SAN JUAN COUNTY, Wash. – A waterway in the San Juans now has a new name: Cayou Channel
The Department of Natural Resources announced on Tuesday, July 5th, they were renaming the channel between Shaw and Orcas Islands after Henry Cayou, who was an indigenous fisher and politician.
Cayou was one of the first indigenous elected officials in Washington state.
He served as the San Juan County commissioner for 29 years and lived in the San Juan Islands until his death in 1959.
The channel was previously named after General William Harney, who historians say killed a black woman in 1834 and led a massacre of indigenous women and children during a battle in Nebraska in 1855.