History of the Duwamish tribe
Encyclopedia
The region now known as Seattle has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 BCE.: 10,000 years ago). Archaeological excavations at West Point
in Discovery Park
, Magnolia
confirm that the Seattle area has been inhabited by humans for at least 4,000 years and probably much longer. West Point was called Oka-dz-elt-cu, Per-co-dus-chule, or Pka-dzEltcu. The village of tohl-AHL-too ("herring
house") had been inhabited at least since the 6th century CE, as had hah-AH-poos—"where there are horse clam
s"—at the then-mouth of the Duwamish River
in what is now the Industrial District
. The Lushootseed
(Skagit-Nisqually)-speaking Salish
Dkhw'Duw'Absh ("People of the Inside") and Xacuabš ("People of the Large Lake")—ancestors of today's Duwamish Tribe—occupied at least 17 villages in the mid-1850s and lived in some 93 permanent longhouses (khwaac'ál'al) along the lower Duwamish River, Elliott Bay
, Salmon Bay
, Portage Bay
, Lake Washington
, Lake Sammamish
, and the Duwamish River tributaries, the Black
and Cedar River
s.
Tens of people lived in each longhouse; forerunners of cohousing
, they were cooperatives of extended families that were quite unlike the single or single family cabins of White American
settlements. The villages were traditionally larger than they might have first appeared to White settlers, since Coast Salish
people had, in recent decades before extensive White settlement (c. 1774–1864), experienced some 62% losses due to introduced diseases. For comparison, the catastrophic Spanish Flu
Pandemic of 1918–19 took an estimated 2.5%–5% mortality worldwide; about 28% of the U.S. population contracted the Spanish Flu.
Like many Northwest Coast natives, the Dkhw'Duw'Absh and Xacuabš relied heavily on fishing for their well-being and their livelihood: the Pacific Northwest
fisheries were once one of the richest in the world, second only to the Grand Banks. Remnants of Dkhw'Duw'Absh fishing gear were found near the abundant tide pools of sbuh-KWAH-buks ("shaped like a bear's head", the West Seattle peninsula). The site is in what is now called Me-Kwa-Mooks Park
, where dense trees provide habitat for many birds including screech owls. Me-Kwa-Mooks Park is about 1 mi. (1.6 km) west of Camp Long in the south of the Alki neighborhood of West Seattle, (map http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/%7Epublic/nmaps/html/NN-1505S.htm). Up the hill, a 50-acre (20 hectare) stand of massive, old-growth Douglas fir and western red cedar—many towering more than 200 feet (61 m), their roots carpeted by sword ferns and salal—survived the clear cutting of Seattle. The fragment of forest in Schmitz Park
(1908–1912) is a living reminder of what much of Seattle looked like before the City of Seattle.
From the 1800s the Maritime Fur Trade
opened access to European goods for rival northern tribes from Vancouver Island
and the Georgia Strait). Having guns prompted their more effective raiding south, deep into recently-named Puget Sound
, in turn prompting social and organizational change. The Hudson's Bay Company
(HBC) established Fort Langley
(1827), then Fort Nisqually
(1833) near present-day Dupont
, within easy range and prompting keen interest in trade. As a young man, Si'ahl (later called Chief Seattle
) made himself both well-known and notorious around Fort Nisqually. Catholic missionaries began arriving in 1839, settlers in earnest from 1845. In 19th century maneuvering with European Great Power
s, the United States assumed regional sovereignty in 1846. White settlements at sbuh-KWAH-buks (Alki) and what is now Pioneer Square in Downtown Seattle
were established in 1851 and 1852. The latter settlement was right upon and between prominent villages on Elliott Bay
and villages on the Duwamish River
estuary
.
