Insight Analysis and Commentary on the Global Power Industry

EnergyPulse: "For centuries, the Makah Indians have been living off the abundant fishing of the coastal waters of northwest Washington State. Fishing boats, construction and subsequent industries have provided a reasonable subsistence for generations of little Neah Bay residents.
Their fortunes have continually deteriorated since the 1900s heyday. During the late 1900s and the early 2000s, lifestyles for a few hundred Makah changed drastically. Unemployment sometimes reaches record levels above 70 percent. Cost of operating fishing boats skyrocketed. Electric power is down (sometimes as long as three or four days a week) because of heavy snow and ice storms. A third of the town's population lives below the poverty level where the average annual income is less than $25,000 per year. Many young Makah Indians have left the area to seek their fortune in other parts of the country."