The S’Klallam Chewhaytsum Constitution
A constitution puts our law in our own hands. It represents who we are, how we govern, and how we protect our title, rights, and Douglas Treaty by our own authority, not the Indian Act. It is how we carry our sovereignty forward for those yet to come.
The S’Klallam Chewhaytsum Constitution
The nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əm (S'Klallam) people have always had laws, protocols, and teachings that guide our relationships to one another, to our lands, and to our waters. They come from our ancestors and from this place, xʷčiyánəxʷ, the place of the big fish. They did not begin with the Indian Act, and they do not end with it.
The S'Klallam Chewhaytsum Constitution is an act of sovereignty. It puts our own law into writing, in our own words and by our own authority. It is not granted to us by any government. It guides how we organize ourselves, how we make decisions together, how we hold our leadership accountable, and how we protect our unceded title, our inherent rights, and our Chewhaytsum Douglas Treaty for the generations yet to come.
This Constitution belongs to the people, and it can only be changed by the people. It is how we carry forward who we have always been, and how we build the self-determining future our ancestors made possible.
Mission
Uphold the culture, language, and history of Chewhaytsum Douglas Treaty descendants
Vision
A self-determining nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əm č̕ixʷícən proples, thriving in our own law and identity