Kathlamet
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The Kathlamet people are a tribe of Native American people with a historic homeland along the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
in what is today southwestern
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
state. The Kathlamet people originally spoke the
Kathlamet language Kathlamet (Cathlamet) was a Chinookan language that was spoken around the border of the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon by the Kathlamet people. The most extensive records of the language were made by Franz Boas, and a grammar was document ...
, a dialect or language of the Chinookan language family. They were also called "Guasámas, or Guithlamethl, by the Clackamas", and "Kwillu'chini, by the
Chinook Chinook may refer to: Chinook peoples The name derives from a settlement of Indigenous people in Oregon and Washington State. * Chinookan peoples, several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Chinook Indian Nation, an organiza ...
."


Lewis and Clark encounter

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...
reported "that about 300 Cathlamet occupied nine
plank house A plank house is a type of house constructed by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, typically using Thuja plicata, cedar planks. History The oldest plank house village found is located in Kitselas Canyon at the Paul Mason Site in west ...
s on the south side of the Columbia River", and lived between Tongue Point and
Puget Island Puget Island is a 7.5 sq mi(4,785 acre; 19.365 km) island and Census-designated place (CDP) in the Columbia River in Wahkiakum County, Washington, United States. The island was named for Peter Puget, a lieutenant in the Vancouver Expeditio ...
in
Clatsop County, Oregon Clatsop County () is the northernmost List of counties in Oregon, county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 41,072. The county seat is Astoria, Oregon, Astoria. The Oregon Geograph ...
. On the north side, they lived "from the mouth of Grays Bay to a little east of Oak Point." Clark wrote:
November 11th Monday 1805
About 12 o'clock 5 Indians came down in a
canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...
, the wind very high from the S.W., with most tremendous waves breaking with great violence against the shores. Rain falling in torrents, we are all wet as usual and our situation is truly a disagreeable one. We purchased of the Indians 13 red char which we found to be an excellent fish. We have seen those Indians above and are of a nation who reside above and on the opposite side who call themselves (Calt-har-ma). They are badly clad & ill made, small and speak a language much resembling the last nation. One of those men had on a sailor's jacket and pantaloons and made signs that he got those clothes from the white people who lived below the point &c. Those people left us and crossed the river (which is about 5 miles wide at this place) through the highest waves I ever saw a small vessels ride. Those Indians are certainly the best canoe navigators I ever saw.


Later history

"In early January 1806 Cathlamet Chief Shahharwarcap, together with 11 men, visited
Fort Clatsop Fort Clatsop was the encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Oregon Country near the mouth of the Columbia River during the winter of 1805–1806. Located along the Lewis and Clark River at the north end of the Clatsop Plains approxi ...
". "About 1810 the Cathlamets moved across the Columbia and joined the Wahkiakums in a village at the present site of Cathlamet." About 50 to 60 Cathlamet remained in 1849. On August 9, 1851, the Kathlamet ceded lands to the United States in exchange for money, clothing, and other items. They retained two small islands in the Columbia River. On August 24, 1912, the Kathlamet were awarded $7,000 for the loss of their lands. "The last speakers of Kathlamet died in the 1930s," and the tribe is no longer distinct from the
Chinook people Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 11,500 BCE, Chinookan peoples and their ancestors have resided along the upper and ...
. Their descendants are part of the
Chinook Indian Nation The Chinook Indian Nation is an unrecognized tribe in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington that was federally recognized from 2001 to 2002. It consists of the five westernmost Chinookan tribes: the Cathlamet, Clatsop, Lower Chinook, , an ...
.


Villages

Their villages were: * Ika'naiak, on the north side of the Columbia River at the mouth of Coal Creek Slough just east of Oak Point. * Ilo'humin, on the north side of Columbia River opposite Puget Island and near the mouth of Alockman Creek. * Kathla'amat, on the south side of Columbia River about 4 miles below Puget Island. * Ta'nas ilu', on Tanas Ilahee Island on the south side of the Columbia River. * Wa'kaiyakam, across Alockman Creek opposite Ilo'humin.


Legacy

Queen Sally's Spring in
Cathlamet, Washington Cathlamet is a town located along the Washington State Route 4, Ocean Beach Highway in Wahkiakum County, Washington, Wahkiakum County, Washington (state), Washington, United States, where it is the county seat. The population was 560 at the 2020 ...
, is named after the former head of the Kathlamet people, who told stories about her memories of Lewis and Clark as a young girl.


See also

*
Cathlamet, Washington Cathlamet is a town located along the Washington State Route 4, Ocean Beach Highway in Wahkiakum County, Washington, Wahkiakum County, Washington (state), Washington, United States, where it is the county seat. The population was 560 at the 2020 ...
*
Chinookan peoples Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 11,500 BCE, Chinookan peoples and their ancestors have resided along the upper and ...
*
Neerchokikoo Neerchokikoo is a revitalized Native American village near Portland, Oregon. Neerchokikoo is culturally significant, is an ancient Native encampment in what is now Northeast Portland, and is a gathering site close to the confluence of the Col ...


References


Further reading

*
Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...
,
Kathlamet Texts.
' Bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology No. 26. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901. *
Dell H. Hymes Dell Hathaway Hymes (June 7, 1927, in Portland, Oregon – November 13, 2009, in Charlottesville, Virginia) was a linguist, sociolinguist, anthropologist, and folklorist who established disciplinary foundations for the comparative, ethnographic s ...
, ''The Language of Kathlamet Chinook.'' PhD dissertation. Indiana University, 1955. * * {{authority control Chinookan tribes Native American history of Washington (state) Native American tribes in Washington (state) Terminated Native American tribes Willamette Valley