The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe of Washington is a federally recognized tribe of S'Klallam or Klallam Native Americans. They are located on the northern Olympic Peninsula ofWashington state in the northwestern United States.
The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe was formalized by members of S'Klallam communities along the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in 1874 when, faced with the threat offorced relocation by white settlers, a group purchased a tract of 210 acres (0.85 km2) and established a community near Dungeness named "Jamestown" in honor of village leaderJames Balch.[1] This was a notable feat, since at the time Native people were legally barred from buying property. Despite periodic pressures to relocate to reservations, and without the Federal financial assistance that such relocation would have enabled, the Jamestown band maintained its independent community, and developed a viable economic base.
A century later, after a six-year effort to receive official recognition as a tribe, the United States Department of the Interior granted them such recognition on February 10, 1981.