PORT GAMBLE S KALLAUM

THESE NATIVES ARE LOCATED ON THE NORTHERN TIP OF KITSAP PENNISULA IN WASHINGTON STATE. IT IS SATURATED ON PORT GAMBLE BAY THIS TRIBE HAS BEEN INCREASING ITS INTERACTION WITH IT'S NEIGHBOR'S IN THE NORTH IN THE KITSAP AREA. THE TRIBE IS BEING RESPONSIBLE TO BALANCE THEIR NATURAL RESOURCES. THEIR POPULATION IS ABOUT 1150 AS MEMBERS AND ABOUT 1/2 LIVE ON THE RESERVATION OF 1340 ACRES AS A TRUST BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. MOST OF THE LAND IS FORESTED AND THEY HAVE BEECHES TO GENTLY ROLLING HILLS. THEY ALSO HAVE 400 ACRES NEARBY. PORT GAMBLE IS ONE OF THE KITSAP'S LARGEST AND MOST PRODUCTIVE BAYS. THE PAST SAWMILL HISTORY POLLUTED THE BAY, BUT TODAY CLEAR AND CLEANED UP. THEY HAVE SHELLFISH AND HERRING. HERRING ARE EATEN BY CHINOOK SALMON AS WELL AS ORCAS. THE TRIBE HAS A HATCHERY.



THE HAVE A TRIBAL CENTER WITH YOUTH CENTER AND RECREATION AREAS, A HIGH TECH MEDIA CENTER, AN OUTDOOR PATIO. THEY HAVE A WELLNESS PROGRAM. HISTORICALLY THEY BELONGED TO THE SPEAKING PEOPLE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. THEY WERE WELL ESTABLISHED HERE BY 1400 A.D. FOR CENTURIES THEY OCCUPIED THE SHORES OF STRAITS OF JUAN DE FUCA. PLANK AND POLE HOUSES PROVIDED SHELTER FOR GROUPS OF FAMILIES. THE WINTER WAS TIME FOR CEREMONIES AND RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES. THE SKALLUM HAD 15 VILLAGES. THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH ANGLOS WAS IN THE 1700S. THERE WERE PROFOUND CHANGES AS SMALLPOX THAT DEVASTATED THEM. SOME TRIBES HAD LOST 90% OF THEIR MEMBERS. BY 1853 THEY HAD 400 PEOPLE. THE SKALLUMS SIGNED THEIR TITLE OF 430,000 ACRES TO THE GOVERNMENT. HOWEVER, THEY SECURED THE RIGHTS TO FISH IN THEIR USUAL AND ACCUSTOMED GROUNDS AND STATIONS. FROM THE TIME OF WHITE SETTLEMENT THEY FACED HUGE CHALLENGES IN THEIR CULTURAL TRADITION.



THE SKALLUMS COMPLIED WITH THEIR REQUEST TO RELOCATE ACROSS THE BAY. THE ANGLOS CONSTRUCTED A TRADING POST FOR THE NATIVES AND OTHER TRIBES. THE PEUGET MILL COMPANY BEGAN OPERATING IN 1877 AND THE SKALLUM WERE MOVED TO POINT JULIA. THEY WERE DRAWN INTO THE AMERICAN ECONOMY. THEY WERE LABORERS FOR THE MILL. THEY CONTINUED TRADITIONAL HUNTING AND GATHERING ACTIVITIES AND SOLD FISH AND CLAMS TO THE SETTLERS.

TODAY ELDERS SPENT CHILDHOOD LIVING ON THE BAY. THE NATIVES PICKED BERRIES IN THE SOUTH PART OF OF PUGET SOUND. THEY HAD GOVERNMENT RUN BOARDING SCHOOLS. THEIR TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE WAS FORBIDDEN.

IN 1930 THEY PETITIONED THE GOVERNMENT TO RECOGNIZE THEIR STATUS. IN 1963 THE GOVERNMENT PURCHASED POINT JULIA'S 1,200 ACRE RESERVATION LANDS AND BURNED THE HOUSES. THEY RELOCATED ON A BLUFF ABOVE POINT JULIA. THE GOVERNMENT GAVE THEM PROGRAMS TO CONSTRUCT HOUSES AND A NEW SCHOOL. THE INDIANS HAD TO FISH ONLY ON THEIR RESERVATION. THE CANOE IS STILL STILL PART OF THEIR LIFE.

























WWPQST.NSN.US