We have lived at the most northwestern point in what is now the contiguous United States since the beginning of time. For thousands of years we have hunted whales and seals, and fished in the great waters which cradle our home.
Commercial fishing is one of the mainstays of our economy.
Throughout our history, the great Western Red Cedar tree has provided the material from which we have housed and clothed ourselves. In the form of canoes and other tools, cedar has also provided the means by which we have fed ourselves. Our people once flourished in a community of five permanent villages. In 1970 tidal erosion uncovered an ancient whaling village at Ozette, parts of which had been covered by a mud slide hundreds of years ago. In 1979 the Makah Cultural and Research Center opened to the public in order to share this great find.