With National Science Foundation support, the Makah tribe will upgrade the storage and accessibility of archaeological materials and data from the Ozette archaeological site. Ozette village results from approximately 2000 years of habitation by Northwest Coast Native Americans. Occupation was finally terminated by a mud slide which buried entire houses intact therefore preserving an astonishing range of material culture. Because the sediments remained waterlogged the state of these materials is excellent and many fragile organic items are well preserved. They provide a unique insight into a disappeared way of life. The specific goals of the project are to: complete a physical inventory of the collection; develop location inventories for stored materials; organize portions of the collection in terms of archaeologically visible social units; acquire and install storage equipment; and finally develop documentation for accessing and using the collection. This work is important for several reasons. It represents an important step in collaboration with Native American groups to permit both tribal control of culturally significant materials and scientific access to them. The Makah tribe has invested over 1.3 million dollars in the curatorial facility and NSF funds provide a modest and needed supplement to this amount. Because of their present condition the materials are not adequately available for scientific study and this grant will remedy this situation. Finally, these funds will help to preserve the artifacts from disintegration.
