The spiritual and ceremonial dimension of the relationship is documented in the oral tradition and the ceremonial knowledge that the community has maintained.

Together, these two forms of documentation provide a picture of a community in successful, long-term relationship with a demanding environment.

The slide that buried the longhouses was a catastrophe.

But it occurred within a much longer story of sustainable life on this coast, a story that was not ended by the catastrophe and that continues today.

The Makah people are still on this coast.

The Pacific is still there.