Told by the Pioneers - Washington Secretary of State

Told
by the Pioneers
remain awake. When all of the Quillayutes were asleep, the Ozette
warriors stole into the house and killed their enemies with war clubs.
The heads of the dead Quillayutes were cut off, their bodies laid out
in a long row (there were forty-seven in all) on the beach, and disemboweled.
The heads were placed on tall poles along the beach and
the bodies permitted to rot where they lay. For years, tall poles
stood as a warning to all officious tribes that the Ozettes were not to
be attacked with impunity. The warning served to prevent direct attacks,
but both Quillayutes and :Makahs, by sniping methods, continued
their warfare against the Ozettes, until in the end none was left
but the chief (my father) and a few members of the family.
By this time, however, the government had placed all Indians upon
reservations, and in order that his children might go to school, the
chief took up his residence in the :Makah reservation. The government
still holds a small area of land on the site of the old Ozette reservation,
but none of the Ozettes remain.
",Vell within my lifetime, Indians were frequently employed in whaling.
The killing of a whale meant a great celebration in the village
at Neah Bay. The capture of these immense mammals was attended
with great danger, and only the Indians skilled in casting the harpoon
or in rowing the large canoes were permitted to engage in the hunt.
One of the most successful hunters was "Lighthouse Jim," who at the
end of his life had established the reputation of having killed fifty
nine whales.
The method of killing whales, although primitive, was ...vell worked
out, and usually successful. Harpoons were made with a long lance of
"'ood, tipped with a removable bone point, to which was attached a
rope made of twisted kelp and about 300 feet long. Hides of hair
seal, well tanned and with the fur inside, were made into balloons
which were blown up and carried in the sealing canoe.
When a whale was sighted, the canoe was maneuvered into a position
within six feet of the mammal, the harpooner cast his lance into
the whale, and the oarsmen, with one strong sweep, carried their canoe
out of danger of the whale's lashing tail. The whale immediately
dived and then swam rapidly toward the open sea, dragging the canoe
behind, sometimes at great speed. When the animal rose to spout,
other lances were driven into its body, and these were attached to the
balloons which made it impossible, or at least difficult, for the whale
to dive. When enough of the balloons had been attached to prevent the
animal from diving, its body was penetrated again and again with
lances until it was dead. Cruel the method must have been, but the Indians
had no method of killing their prey quickly-it was simply
22