In aboriginal times, the Olympic Peninsula was a part of the Northwest
Coast cultural area, which stretched along the Pacific shoreline from
northern California to Alaska. The inhabitants of this extensive region
shared many cultural traits, perhaps the most distinctive of which were
a keen sense of personal property and a veneration of wealth. These
people did little to change their natural environment, but they showed
great skill in utilizing what resources their primitive technology made
available. Their dug-out canoes, for instance, fashioned from tree
trunks, were probably the finest which have ever been made by any
aboriginal people.
This remarkable culture was possible largely because the environment
provided an abundance of the necessities of life. Food was easily
obtained, and 3 or 4 months of gathering provided enough for the balance
of the year. Fish were the staple food. Salmon swarmed up the streams of
the Olympic Peninsula each summer and were trapped or speared in great
quantity. Smelt were dipped from the surf, and clams and other shelled
creatures were taken from the seashore. The diet was augmented by
berries and roots from the woodlands. Elk, deer, and birds provided
meat. Some of the Olympic Indians hunted seals, porpoises, and whales.
The capture of the whales required daring journeys on the open sea in
dug-out canoes 30 to 40 feet long and accommodating 6 to 8 men.
The great forests of the Peninsula were vitally important to the Indian
economy. Cedars provided hulls for canoes or were split into planks for
houses. From cedar bark were made baskets, mats, sails, cordage,
clothing, and other household necessities.
Most of the year these Indians lived in villages located above the
beaches along the ocean or arms of the sea, generally at the mouths of
rivers. Their permanent houses were stoutly built of planks. Some of
these rectangular structures, designed to accommodate several families,
were more than 60 feet long and 30 to 40 feet wide. Many of them were
beautifully decorated with painted designs. During summer it was a
common practice of these people to migrate, either inland to gather
berries and hunt, or along the watercourses to fish.
By primitive standards, the Indians of the Northwest Coast were wealthy;
that is, they had plenty of things to eat, wear, and use for shelter.
They also had much winter leisure. This combination of wealth and
leisure gave rise to a remarkable political and social system in which
power and prestige generally belonged to the richest individuals.
An important feature of the social structure was the giving away of
possessions during a feast, called a potlatch. Years, even a lifetime,
of saving and privation were frequently endured in order to accumulate
sufficient wealth for this purpose. Guests were invited from many
tribes. The host gave such valuable gifts as canoes, slaves, food,
fishing equipment, and, in more recent years, commercial blankets. As a
rule, gifts were given only to guests who could afford to give a return
potlatch. Gift-giving was a good investment for the host because the
recipient was obligated to give a larger gift in return. This act of
giving away one’s possessions elevated the giver and his family in the
social scale. Wealth was measured not so much in terms of what was owned
as by what was given away.
In recent years the Bureau of Indian Affairs has exerted pressure to
discourage the potlatch system, and it has declined greatly; but
potlatches are still held in modified form.
Today, the scene at Indian villages along the Olympic Peninsula is quite
unlike that of a century ago. The cedarplank communal houses are no
longer built; and, as the climate is not conducive to preservation, the
old ones have disappeared. White man’s clothes have replaced garments of
skin and shredded bark. Customs, too, have been modified under the
impact of modern civilization. Still, much of the old Indian tradition
survives, though it may not be discernible on the surface.
The main source of livelihood still is fishing. The Indians prefer to
use dug-out canoes, but now these are usually propelled by outboard
motors. Nearly every family owns a canoe, although only a few expert
canoe makers build them. They are similar to the oldtime canoes in
design, but the tools used to carve them are steel rather than the
stone, shell, or bone used for blades in primitive tools.
Thrilling dug-out canoe trips on the Quinault River are available in
summer for a moderate fee. The Quinault Indians at Amanda Park, where
the river flows out of Lake Quinault, offer such trips over the entire
distance of 35 miles to the ocean.