Chemakum people

18th century

Around 1789, there were about 400 Chemakums living on the Quimper Peninsula and along Hood Canal, about 2000 Clallams spread in 16 villages from Discovery to Clallam Bay, another 2000 Makahs and Ozettes at Neah Bay and west of Lake Ozette, and another 500 Quileutes to the south, making the number of native peoples roughly about 6000. Shortly before 1790 they were fighting a number of tribes, including the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Klallam, Makah, and Ditidaht (or Nitinaht).

19th century

In 1847, a disastrous conflict with the Suquamish led by Chief Seattle devastated the Chemakum, virtually exterminating the tribe. According to Wahélchu of the Suquamish, various conflicts and tensions between the Suquamish and Chemakum had reached the point where the Suquamish decided to launch a "war of extermination" as soon as some immediate provocation was offered. At least two pretexts for war soon came to pass and a war party was organized. Because Chief Kitsap, the Suquamish war chief, was either dead or unable to lead, Chief Seattle, for whom the city of Seattle was named, became the leader of the war against the Chemakum. The Suquamish under Chief Seattle were assisted by about 150 Klallam warriors. Before long, the Chemakum were confined to one village with a stockade, located near the mouth of Chemakum Creek, near present-day Irondale. The village stronghold was named Tsetsibus, or C'íc'abus,^{[better source needed]} and had long been an important gathering place. The Suquamish warriors hid themselves near the village and waited for a good chance to attack. A Chemakum family left the village and headed north, passing by the hidden Suquamish. The father was recognized as the man responsible for the death of respected Suquamish Tulébot, which had been one of the pretexts for war. The Suquamish immediately fired a volley of bullets. Many of the Chemakum villagers rushed to help the man and his family. Seeing the village mostly empty, the Suquamish rushed through the woods and entered the village from behind. Once their numbers inside the stockade were sufficient, the Suquamish opened fire upon the Chemakum inside the village. The Chemakum were taken completely by surprise and found themselves unable to resist or escape. According to Edward S. Curtis, recounting Wahélchu's telling, "the rapid rain of bullets mowed them down." Women and children were captured and taken away as slaves. The Suquamish paddled away, leaving the last Chemakum village in ruins and nearly all of the people either dead or captured. One of the few Suquamish who died in the encounter was Chief Seattle's eldest son.

The few surviving Chemakum, including the primary chief who had gone upstream early that morning, subsequently joined the Twana, or Skokomish, at the head of Hood Canal.

The Chemakum were strictly opposed to leaving their grounds, despite being promised under the Point No Point Treaty that they would be given the means to continue fishing and hunting as they always had if they agreed to consolidate with other tribes at the head of the Skokomish river mouth. At the time of the Point No Point Treaty in 1855, the tribe was not viable for relocation to the Skokomish reservation because of the population decline through warfare, attrition to the Klallam tribe, and disease depletion of the tribe.

After the near extinction of the Chemakum their country was occupied by the Klallam.

In 1855, the Twana and Chemakum, along with the Klallam, signed the Point No Point Treaty, which established a reservation at the mouth of the Skokomish River near the southern end of Hood Canal. One of the Chemakum signatories of the treaty was Chief Kulkakhan, also known as General Pierce.

20th century

The Point No Point Treaty required the Klallams to move to the Skokomish Reservation, but few did. In 1936–37 the federal government established Klallam reservations for the Lower Elwha and Port Gamble communities. The Jamestown community was not federally recognized until 1981. The Klallams filed a claim with the Indian Claims Commission for compensation beyond that already received for lands ceded under the Point No Point Treaty. The Klallams claimed that the Chemakums were nearly extinct at the time of the Point No Point Treaty and that those few Chemakums left had been absorbed into the Klallam tribe. The Klallams had occupied the former Chemakum lands and claimed them as their own. In 1957 the commission recognized the Klallam claim of possession of the Chemakum lands at the time of the treaty and granted compensation of over $400,000.

In 1962, skeletal remains of slain Indians were discovered by a bulldozer doing some work around the Chimacum Creek area, and after proper excavation by Lewis Agnew, a retired archaeologist recently relocated to Port Townsend, two Indian skeletal remains were unearthed with stone arrows still lodged in their bones from sometime prior to the road being constructed through that area in 1860. The Indian skeletons were of individuals killed violently and left for an earthen burial rather than a ceremonial one. These skeletal remains could possibly be Chemakum people, although this is unproven.