Changer is coming: History, identity and the land among the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe of the north Olympic Peninsula (Washington)

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT) of the north Olympic Peninsula in Washington State is one of several governmental partners involved in the removal of two hydroelectric dams from the Elwha River. In addition to dismantling the dams, which were illegally constructed by venture capitalists in the early 20th century, the tribe is assisting in the environmental restoration of the river and surrounding habitat as well as its anadromous fish runs. This study, through the analysis of historical and cultural antecedents leading to the construction of the dams and the tribe's subsequent involvement with environmental remediation, considers how place, history and colonizing process have articulated within this Coast Salish community to inform contemporary ideas about cultural survival, resiliency and nation-building. By emphasizing Native and non-native historical narratives about specific places within the Klallam homeland, I argue for a theory of place that accounts for overlapping as well as discordant constructions of history and place. Framed as dialogues between cultures that span time and space, narratives about places and colonial encounters illuminate how Klallam men and women from the time of European contact to the present have negotiated their historical subjectivity.