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Breaking Ground: The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the Unearthing of Tse-whit-zen Village
In 2003, a backhoe operator hired by the state of Washington to work on the Port Angeles waterfront discovered what a larger world would soon learn. The place chosen to dig a massive dry dock was atop one of the largest and oldest Indian village sites ever found in the region. Yet the state continued its project, disturbing hundreds of burials and unearthing more than 10,000 artifacts at Tse-whit-zen village, the heart of the long-buried homeland of the Klallam people.
Excitement at the archaeological find of a generation gave way to anguish as tribal members working alongside state construction workers encountered more and more human remains, including many intact burials. Finally, tribal members said the words that stopped the "Enough is enough."
Soon after, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe chairwoman Frances Charles asked the state to walk away from more than $70 million in public money already spent on the project and find a new site. The state, in an unprecedented and controversial decision that reverberated around the nation, agreed.
In search of the story behind the story, Seattle Times reporter Lynda V. Mapes spent more than a year interviewing tribal members, archaeologists, historians, city and state officials, and local residents and business leaders. Her account begins with the history of Tse-whit-zen village, and the nineteenth- and twentieth-century impacts of contact, forced assimilation, and industrialization. She then engages all the voices involved in the dry dock controversy to explore how the site was chosen, and how the decisions were made first to proceed and then to abandon the project, as well as the aftermath and implications of those controversial choices.
This beautifully crafted and compassionate account, illustrated with nearly 100 photographs, illuminates the collective amnesia that led to the choice of the Port Angeles construction site. "You have to know your past in order to build your future," Charles says, recounting the words of tribal elders. Breaking Ground takes that teaching to heart, demonstrating that the lessons of Tse-whit-zen are teachings from which we all may benefit.
A Capell Family Book
Excitement at the archaeological find of a generation gave way to anguish as tribal members working alongside state construction workers encountered more and more human remains, including many intact burials. Finally, tribal members said the words that stopped the "Enough is enough."
Soon after, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe chairwoman Frances Charles asked the state to walk away from more than $70 million in public money already spent on the project and find a new site. The state, in an unprecedented and controversial decision that reverberated around the nation, agreed.
In search of the story behind the story, Seattle Times reporter Lynda V. Mapes spent more than a year interviewing tribal members, archaeologists, historians, city and state officials, and local residents and business leaders. Her account begins with the history of Tse-whit-zen village, and the nineteenth- and twentieth-century impacts of contact, forced assimilation, and industrialization. She then engages all the voices involved in the dry dock controversy to explore how the site was chosen, and how the decisions were made first to proceed and then to abandon the project, as well as the aftermath and implications of those controversial choices.
This beautifully crafted and compassionate account, illustrated with nearly 100 photographs, illuminates the collective amnesia that led to the choice of the Port Angeles construction site. "You have to know your past in order to build your future," Charles says, recounting the words of tribal elders. Breaking Ground takes that teaching to heart, demonstrating that the lessons of Tse-whit-zen are teachings from which we all may benefit.
A Capell Family Book
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 11, 2025
Wrenching, frustrating, hopeful. Really, really impressive stuff. I’ll be reading more from Mapes.
December 31, 2022
I had a goal to better understand the history of Native Americans in Washington State, and this book was a great first step. The author uses the stories of the damming of the Elwha River and the plans for the construction of a dry dock in the City of Port Angeles as vehicles for shedding light on the history of the Lower Elwha Tribe. Readers learn about the importance of salmon to the tribe and then about how the construction of a dam on the Elwha River (without a fish ladder) impacted the tribe's ability to be self-sufficient. Then we learn about how the arrival of settlers, with their homesteading rights, forced Native Americans off of the prime lands along the coast line. The Lower Klallam Tribe were not a recognized tribe until the 60s, but even then their members were not well integrated into the town's activities or afforded much power or respect.
The story of the dry dock is an emotionally difficult one, but many people observed that the event marked an important shift in society. Up until the 1990s, no construction project would have been stopped for a tribe. However, after the discovery of hundreds of human remains, including those that were a part of intact burials, there was recognition that moving those burials and/or building over a burial site was morally wrong. A major construction project was stopped, delaying fixes to a major bridge in the area, angering union members and town members, and costing the state lots of money, but that seemed to be the only way forward.
What made this book successful was that it was based on interviews of key individuals, including the Secretary of Transportation, the tribal liaison at the Department of Transportation, the main project manager for the project, journalists, and tribal members. These interviews show that there was conflict, a lot of difficult decision making, a lot of having to choose sides, a lot of political risk, and a lot of discomfort. The writing successfully showed how the decision-makers eventually realized that the project was a no-go, based on the evidence that the project was sitting atop a significant archeological site. It also showed some of the weaknesses of the environmental review process, which is depended on to avoid projects that will impact historical sites. I think the most poignant result of the events is that it couldn't even be considered a victory by the tribe. Unfortunately, it was a reminder of all the tribe had lost over 100 plus years since contact with European settlers.
The story of the dry dock is an emotionally difficult one, but many people observed that the event marked an important shift in society. Up until the 1990s, no construction project would have been stopped for a tribe. However, after the discovery of hundreds of human remains, including those that were a part of intact burials, there was recognition that moving those burials and/or building over a burial site was morally wrong. A major construction project was stopped, delaying fixes to a major bridge in the area, angering union members and town members, and costing the state lots of money, but that seemed to be the only way forward.
What made this book successful was that it was based on interviews of key individuals, including the Secretary of Transportation, the tribal liaison at the Department of Transportation, the main project manager for the project, journalists, and tribal members. These interviews show that there was conflict, a lot of difficult decision making, a lot of having to choose sides, a lot of political risk, and a lot of discomfort. The writing successfully showed how the decision-makers eventually realized that the project was a no-go, based on the evidence that the project was sitting atop a significant archeological site. It also showed some of the weaknesses of the environmental review process, which is depended on to avoid projects that will impact historical sites. I think the most poignant result of the events is that it couldn't even be considered a victory by the tribe. Unfortunately, it was a reminder of all the tribe had lost over 100 plus years since contact with European settlers.
May 15, 2025
Reading Mapes' account of events over the discovery of remains at Tse-whit-zen brought back memories of reading about the same stories in the local press. It is a remarkable story of resistance against a dominant culture. Many sections resonated with me, but this, in the Conclusion, rings true: More accurately, in civics, it must be the Federal, State, local, and tribal governments working together.
I was only a little shocked to read newspaper accounts of the Klallam tribe from over a hundred years where they were called "squatters" on their own land. I was a little shocked but greatly disgusted. The roots of a racist society have run deeply and what is to say that the present era has a resurgence in hate crimes? This story recounts a successful resistance to the racist, ignorant ways of a dominant culture. Highly recommended.
I was only a little shocked to read newspaper accounts of the Klallam tribe from over a hundred years where they were called "squatters" on their own land. I was a little shocked but greatly disgusted. The roots of a racist society have run deeply and what is to say that the present era has a resurgence in hate crimes? This story recounts a successful resistance to the racist, ignorant ways of a dominant culture. Highly recommended.
May 8, 2022
Excellent book that details one Native American tribe in WA state attempting to salvage buried ancestors that were discovered during an excavation for building structures to repair a damaged bridge.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews