The Quinault Indian Reservation, at, is located on the Pacific coast of Washington, primarily in northwestern Grays Harbor County, with small parts extending north into southwestern Jefferson County. It has a land area of 819.294 km² and reported a resident population of 1,370 persons as of the 2000 census. The Quinault people settled onto reservation lands after signing the Quinault Treaty with the former Washington Territory in 1856. About 60% of the reservation's population lives in the community of Taholah, on the Pacific coast at the mouth of the Quinault River. Motorists are cautioned that it is not possible to traverse the entire reservation on Highway 109, in spite of what some online mapping services indicate. Construction of the highway north from Taholah to U.S. Highway 101 was halted in the late 1960s. There is only limited access along the northern coast of the reservation. Currently, only enrolled members of the Quinault Indian Nation and their guests are allowed onto the beaches throughout the reservation. However guests are able to obtain access passes that allow them to use the beaches for the day issued.
The Quinault people have been noted basket makers and weavers. Baskets were made from locally available materials such as reeds and grasses, spruce, maple and red cedar, and in many styles suited to the task at hand. For instance, burden baskets made for gathering oysters and other shellfish had an open weave to allow for drainage, and were made from water resistant materials like cedar bark. Archaeology has revealed some of the ways basketmaking evolved over time, and the Ozette Indian Village Archeological Site, about up the Pacific coast from the present-day Quinault reservation, has been an invaluable site that preserved objects subject to decay, such as baskets and blankets, in a mudslide. Quinault basket artifacts are in many museums in the Northwest and around the world. The following were notable basket weavers of the Quinault prior to 1960.
Ella Shileba Hobucket Wa-uc or Wa-bas-tub b. 1865 of La Push
Sarah or Sally Shileba/Shalber Legg b. 1865 of Lake Quinault and Taholah, wife of Chief Taholah
Joyce Simmons b. 1901 of Neah Bay
Ida Strom b. 1898 of Taholah
Alice Taholah b. 1853 of Taholah, daughter of Chief Taholah
Maggie Ward Tso-ba-dook b. 1886 of Queets
Annie Williams of Taholah
Leta Williams b. 1928 of Queets
There has been some attempt to preserve traditional basketmaking techniques on the Quinault reservation, though the style has been intermixed with that of other tribes.
Economy
Many tribes within the Pacific Northwest receive per capita payments from their tribes but the Quinault Indian Nation currently does not. The economy for Quinault Indian Nation is mainly derived from the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino, timber, and various fishing entities. Quinault Indian Nation is the largest employer within Grays Harbor County.
