Chala'at

The Chalá·at are the people of the Hoh River, which flows west from the Olympic Mountains to the Pacific. The river is central to their history and their account of creation. Villages and fishing places stood along its banks, and at the time of European contact the main lower-river village had cedar plank longhouses. The Hoh made different canoes for different waters: low craft for the river and high-prowed ocean canoes for carrying freight, hunting seals and pursuing whales.