"The Quileute Tribal School in La Push is probably unrivaled for its scenic setting, looking out on crashing surf, islands and the kind of picturesque sea stacks that make photographers swoon.

But when the Cascadia subduction zone 80 miles offshore generates a massive earthquake – as it does every couple of hundred years, most recently in 1700 – it will almost surely create the kind of devastating tsunami that recently struck Japan after a similar subduction zone event.

And that schoolhouse – along with a senior center and homes on the Quileutes’ square-mile reservation – would be at ground zero. The ocean that makes La Push such a beautiful setting could be the death of it.

If the tsunami warning sirens are operational, and if the one road out of town is passable after a massive earthquake, the Quileutes who are not trapped in collapsed structures might be able to escape the coming deluge. But if the road is rendered impassable by the quake, many of the 400 tribal members who live in La Push could perish."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Congress must help Quileutes escape tsunami threat (The Tacoma News Tribune 4/20)

Committee Hearing:
HEARING on S. 636, A bill to provide the Quileute Indian Tribe Tsunami and Flood Protection, and for other purposes; S. 703, the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act of 201l; and S. 546, the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians Restoration Act of 2011 (April 14, 2011)

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Chairwoman of Quileute Tribe will testify at Senate hearing (4/13)
Bill introduced to take Quileute Tribe away from tsunami zone (3/18)
Washington tribes evacuate coast in response to tsunami threats (3/11)
Quileute Tribe asks Sen. Cantwell to support federal land swap (2/24)
New chair of Quileute Tribe calls federal land swap a major priority (1/27)
Bill resolves long-running boundary dispute with Quileute Tribe (12/17)
Quileute Tribe reaches deal for park land transfer (7/28)
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Quileute Tribe, National Park Service in dispute (10/5)