The Makah language belongs to the Wakashan language family and is closely related to Nuu-chah-nulth, the language of the peoples on the west coast of Vancouver Island who were the Makah’s nearest cultural relatives.

The language contains specific terms for every category of material culture represented in the Ozette assemblage: the words for different types of canoes, for different components of whaling gear, for different categories of boxes and baskets, for the specific named activities of daily and ceremonial life.

These words are not simply labels attached to objects.

They encode functional knowledge, cultural context, and the specific relationships between objects and practices.

The word for a specific type of harpoon head, in the Makah language, is embedded in a network of associated terms and knowledge about how that type of harpoon head was used, in what contexts, and with what other equipment.