The Makah are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast living in Washington, in the northwestern part of the continental United States. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation, commonly known as the Makah Tribe.
A Makah settlement, c. 1900
A Makah woman, c. 1900
Makah whalers, c. 1910
Makah whalers stripping the flesh from a whale, c. 1910.
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast
The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of salmon as a resource and spiritual symbol, and many cultivation and subsistence practices. The term Northwest Coast or North West Coast is used in anthropology to refer to the groups of Indigenous people residing along the coast of what is now called British Columbia, Washington State, parts of Alaska, Oregon, and Northern California. The term Pacific Northwest is largely used in the American context.
Chief Anotklosh of the Taku Tribe of the Tlingit people, ca. 1913
Ceremonial cape, Tlingit people
Kwakwakaʼwakw people at a wedding ceremony in 1914
A Kwakwakaʼwakw canoe in 1910.