west coast of Vancouver Island, with related groups such as the Makah in Washington.

The Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) consists of descendants of the Quinault, Queets, Quileute, Hoh, Chehalis, Chinook, and Cowlitz people. The western redcedar, the tree of life, provided logs for canoes, bark for clothing, split boards for houses, and more. They are the Canoe People, the people of the cedar tree.

The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis are comprised of many smaller bands and villages that originally inhabited the land from Mud Bay in the north to the Columbia River in the south, and from the foothills of Mt. Rainier in the east, to the Pacific Ocean in the west. In 1824, trader Alexander Ross noted Chehalis was one of the ten most important Tribes in the present-day southwest Washington region.