Environment

Photos: Returning to the Makah Tribe's remote, scenic reservation

KNKX Public Radio

Published April 2, 2022 at 8:00 AM PDT

A Makah mask opens to reveal another mask within.

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A Makah transformation mask by artist Micah Vogel, a Makah Tribal member.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

Signs at the entrance to the Makah Tribal Reservation.

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The Makah Tribal Reservation is on the northwestern-most tip of the continental U.S., on the Olympic Peninsula. There is only one road in and out of town.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

A hiking trail through the forest with a sign on the right saying "Stay on main trail"

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The popular Cape Flattery trail on the Makah Indian Reservation is a three-quarter-mile hike through the forest to reach the dramatic coastline. It's be inaccessible to tourists for two years.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

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The Cape Flattery trail brings visitors to viewpoints overlooking the cape's dramatic coastline where they may observe birds, sea otters and other wildlife.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

A small kiosk surrounded by cones and barriers erected on a two-lane road surrounded by forest.

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Makah Tribal Council Chairman TJ Greene says putting up the checkpoint on the only road in and out of town was an exercise of the tribe’s sovereign authority over their lands, to protect their people. The tribe removed the checkpoint on April 1, 2022.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

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TJ Greene is the elected chairman of the 5-member Makah Tribal Council which took swift and decisive action to protect its people from COVID-19. While effective, Greene says two years of restrictions and not being able to gather as a community to exercise their culture has taken a toll on Makahs mental and social-emotional health.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

Two large carved figures on a lawn in front of a sign for the Makah Cultural & Research Center.

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Welcome figures at the entrance of the Makah Cultural & Research Center which includes the Makah Museum. Here outsiders can get a glimpse of the roots of the tribes traditions, some of which are beginning to resume as restrictions are lifted.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

Janine Ledford stands next to two hunting canoes with the skeleton of a whale hanging above.

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Janine Ledford, executive director at the Makah Cultural and Research Center, stands next to hunting canoes and below the skeleton of a gray whale that the tribe hunted in 1999. She says whaling is challenging and expensive. But it’s at the heart of their culture.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

In this May 17, 1999 file photo, two Makah whalers stand atop a dead gray whale, moments after helping tow it to shore in the harbor at Neah Bay, Wash. Earlier in the day, Makah Indians took it in their first hunt since opting out 70 yrs. earlier.

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In this May 17, 1999 file photo, two Makah whalers stand atop a dead gray whale, moments after helping tow it to shore in the harbor at Neah Bay, Wash. More than twenty years since its last hunt, the tribe is trying to revive the tradition through a waiver granted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Elaine Thompson / The Associated Press

The Makah Marina filled with fishing vessels on a gray day.

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After a six-month shutdown due to COVID, the Makah fishermen were eventually able to catch their quotas. The fishing industry kept the tribe afloat, while the rest of the community was shut down.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

Bill Parkin stands by the sign for the Makah Marina.

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Bill Parkin, who also goes by his tribal name Tyishtid, is a 4th-generation fishermen. He says as hard as it’s been, he agreed with the tribe’s strict shutdown policies, because there are so many multi-generational households on the reservation.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

Bill Parkin leans over the side of a fishing boat. The sun is setting and a flock of seagulls waits nearby in the water.

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Parkin was out on a boat two years ago in March when all fishing crews got called home because of COVID. As a tribal fisherman, he loves to share extra fish he brings home with his elders. "We're people of the ocean, that's for sure," Parkin says.

Courtesy Bill Parkin

A beach on the Makah Indian Reservation with kelp along the shoreline and stacked rocks in the distance.

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While the reservation remained closed to outsiders, Parkin enjoyed having the beach to himself, not waiting in line and only seeing familiar faces around town. But he misses the potlatch gatherings and is looking forward to having the community all together.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

Members of the Neah Bay Chamber of Commerce stand in front of a piece of art depicting a whale's tail.

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Neah Bay Chamber of Commerce leadership, from left, Secretary Carolyn Votaw, Vice President Glenda Butler and President Melissa Peterson. The Chamber is preparing to open a new visitors center on April 15 after the work was put on hold during the lockdown.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

Glenda Butler wears a mask and sits on a chair in the space that will soon become the visitors center

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Butler, a nurse by training, worked on the front lines of the pandemic for the tribe, which used cabins in its beach resort to contain the virus when it eventually arrived. “It was exhausting." she says. She wholeheartedly supports everything the Makah Tribe did to protect its people, but she’s done with nursing now.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

A beach on the Makah Indian Reservation with piles of driftwood underneath clouds with blue skies peaking through.

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For Greene, the return of tourism is a mixed blessing. His community depends on the income but without the tens of thousands who typically come to Neah Bay to surf, hike, and fish, he’s noticed healthier landscapes: more shells and driftwood on the beaches. He says the council has been discussing ways to reduce the impacts.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

A sign that reads "Generations of Makah people have used this area; if you are patient and respectful, its enduring beauty will enrich and teach you too."

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After two years, the return of visitors is very noticeable to tribal members. As the tribe re-opens and welcomes people back, they are asking visitors to remember what everyone has been through – and to be kind.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

The remote Makah Tribal Nation took swift and decisive action to protect its people from COVID-19. In March 2020, it was the first community in the state to shut down because of the epidemic. Two years later, the tribe has finally begun letting outsiders in.

KNKX environment reporter Bellamy Pailthorp was one of the first to visit...and made sure to hike to one of the tribe’s top tourist destinations.

Listen to her story and visit the recently reopened Makah Indian Reservation through the images above.