Trade with the Klallam and other peoples on the southern shore of the strait, with the Nuu-chah-nulth of Vancouver Island, and with the Quinault and other peoples to the south along the Olympic Peninsula coast was established and regular.

The specific goods that moved through these networks included items that the Ozette assemblage helps document.

Whale oil was a valued commodity that the Makah traded outward.

Dried salmon was another.

The high-quality cedar of the Olympic Peninsula region was available in abundance, and Makah canoe builders produced watercraft that were valued by other communities.

In return, the Makah received goods that their immediate territory did not provide in abundance, including materials for tools, decorative items, and the foods of other ecological zones.

The evidence of non-local materials in the Ozette assemblage reflects these trade connections.