Kathlamets at a Dismal Nitch
Michael Haynes
© Michael Haynes, https://www.mhaynesart.com. Used with permission.
Linguistically, the Kathlamets spoke their own Chinookan dialect. Culturally, they were part of the Lower Chinook residing primarily on the south shores of the Columbia River between Tongue Point and the Kalama River. Their name is derived from galámat, a village at Aldrich Point—previously named Cathlamet Point.[1]Michael Silverstein, Handbook of North American Indians: Northwest Coast Vol. 7, ed. Wayne Suttles (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1990), 534, 544.
The expedition journalists recorded several encounters with the Kathlamets, or Cathlamets, during their stay at the Pacific coast during the 1805–06 winter. On 11 November 1805, while hunkered down in a “dismal nitch” on the north side of the Columbia, a Kathlamet canoe “loaded with fish of Salmon Spes. Called Red Charr” pulled to shore. After buying 13 sockeye, Clark marveled:
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 vestles ride. Those Indians are Certainly the best Canoe navigaters I ever Saw.
The captains also noticed a Kathlamet man decked out in sailor’s clothes. Speaking in Plains Sign Language the captains mistakenly heard that they got those clothes from white people living further down the river. However, the expedition’s hopes of finding a post or trading ship were never fulfilled (see The Empty Anchorage). Throughout the winter, trade with the Kathlamets brought salmon, sturgeon, eulachon, and wapato bulbs, a much–needed variety in the expedition’s bland diet of elk meat.
Shortly after the expedition, many Kathlamets moved to the north side of the river joining with similar–speaking The Wahkiakums. In an 1851 treaty, the Kathlamets ceded lands to the United States where John Jacob Astor’s Fort Astoria and the British Fort George had been located and the city of Astoria is presently. Populations dwindled due to dispersal and disease, and today, there are no speakers of the Cathlamet dialect[2]Robert H. Ruby, John A. Brown, and Cary C. Collins, A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010), 15–16. Descendants have joined with Chinook Indian Tribe/Chinook Nation, and Chinuk Wawa, a pidgin hybrid language used during the European trade era, is preserved and taught.[3]Tony A. Johnson, Chinookan Peoples of the Lower Columbia, ed. Robert T. Boyd, et al. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2013), 5, 273.
Selected Pages and Encounters
January 15, 1806
Lewis's new fur coat
Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR Lewis’s new fur coat is made from seven bobcat—and perhaps mountain beaver—robes purchased from the Indians. He describes Chinookan hunting methods and weaponry.
December 3, 1805
Food for the sick
Tongue Point, Astoria, OR Spirits lift when the morning proves fair and fresh elk meat arrives. Clark recovers with wapato and elk soup. Elsewhere, Lewis continues looking for a winter camp.
March 25, 1806
Downstreamer Chinooks
As they paddle along the south shore of the Columbia, the expedition sees Downstreamer Chinooks trolling for sturgeon. After fifteen miles, they find a popular camping spot at the present Clatskanie River.
March 21, 1806
Delayed by weather
Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR Bad weather prevents the expedition from leaving for home. Provisions are low, so during the weather delay, hunters are dispatched without success.
March 27, 1806
Generous Skilloots
Near present Deer Island, Oregon, some generous Skilloots give away food with hopes that the expedition hunters will hunt with them. Lewis describes the area’s trees and prepares a salmonberry specimen.
January 20, 1806
Five new plant specimens
Fort Clatsop, OR Lewis prepares five new plant specimens and describes roots eaten by local Indians. The captains worry about the rate at which they are going through their supply of elk meat.
January 10, 1806
Šax̣awaq̀ap visits
Fort Clatsop, OR After an early start from the salt works and a canoe trip in the dark, Clark returns to the fort. During the day, Kathlamets visit Lewis.
November 11, 1805
Kathlamet visitors
Small Nitch near Knappton, WA The Corps makes the best of their poor location exposed to high waves and driving rain. Five Kathlamet visitors skillfully cross the river in a canoe loaded with sockeye salmon.
March 11, 1806
Living "in clover"
Fort Clatsop, OR Pryor’s trade delegation returns in a borrowed Indian canoe full of fish and wapato. Lewis describes the western fence lizard and rough-skinned newt.
January 13, 1806
Running out of candles
Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR Elk tallow is rendered to make new candles, Lewis finds that the area’s elk do not have enough fat to make a sufficient supply, and President Jefferson writes to Lewis’s mother with news of the expedition’s progress.
March 17, 1806
A new canoe
Fort Clatsop, OR George Drouillard returns from his trading trip with a canoe paid for with Lewis’s uniform coat. The captains report that the enlisted men are staying away from the Indian women camped near Fort Clatsop.
Homeward bound in April 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled through the Columbia Gorge and pitched camps on its north side. Their passage was tense and unpleasant, with Indians taking small goods regularly.
November 26, 1805
Crossing the Columbia
Svenson, OR After crossing the Columbia, they paddle several miles down the river’s southern shore. Clark pays high prices for fish and roots.
January 11, 1806
Lost Chinookan canoe
Fort Clatsop, OR Careless paddlers fail to properly secure a canoe the previous night, and it floats away with the tide. Several men search for the lost Chinookan canoe without any luck. In Washington City, President Jefferson says the visiting Indian delegation will soon leave.
March 26, 1806
At Fanny's Bottom
After a wet night, they paddle approximately 18 miles up the Columbia River and camp on an island near an area they call “fannys bottom”. Lewis describes eagles and substitutes for tobacco.
March 24, 1806
Stolen canoe claimed
On their way to present Aldrich Point, they cross shallow waters crowded with islands, and a Kathlamet man guides them to the correct channel. The guide claims he is the owner of one of their canoes.
Notes
| ↑1 | Michael Silverstein, Handbook of North American Indians: Northwest Coast Vol. 7, ed. Wayne Suttles (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1990), 534, 544. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Robert H. Ruby, John A. Brown, and Cary C. Collins, A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010), 15–16. |
| ↑3 | Tony A. Johnson, Chinookan Peoples of the Lower Columbia, ed. Robert T. Boyd, et al. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2013), 5, 273. |
