The Makah people of the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula refer to themselves as Kwih-dich-chuh-ahtx, which translates roughly to "the people who live by the rocks and seagulls." The early Makah were skilled mariners, using several types of canoes which they carved from western red cedar for various purposes - war, whaling, fishing, sealing, carrying cargo, and long voyages. Today, roughly 1400 Makah live in and around their traditional lands near Neah Bay on the Makah Indian Reservation. The carving of their skilled woodworkers can range in size from tiny masks to totems and giant, oceangoing canoes. Whaling and fishing have been central to Makah culture for thousands of years. The Makah are the only tribe to be granted whaling rights by treaty with the US government, in the Treaty of Neah Bay signed in 1855. While the Makah voluntarily suspended whale hunting in the 1920s due to the near extinction of whales from commercial whaling, they exercised their treaty right to hunt whales once in 1999 before court decisions blocked further legal hunting.

In August of each year the Makah people hold the annual Makah Days celebration at Neah Bay, which celebrates the Makah people gaining full US citizenship in 1924. In their 1945 festival, the Makah also celebrated the end of World War II, the imminent return of 45 tribal members serving in the military, and the dedication of a new housing project on the reservation. Tribal leader Charlie Swan, whose son served in the Pacific, led the dancing. In this August photo, Swan wears a button blanket and wooden mask, and he holds a painted drum. Swan, who was well known for his dancing, had a dance troupe which gave performances throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Caption information source: Makah Tribe website at https://makah.com
Caption information from "Neah Bay Indians hold celebration," by Anne Stewart, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Aug. 28, 1945, p. 11.