Bordered by the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean, the Makah held a vast inland and coastal territory before contact, drawing on richly forested lands and life-filled seas for abundant natural resources. The sea was, and remains, central to Makah livelihood, providing seals, salmon, whales, and other marine resources. Makah lands included Waadah, Tatoosh, Ozette, Cannon Ball, the Bodeltas, and the islands on Lake Ozette, while inland holdings extended as far east as Lyre River and as far south as lands shared with the Quileute. Within this territory, the Makah maintained many summer and permanent villages, including the five permanent villages of Waatch, Sooes, Deah, Ozette, and Bahaada along the shore of the northwestern-most point of the continental United States. In the early 1800s, these villages were home to between two thousand and four thousand Makah. Each village contained several cedar-plank longhouses about 30 feet wide and 70 feet long, shared by extended families and often housing several generations. During the summer, people traveled to seasonal residences such as Kidickabit, Archawat, Hoko, Tatoosh Island, Ozette River, and Ozette Lake, closer to traditional fishing, whaling, and gathering areas. The Makah understood their environment closely and respected the plants and animals that sustained them through coastal winters, taking food and materials in balance with seasonal lifecycles and using nearly all they took from land and sea. Highly skilled mariners, they traveled the rough Pacific and swift strait waters with sophisticated navigational and maritime skills. They used western red cedar canoes made for specific purposes, including war, whaling, halibut, salmon fishing, sealing, cargo, and children's practice, and fitted with sails to use the wind. Canoes were landed stern first for quick departure if needed, and their contents were left undisturbed out of respect for others' belongings. Tireless paddlers, the Makah traveled great distances for food and trade. Fish and marine mammals were staple foods and remain important today: halibut were caught, dried or smoked, and stored for winter; bottom fish were caught year round; porpoise and fur and harbor seals were eaten fresh or smoked, with seal skins cured for whaling floats; seal blubber was rendered into oil used as a condiment at every meal; and sea otters were valuable in trade.