šaʔsúʔɬ st ʔaʔ ti n’sʔáɬə

(Welcome! We’re glad you are here.)

Residents of the Cooperative Colony in 1888. THIS MURAL SPONSORED by the Rotary Nor'wester
Club of Port Angeles depicts two scenes in Port
Angeles' history.
The first scene shows the nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’(Klallam)
village of ʔiʔínəs located near the mouth of Ennis
Creek just east of this mural. It was one of many
nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’villages on what is today Port Angeles
Harbor.
Since time immemorial, the nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’— their
name means “Strong People” — have lived on the
North Olympic Peninsula and across the Strait of
Juan de Fuca on the southern shores of Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada).
Diseases brought by European explorers in the late 1700s took a devastating toll on
the nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’ By the mid-1800s, settlers began arriving, and the nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’
were forced from their villages.
Ancient ceremonies, art, songs, dances and stories live on among today's Lower Elwha
tribal members. The nəxʷsƛ’ay’əm’úcən (Klallam language) is taught in local schools and
adult classes. Street signs along the Port Angeles waterfront are in English and
nəxʷsƛ’ay’əm’úcən. A 1.5-acre city park and esplanade west of the mural is
sŋaʔŋáʔant cáwŋən ʔəssaqɬúŋt (Pebble Beach Park).
THE SECOND SCENE shows the Puget Sound Cooperative Colony, established in 1887
along Ennis Creek where the ʔiʔínəs village had been located.
The colony's founders envisioned creating an ideal utopian community. Its hundreds of
colonists built Port Angeles's first sawmill, its first office building, many homes, schools
and churches, and an ornate opera house.
But as an experiment in co-operative living, the colony survived for only a few years,
wracked by dissension, jealousy and a slumping economy.
Many of its energetic and committed settlers stayed in Port Angeles and played a major
role in making the city the civic, commercial and industrial hub of Clallam County.

In 1855, the nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’signed the Treaty of Point No Point with the U.S. govern- This mural was painted in 1997-98 by artist Cory Ench. To be as accurate as possible,
ment, ceding their lands while reserving their rights to fish at all usual and accus- Ench did extensive research with the Lower Elwha, their elders and the North Olympic
Intricately tomed areas and hunt and gather on all open and unclaimed lands. They also History Center. He also studied the paintings and sketches done by Canadian artist Paul
carved bone
reserved the right to govern themselves and were promised a small payment for Kane who visited ʔiʔínəs in 1847.
comb discovered
at site of Klallam the land as well as food, medical and educational support.
village of č’ixʷícən
(Tse-whit-zen) In the 1900s, the nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’ were organized into three present-day, federally You can walk from this mural to Ennis Creek. Take the Olympic Discovery Trail
west of ʔiʔínəs. recognized tribes — ʔéʔɬxʷaʔ nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’(Lower Elwha Klallam near Port (also known as The Waterfront Trail) along Port Angeles Harbor east for 1.2
Angeles), stətíɬəm nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’(Jamestown S'Klallam in Blyn) and miles. The area around the creek was home in modern times to a Rayonier Inc.
You'll note the use on this sign of nəxʷq’íyt nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’(Port Gamble S'Klallam near Kingston).
pulp mill. Watch for river otters, harbor seals and many seabirds along the trail.
the nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’ (Klallam
language). The written version of
’
This mural is a historically accurate depiction of ʔiʔínəs with čəqáwtxʷ (traditional
A plaque on a granite slab near Ennis Creek celebrates the ʔiʔínəs village. There
this oral language is based on cedar longhouses), snəxʷɬ (canoes carved from a single cedar log; the design is still
used today), woven cedar bark clothing and village life (fishing, weaving, carving, are no visible remnants of the village or the Cooperative Colony, and most of the
the American Phonetic Alphabet
along with special symbols hunting). The artist used modern-day members of the Lower Elwha as models for Rayonier mill, which closed in 1997, has been dismantled.
representing sounds or sound the people in the mural.
combinations that don’t exist in
the English language.
Port Angeles is on the traditional lands of The Rotary Nor'wester Club honors these generous partners who supported the 2019 restoration of "ʔiʔínəs/Ennis Creek”
the nəxʷsƛ’áy’əm’ (Klallam) people.
Visit Elwha.org for information about the Lower
and two other murals, "Sluicing the Hogback" and "MV Kalakala,” with financial and in-kind assistance:
Elwha Klallam Tribe. Scan this QR code to hear City of Port Angeles Peggy M. Norris, in memory of John Nicole Reed
how to pronounce Klallam words
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and Ann Marie Summers Janee and Ryan Bates, J. Ryan Salon
Clallam County Michael and Barbara Maxwell and Boutique
háʔnəŋ cn Port of Port Angeles
First Federal
Ed Bedford, Bedford's Craft Sodas
Mark and Jan Fischer
Richard A. Schneider
Carol and Tom Sinton
(Thank you!) North Olympic Healthcare Network Vanir Construction Management Inc. Baermann Family
Hermann Bros. Logging and Construction Inc. Swain’s General Store Inc. Hallett Advisors
Black Ball Ferry Line Jacob Oppelt, OOT Properties LLC Mavis Amundson and George Erb,
Learn more about local history Jayson Grice, J. Grice Construction LLC Laurel Black, Laurel Black Design Bellevue, WA
Golden Artist Colors, New Berlin, N.Y.
Visit other murals on the
PORT ANGELES MURAL TRAIL Angeles Millwork and Lumber Co. Inc. Rotary Nor’wester Club
Scan this code: /Hartnagel Building Supply Inc. of Port Angeles