An important feature of the social structure was the giving away of possessions during a feast, called a potlatch. Years, even a lifetime, of saving and privation were frequently endured in order to accumulate sufficient wealth for this purpose. Guests were invited from many tribes. The host gave such valuable gifts as canoes, slaves, food, fishing equipment, and, in more recent years, commercial blankets. As a rule, gifts were given only to guests who could afford to give a return potlatch. Gift-giving was a good investment for the host because the recipient was obligated to give a larger gift in return. This act of giving away one’s possessions elevated the giver and his family in the social scale. Wealth was measured not so much in terms of what was owned as by what was given away.
In recent years the Bureau of Indian Affairs has exerted pressure to discourage the potlatch system, and it has declined greatly; but potlatches are still held in modified form.
Today, the scene at Indian villages along the Olympic Peninsula is quite unlike that of a century ago. The cedarplank communal houses are no longer built; and, as the climate is not conducive to preservation, the old ones have disappeared. White man’s clothes have replaced garments of skin and shredded bark. Customs, too, have been modified under the impact of modern civilization. Still, much of the old Indian tradition survives, though it may not be discernible on the surface.
The main source of livelihood still is fishing. The Indians prefer to use dug-out canoes, but now these are usually propelled by outboard motors. Nearly every family owns a canoe, although only a few expert canoe makers build them. They are similar to the oldtime canoes in design, but the tools used to carve them are steel rather than the stone, shell, or bone used for blades in primitive tools.
Thrilling dug-out canoe trips on the Quinault River are available in summer for a moderate fee. The Quinault Indians at Amanda Park, where the river flows out of Lake Quinault, offer such trips over the entire distance of 35 miles to the ocean.
EXPLORATION BY SEA
The first white men to explore the Olympic Peninsula came by sea. Spanish navigators venturing northward from Mexico may have coasted the shoreline as early as the 16th century. Juan de Fuca, said to have been a Greek pilot in the service of Spain, claimed to have entered the strait, which bears his name, in 1592, but satisfactory proof of this discovery is lacking.
Extensive exploration of the Northwest Coast did not begin, however, until the latter part of the 18th century, when rumors that the Russians were venturing southward from Alaska stirred the Spaniards to fresh efforts. In 1774, during the first of these renewed voyages, Juan Perez saw the present Mount Olympus and named it “Santa Rosalia.” He was the first European to name a geographic feature in what is now the State of Washington.
During the next 25 years the Northwest Coast, including that of the Olympic Peninsula, was widely explored and mapped by Spaniards, Englishmen, and Americans. The Spaniards were the first actually to set foot on the Peninsula. During a voyage made by Bruno Heceta and Juan de la Bodega y Quadra in 1775, Heceta landed at Point Grenville, near the mouth of the Quinault River.
Capt. James Cook was the first of several English navigators to explore the Northwest Coast. In 1778, during his search for the Northwest Passage, he named Cape Flattery, in the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula. While on the coast, some of Cook’s crewmen obtained furs from the natives and later sold them in China for high prices. This event turned the eyes of English and American businessmen toward the Pacific Northwest, and thereafter exploration of this region was stimulated by the fur trade.