LAPUSH – Memorial services for the late hereditary chief of the Hoh tribe will begin Friday at the A-Ka-Lat Center and continue through Saturday.
Herbert Clyde Fisher Jr., 52, died Wednesday of injuries he suffered in a head-on collision Dec. 23.
He was also known as Chief Klia among West End residents and tribal members throughout the Northwest,
The services are expected to draw hundreds of tribal members and other mourners from throughout the Northwest, including Canada.
Fisher’s sister, Mary Leitka, said her brother’s body will be brought to the A-Ka-Lat Center in LaPush at 3 p.m. for viewing.
A dinner featuring clams, crab, smoked fish and other seafood will follow at 5 p.m. to be followed by candlelight services at 7 p.m., she said.
Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday will be an interfaith memorial service that will include both the Assembly of God and Shaker churches as well as tribal drums, Leitka said.
Another dinner will follow the Saturday services, she said.
Fisher’s body will be cremated, Leitka said.
The A-Ka-Lat Center, the focal point of community activities in LaPush for the Quileute tribe, was chosen for the memorial services because so many people are expected to attend, Leitka said.
“That’s why we looked at two days, so there’s a chance for speakers and for everyone who wants to say something to be a part of it,” she said.
Leitka said the family has contacted some First Nation tribes in Canada, including on Vancouver Island.
Some of them will begin arriving Thursday, she said.
Fisher already had handed his hereditary chief title to his one son, 23-year-old Deki, Leitka said.
Fisher had received it from his father, the late Herbert Sr., when he turned 16, she said.
The Hoh tribe is the smallest in the Northwest with about 170 enrolled members.