Ways to Explore

The land we know today as Port Townsend [qátay “kah-tai”] and the marine waters, sit on the treaty and politically sovereign territory of the S'Klallam People, which today is represented by the three S’Klallam/Klallam Tribes (Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, and Port Gamble S’Klallam). Before, and at the time of the treaties, this area had some shared territories with the Chemakum People through complex political and social relations. At the time of the Point No Point Treaty signing in 1855, the Chemakum People were also signers of the Treaty, though intertribal war essentially led to their absorption into the S’Klallams. Through traditional relations, other Indigenous Peoples visited and camped on these lands. By federal recognition and treaty authority, the three S’Klallam/Klallam Tribes hold the government-to-government relationship with local, state, federal, and international sovereigns. Even amidst the history that has affected this territory, the S'Klallams and Chemakums have not forgotten their sacred duty of stewardship from the Creator, since time immemorial. The duty to steward always included this land, near waters, creatures, and humans.