Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Library: 2021 THPO Topics

A Tribal Historic Preservation Officer “wears many hats,” from archaeologist and collections manager to regulatory compliance officer, and much more. Join us for an in-depth look into the world of THPOs and their many responsibilities.

Did you know the Jamestown S’Klallam trace their ancestry primarily to six ancestral villages located on the northeast Olympic Peninsula? We will review historic documents, oral histories, and archaeological data related to these sites and examine the historic factors that led to their abandonment.

The archaeological record of Sequim Prairie and its environs stretches back at least 14,000 years. We will look at some of the more significant sites in the Sequim area and learn what these sites tell us about cultural adaptations to climate change and traditional ecological knowledge.

Learn about the ethnographic and archaeological research on sxʷčkʷíyəŋ, one of the ancestral villages of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe that stood at Washington Harbor. The presentation will feature artifacts, maps, and historical photos as well as ethnobotanical and cultural data.
Find the Washington Harbor booklet on the "Research" tab above, "Coast Salish Culture" drop-down.

nəxʷŋəyaʔáw̕xʷɬč means “silver firs” in the S’Klallam language;
this was the name of the location chosen by Chief James Balch
and the S’Klallam to establish their new village which they named Jamestown in his honor. We will examine the historic factors that led the S’Klallam to seek a new village site, and how they built their own unique community without assistance from the Federal government.

x̣páy, or Western Red Cedar, was known as the “tree of life” to the Coast Salish. We will “peel” away the many layers of cultural traditions and technologies that make this tree such a critical resource for the S’Klallam people, and look at some of the tools and materials that are made using it’s wood, bark, and roots.

This presentation focuses on the historical relationship of the Jamestown S’Klallam to the village of qatáy and the city of Port Townsend. Recorded in the Point-No-Point Treaty of 1855 as the “capital of the S’Klallam,” qatáy was the home to čičməhán and hundreds of S’Klallam until local municipal ordinances and federal government intervention resulted in the forced exodus of the S’Klallam from their home in 1871. (Previously recorded in 2018.)

Erna Gunther was an ethnographer and ethnobotanist from the University of Washington who spent extensive time with the Tribes of the Olympic Peninsula. While researching and writing the “Klallam Ethnography” in the early 1920s, Gunther made multiple trips to Jamestown to
interview Tribal ancestors Robert Collier, John and Nora Cook, Mary Hunter-Hall Wood, and Joe, Lilly, and Wilson Johnson about the history of the S’Klallam people.

The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe curates thousands of archaeological artifacts and ethnographic objects. In 2019, the Tribe established a Tribal Archive repository for historical documents and
print materials. Join us for a look at some of these priceless pieces of S’Klallam cultural
heritage and history.

Construction of the Jamestown Tribal Veterans Memorial in 2018
uncovered an 1,100-year-old archaeological site on the Tribal Reservation. We will look at artifacts recovered at this site and discuss what they can teach us about the life of S’Klallam ancestors on Sequim Bay. (Video coming soon)