NEAH BAY — The Makah Cultural and Research Center will launch a yearlong project next month to produce two multimedia presentations on the tribe’s history.
One will be an in-depth look at the Treaty of Neah Bay, by which the tribe secured hunting, fishing and whaling rights in 1855, said Janine Bowechop, project director.
The treaty is unique, Bowechop explained, because it was the lone one-on-one treaty negotiated between the U.S. government and a northwest Washington tribe.
In other treaties, like the 1854 Treaty of Point No Point, the government grouped tribes together.
The other presentation will examine the history of Makah fishing from before the tribe encountered non-natives to the fishing rights of today.
Research for and production of the presentations will be funded by $50,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal grant-making agency.
“We look forward to utilizing existing resources of the Makah Cultural and Research Center,” said Bowechop, “and to gathering new information from our community members and others who have specialized knowledge.”
Added Keely M. Parker, project manager, “These exhibits will be the first of many permanent exhibits in our proposed historical gallery.”
The Makah Cultural and Research Center at Neah Bay is famed for its exhibits of artifacts from Lake Ozette, where a mudslide covered a native village 500 years ago.