Settler amnesia is countered with remembrance: Alexandra Peck, ‘”We Didn’t Go Anywhere”: Restoring Jamestown S’Klallam Presence, Combating Settler Colonial Amnesia, and Engaging with Non-Natives in Western Washington’, Journal of Northwest Anthropology, 55, 1, 2021, pp. 105-134 | settler colonial studies blog

Settler amnesia is countered with remembrance: Alexandra Peck, ‘”We Didn’t Go Anywhere”: Restoring Jamestown S’Klallam Presence, Combating Settler Colonial Amnesia, and Engaging with Non-Natives in Western Washington’, Journal of Northwest Anthropology, 55, 1, 2021, pp. 105-134

27Apr21

Abstract: On Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe (JST) is implementing cultural heritage approaches to reclaim tribal histories threatened by nineteenth century settler colonial narratives of ethnic erasure. Exiled from their capital village of Qatáy in Port Townsend during the 1870s as a result of government-mandated arson and displacement, JST homelands also include Olympic National Park, popularly lauded as a pristine wilderness area. Emanating from the Tribe’s previously unrecognized federal status, accusations of assimilation and extinction have simultaneously contributed to the non-Indigenous public’s denial of JST existence. By restoring archaeological sites with modern significance and erecting counter-monuments to commemorate tribal leaders and events, the JST have embarked upon a journey of challenging their veiled history. Perhaps surprisingly, this resistance against historical amnesia has produced reconciliatory outcomes between the Tribe and non-Natives. Through a lens of resiliency and regeneration, this article documents one tribal nation’s opposition to being consigned to the past, and their dedication to continued relevancy for future generations.

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