Nemah is an unincorporated community in Pacific County, in the U.S. state of Washington, lying on the mainland bordering Willapa Bay.
Indigenous history Prior to Euro-American settlement, the Nemah area was home to a small Chinook band known as the "Marhoo" or "Nemar," who fished the rivers for salmon and gathered clams and oysters along the shores of Willapa Bay. Ethnographic records identify the band's principal village, known as Ma'hu, as situated at the mouth of the Nemah River.
The Nemah band formed one of several recognized divisions of the broader Chinook people. Other recorded Chinook divisions along Shoalwater Bay included the Gitlapshoi, Nisal, Palux, and Wharhoots, with the bay-area villages collectively referred to as the Atsmitl.
The Chinook and Lower Chehalis were the original inhabitants of the lower Columbia River region encompassing present-day Pacific County, with more than 40 Chinook settlements recorded at the mouths of the Nemah, Naselle, Willapa, and Bone rivers, among other locations. Salmon and oysters formed the core of their economic base, and they were skilled navigators of sea-going canoes.
The broader Chinook Nation, headquartered in Bay Center, Washington, consists of five tribes — the Lower Chinook, Clatsop, Kathlamet, Wahkiakum, and Willapa — who share the Chinookan language. The Chinook Nation is not currently federally recognized; tribal members achieved recognition briefly in 2001, but that status was rescinded after 18 months, and efforts to restore recognition are ongoing.
History The name Nemah is thought to derive from the name of the Nemar band of Chinook people who inhabited the area. The place was once spelled "Nema" before a post office was established in December 1894, at which point the spelling was changed to its present form. The post office remained in operation until 1923.
The area is a popular hunting ground for wild elk.
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