Senator Murray Visits Makah Passage Road and Makah Cultural Center, Discusses Funding She Secured for Makah Tribe

Senator Murray: “The Makah have contributed so much to our state, and I’m proud to be a partner in ensuring the Tribe’s success and longevity.”

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Neah Bay, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited the Makah Cultural Center and the Makah Passage Road, the latter of which she secured $3.7 million for in Congressionally Directed Spending in this year’s spending package–building on $2 million she secured in the prior year. Murray met with Tribal leadership and members to learn more about the cultural traditions of the Makah and to get a status update on improvements to the Makah Passage Road. The funding Murray secured for the road is helping support critical improvements to protect the essential emergency route–that is used as a tsunami evacuation route–in the event of highway washouts, which isolate the Tribe. 

“It was great to visit today to meet with Makah Tribal leadership, hear more about the challenges they are facing, and get an update on critical improvements to the Makah Passage Road,” said Senator Murray. “The funds I secured as Chair of the Appropriations Committee for the Makah Passage Road are really important for the Tribe to have redundant access in and out of their reservation, as well as an evacuation route for potential tsunamis. The Makah have contributed so much to our state, and I’m proud to be a partner in ensuring the Tribe’s success and longevity.”

Murray first toured the Makah Passage Road today, which she secured $3.7 million for as Chair of the Appropriations Committee in this year’s spending package. In fiscal year 2023, she secured $2 million. The only highway connecting to the Makah reservation, Highway 112, is susceptible to washouts, effectively isolating the Tribe. In 2021, a major washout limited travel to the Tribe to only forest backroads. The Makah Passage Road is also necessary for tsunami evacuation planning and for everyday use for residents who live on the road. Following the visit of the road, Murray then toured the Makah Cultural Center, a museum of the history of the Makah people highlighting the Ozzete Archaeological site and the extensive collection of artifacts recovered from there, dating back hundreds of years. Murray also secured nearly $4.6 million for the Makah Tribe to relocate the Tribe’s health center out of the Tsunami Inundation Zone. 

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