Ozette Native American Village Archaeological Site | |
Location | Address restricted[2] |
---|---|
Nearest city | Neah Bay, Washington |
NRHP reference No. | 74000916[1] |
Added to NRHP | January 11, 1974 |
The Ozette Native American Village Archeological Site is the site of an archaeological excavation on the Olympic Peninsula near Neah Bay, Washington, United States. The site was a village occupied by the Ozette Makah people until a mudslide inundated the site around the year 1750.[3] It is located in the now unpopulated Ozette Indian Reservation.
The 22-mile-long Hoko-Ozette Road, accessed via Washington State Route 112, terminates at the NPS Lake Ozette Ranger Station, within the coastal strip of Olympic National Park. The Lake Ozette Ranger Station, positioned at the north end of Lake Ozette, is approximately 3 miles from the archaeological site. The land between the Pacific coast and the Ozette River was settled by a small community of Scandinavian immigrants at the end of the 19th century; these being amongst the first Europeans to establish a permanent presence on the extreme western fringe of the Olympic Peninsula.
The area is popular with backpackers and day-hikers, many of whom undertake to complete the 9.5 mile long Ozette Loop trail; commencing/terminating at Lake Ozette Ranger Station and taking in the coastal locations of Sand Point and Cape Alava.
In 1997, a delegation from Mihama came to Ozette to commemorate the souls of three Japanese sailors whose ship ran aground in the area in 1834, and who were held briefly by the Makah before being released to Fort Vancouver.[4]