HOH TRIBE

THE HOH TRIBE FOCUSES ON THE SOUTHERN RIVER IT'S IDENTITY AND FOR ECONOMIC PATTERNS. THEY ARE 8 MILES NORTH OF ABERDEEN, WASHINGTON. THESE PEOPLE WERE CREATED. KWATI WAS THE TRANSFORMER A SHAPE SHIFTING GUY.


WHEN KWATI GOT TO THE HOH RIVER HE OBSERVED THE PEOPLE WERE UPSIDE DOWN. THEY WALKED ON THEIR HANDS AND THEIR DIPNETS. THEY WALKED ON THEIR HANDS AND THEIR DIPNETS WERE HANDLED WITH THEIR FEET. HOH ELDERS STILL REFER TO THEMSELVES AS UPSIDE DOWN PEOPLE. AFTER HE SET THE PEOPLE UPRIGHT THE TRANSFORMER TOLD THE ANCESTORS "YOU SHALL USE YOUR FEET TO WALK". YOU SHALL CATCH MUCH FISH AND EVEN SINCE THEN THERE IS MUCH SMELT. THERE IS A MYTHIC NARRATIVE FOR AN ORIGIN OF THE RIVER. AS THE STORY GOES KWATI KILLED THE CHIEF OF THE WOLVES AND TRIED TO ESCAPE FROM THE OTHER WOLVES, BENT ON REVENGE. KWATI RAN TO THE BEACH AND WOLVES FOLLOWED HIM. AS SOON AS THE WOLVES WERE ABOUT TO REACH HIM, HE STRUCK THE GROUND WITH A COMB. THEN THERE APPEARED A CLIFF. THE WOLVES SWAM AROUND A CLIFF. ONCE MORE OF THE WOLVES WERE ABOUT TO OVERTAKE KWATI BUT HE SPILLED OIL ON THE GROUND AND THERE WAS A RIVER. THE WOLVES SWAM ACROSS THE RIVER. HE WENT AROUND THE COUNTRY AND HE MAADE THE CLIFFS HIGHER AND HIGHER AND SO HE WAS NEVER OVERTAKEN BY THE PURSUING WOLVES.


THEIR HISTORY IS SUCH THAT THE TRIBE IS IMPORTANT IN THE HOH WATERSHED OF THEIR RESERVATION OF ABOUT 440 ACRES. THEY ARE THE TRADITIONAL OWNERS OF THEIR LAND AND RETAIN TIES TO THEIR SITES, LANDSCAPES, AND RESOURCES. THEIR LANGUAGE WAS NAMED FROM THE QUINALT LANGUAGE NAME FOR THE RIVER. NO MEANING IS ASSOCIATED FOR THE QUINAULT NAME. ONE WRITER CLAIMS HOH MEANS FAST WASTE WATER. THEY CALL THEIR RIVER CHA'LAK'AT'SIT. AND IT MEANS SOUTHERN RIVER. THE RIVER DESCENDS 7000 FEET FROM THE OLYMPIC GLACIERS TO THE TIDEWATERS AND MADE 145 " OF RAIN PER YEAAR. THEIR LIFE CENTERED ON THE SALMON, CEDAR, AND SPIRIT OF THE WATERSHED.


IN ABORIGINAL TIME THE HOH HAD 7 SETTLEMENTS OF VILLAGES WITH 110 PEOPLE. MANY HAD FISH TRAP WEIRS ACROSS THE RIVER. THERE WAS MOVEMENT AS PEOPLE PULLED THERE. THE OLD PEOPLE'S COGNITIVE MAPS WERE DOTTED WITH PLACE NAMES, HUNTING GROUNDS, SITES ASSOCIATED WITH MYTHIC NARRATIVES, SPIRITUAL BELIEFS AND FORAGING SPOTS. MUCH OF THIS ORAL HISTORY HAS BEEN LOST.


ONE RESEARCHER SAID THE HOH ARE IN A LAND THAT SLEPT LATE. THEY ARE A STUDY OF PEOPLE IN THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS IN LEGEND AND HISTORY. THEY LEFT VERY VERY LITTLE BEHIND FOR ARCHAEOLOGIST. THEIR BELIEF SYSTEM ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THEIR LIFE. CONTINUING AVAILABILITY AND ACCESS TO KEY RESOURCES ARE IMPORTANT FOR CONTEMPORARY TRIBAL LIFE, DIET CRAFTS, AND BELIEF SYSTEMS. THE TRIBE WAS PROUD OF THEIR LOCATION BASED TRADITIONS AND PLACE NAMES. THE NAMES OF THE ABORIGINAL HABITATION AND LAND USE PATTERNS REVEALED THEIR COMMUNITY HISTORY. RITUAL SITES AND CLEANSING SITES ARE RESOURCES OF CONCERN. FAILURE TO RESPECT THIS DIGNITY OF THESE SITES COULD RESULT IN TENSIONS AMONG THEIR TRIBAL MEMBERS BASED UPON

THEIR TRIBAL BELIEFS. IT COULD RESULT IN PERSONAL MISFORTUNE. IN SENSITIVE MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ARE CAUSAL MECHANISMS. THAT COULD RESULT IN DEGRADING A SPECIAL PLACE.


ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES, KEYFISH, AND PLANTS ARE OF HIGH CONCERN TO THE HOH TRIBE. THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER WAS IMPORTANT DURING ABORIGINAL TIMES. THE HOH USED TROLL AND DRIFT NETS IN THE TIDAL AREAS AROUND THE RIVER MOUTH AND CAUGHT PLENTY OF FISH. MOST FAMILIES KEPT A COMMODIOUS SMOKEHOUSE NEAR THE RIVER MOUTH FOR DIP NETTED SMELT, HERRING, SALT WATER FISH, CLAMS, AND MUSSELS. THEY BUILT OCEAN GOING CANOES.


THE LOWER HOH RIVER VILLAGE WAS THE MAIN VILLAGE AT THE TIME OF CONTACT AND MAY HAVE HAD 5 MULTI-FAMILY SHED ROOFED CEDAR PLANK LONG HOUSES. IN ABORIGINAL TIMES THE VILLAGES WERE FACING THE OCEAN TO THE WEST. BY 1930'S THE VILLAGE WAS A SEMI CIRCLE OF HOMES AND SHACKS AT THE TURN AROUND OF THE RIVER MOUTH AFTER THE ROAD WAS FINISHED.COMMUNITY MEMBERS STARTED BUILDING HOUSES INLAND VS. IN THE COAST . THE TRADITIONAL SITE AT THE RIVER BEEN ABANDONED FOR 1000 YEARS. BY 1893 THE HOH RESERVATION WAS ESTABLISHED BY AN EXECUTIVE ORDER. THEY LIVE O 443 ACRES RESERVATION. AT FOSSIL CREEK THERE IS AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE MADE OF REMNANTS AND TOOLS FROM MAKING A PARTIALLY FINISHED CANOE. MANY HOH PLACE NAMES DON'T SEEM TO MEAN ANYTHING. ONE MAN'S SPRING HAD FEDERAL CREEK RUNS INTO THE HIGHWAY. THIS CREEK IS WHERE THE FISH HATCHERY IS. THE OLD PEOPLE CONDUCTED RITUALS.















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