Thirty Years and
Time Immemorial

An Exhibit Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the
Official Federal Recognition of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe

On February 10, 1981, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe was officially re-recognized by the United States government as a sovereign Indian Nation.
 
The Tribe’s relationship with the United States government extended back to 1855, when S’Klallam leaders signed the Point No Point Treaty, ceding millions of acres of land in exchange for government services and retention of their rights to fish, hunt and gather. But more than 100 years after the treaty was signed, a change in government policy made clear that there would be a huge difference between Tribes that were officially “recognized” or “acknowledged,” and those that were not. Formal recognition would mean that the United States government publically acknowledged the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe as a sovereign nation, thereby confirming the pre-existing relationship.
 
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s Petition for Recognition, first filed in 1975, is a comprehensive history of Tribal life before settlers arrived, and the Tribe’s subsequent interactions with the immigrant community and the United States government. It clearly illustrated that in a practical sense, the Jamestown S’Klallam people had always been recognized, but simply lacked official status until 1981.