Hundreds of years ago, a Klallam fisherman stood on the shores of Port Angeles Harbor, using a fish hook made of elk bone to catch salmon to feed his family.
Today, workers at a construction site have uncovered some of those hooks.
As Lower Elwha Klallam tribal elder Beatrice Charles looked at artifacts from the state Department of Transportation’s graving yard under construction, memories of similar artifacts her great-grandfather had treasured came flooding back to her.
“I had this flash of looking at some of the same type of artifacts when I was a little girl,” Charles, 85, said.
“My great-grandfather had artifacts like these, but us girls were never allowed to touch them.”
Several Lower Elwha elders recently visited the graving yard site — which was the home of an ancient Klallam village — as well as the off-site laboratory where hundreds of artifacts recovered from the 22-acre waterfront property are being stored.
Artifacts ranging from elk bones fashioned to split fish to ornate jewelry have been uncovered by archeologists and tribal members.
This was the elders’ first visit to the site since archaeological excavation began.
They allowed a Peninsula Daily News reporter to accompany them on the tour of their ancestral village, named Tse-whit-zen.
Removal of the village
The elders said they are devastated that Tse-whit-zen, one of the largest recorded Klallam villages, is being removed, but are pleased to learn more about their history.
“I have always said my ancestors were not dumb,” Charles said, looking a toggling harpoon point and a fish hook.
“They were smart, they knew how to make a fish hook to catch a fish.
“What is being found really shows their will to survive and that they knew how to live off the land.”
Elder Johnson Charles, who works with the archeological team at the graving yard, said he feels an immense sense of pride looking at the artifacts.
“They made things well and did so without the tools we have today,” Charles, 63, said.
“They found what materials worked and how to use them and were successful.”
He said watching artifacts being excavated from the graving yard brings back memories of his father’s fishing gear.
“My father, Johnson Charles Sr., had fish hooks just like these, but I never knew what happened to them,” he said.
“It is nice for the tribe to have these artifacts.”