The nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əm people are a Coast
Salish tribe that has inhabited the Strait
of Juan de Fuca area and surrounding
areas since time immemorial, and
comprise the present-day Port Gamble
S’Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, and
Lower Elwha Klallam tribes of Western
Washington. These tribes are signato-ries to the 1855 Treaty of Point No Point
with the United States government,
by which the tribes reserved certain
inherent sovereign rights, including the
right to harvest fish and shellfish at their
usual and accustomed grounds and stations. These treaty-reserved rights were
recognized some 119 years later through
the federal court case captioned United
States v. Washington, commonly known
as the Boldt Decision, 384 F. Supp. 312
(W.D. Wash. 1974), aff’d, 520 F.2d 676
(9th Cir. 1975).
In the oral tradition of the nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əm
people, the killer whale is regarded as a
helper and protector of the people. The
q̕ɬúməčən appears in many traditional
stories, including the story of the
epic battle between Killer Whale and
the supernatural Thunderbird, which
caused a great tumult on the land and
sea. Different versions of this story are
told by native peoples around the Sal-
ish Sea. Modern scientists now regard
these stories as historic evidence of
seismic activity within the Cascadia
Subduction Zone.
According to the Klallam dictionary,
Klallam elders told of an underground
portal or cave called q̕ɬuməčənáwtxʷ
which was located under present-day
Discovery Bay on the Olympic Peninsula. Q̕ɬuməčənáwtxʷ was the home of the
orcas, or the orca road. When an orca
died, it was said to return to this place
and emerge at the site of an inland pond
or lake, where it would transform into a
human being.
Port Gamble S’Klallam Elder Mike
Jones Sr. recalls hearing stories of an
ancestor with a special spiritual connection to the orcas, who could summon
orcas to shore with his hand and even
ride on the back of an orca. Orcas, says
Jones, are believed to have tremendous
memories, and will remember this long-passed ancestor if any of his descendants should encounter them. NWL
ANTHONY JONES is a
reservation attorney
for the Tulalip Tribes
and member of the
nəxʷq̕íyt band of the
nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əm people,
known as the Port Gamble S’Klallam
tribe. Jones is a Coast Salish and Native
American artist. He can be reached at
ajones@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov.
