The name is the Quinault Indian term for “…good place to land.” It is considered the only safe landing place for canoes between the Hoh and Queets rivers. There was a post office there between 1928 and 1956.

The village is noted for the trout, starfish, mussels, sea anemones, and other salt-water specimens found along the shore. Ducks, hell-divers, and loons dive in pursuit of their prey; gulls plunge in spirals upon any fish or bit of food appearing on the surface. Clams especially appeal to the gulls. Picking one up from the beach, the hungry gull ascends, drops the clam unerringly upon a rock, then dives to eat the contents. Agates, moonstones, and oddly shaped bits of driftwood attract souvenir hunters.