was signed in 1855. There is question about the legitimacy of the treaty, from the lack of understanding of whether the Natives signing the treaty were legitimate representatives of their peoples and whether the written treaty accurately matched what they were told they were signing. Squalli-Absch ("People of the Grass Country", Nisqually
) si'ab Lescay (Chief Leschi
, 1808–1858) urged and led resistance, with Yakama
Chief Kamiakim. Si'ahl warned his white friend and sub-Indian Agent 'Doc' Maynard
, possibly saving some 30 white people in early Seattle by sending a messenger to warn of a raid by Lescay and Kamiakim's war party (1856). Note that Native Americans warred for complicated conceptions of prestige and for resources, and did not comprehend the European war for conquest or annihilation. The blockhouse was sturdy timber with breastworks and ravines, defended by 57 armed volunteers—at least six Marines—and overshadowed by the 150 man, 566 ton, 16 gun sloop-of-war
Decatur
and the bark Bronte, anchored and cannon zeroed (bearing and range laid in) at close range out on Elliott Bay. The Battle of Seattle (1856)
ended more a skirmish, somewhat more farce than tragedy.
Whites asserted that the Point Elliott Treaty required the Dwamish who were living in what became metropolitan Seattle to move onto reservations established for other tribes, most of whom (with the exception of the Dkhw'Suqw'Absh[ Suquamish
from c. 1855]) were long-time competitors if not rivals. The Duwamish tribe maintains that the terms of the treaty require a Duwamish reservation—explicitly blocked at local behest in 1866, in contravention of the superseding and precedent treaty. Some followed si'ab Si'ahl to the Suquamish reservation
at Port Madison
. Others moved to the Tulalip
or Muckleshoot
reservations. Many refused to move, or shuttled back and forth between reservations.
Among losses due to introduced diseases, a smallpox
epidemic
broke out among the Northwest tribes in 1862 and killed roughly half the affected native populations. Documentation in archives and historical epidemiology demonstrates that governmental policies furthered the progress of this epidemic among the natives, and did little or nothing about the waves of other introduced epidemics. Mean population decline 1774–1874 was about 66%.
The name "Seattle" for the city (c. 1853) is an Anglicization of si'áb Si'ahl, the Duwamish and Suquamish chief (si'áb, high status man). The name for the city is attributed to 'Doc' Maynard, a complex figure, who named the city after Chief Seattle
, an enigmatic one. True names and images of people contain a measure of the sacred for many indigenous peoples
, particularly for Coast Salish (in contrast to social names, true names are only revealed intimately). Social names are considered sacred personal property, exclusive to the particular family. Consequently, Si'ahl, the Duwamish, and Suquamish were initially not pleased with the naming of the city. Eventually an accommodation was developed, with Si'ahl being accorded due honor in both Native and White cultures, and Seattle, the city, incurred another social obligation to the Duwamish people.
The trustees of the first incorporation of Seattle (January 1865) later passed an ordinance calling for the removal of Indians and providing for the punishment of those who might harbor them. A Duwamish reservation was blocked in 1866. The commitments made by the United States government in the Treaty of Point Elliott have not yet been met.
With the regional diaspora
of the Treaty, some Duwamish retreated to the West Seattle peninsula, where they carried on—at least for a while—their traditional ways of life. What was apparently their last enclave in West Seattle was destroyed by arson in 1893 when a white man identified only as “Watson” set fire to eight makeshift homes on the banks of what is today the East Waterway. Nearly all other remaining longhouses were destroyed by non-native arson by 1910. The demographic shift had become exponential after 1880.
In the 1900s, Native families came by canoe to the Seattle waterfront, where they camped on their way to work in the hops
fields upriver. They were allowed to stay on Ballast Island, a bleak strip of land just offshore at what is now Alaskan Way, created by the ballast dumped from ships that took on cargoes of lumber or grain. Canvas tents were adopted in place of their native cattail mat shelters for traveling. Poverty was severe. Hops agriculture along the river valleys blossomed in the 1880s. Native men continued working in the lumber mills and in fishing; women sold shellfish, basketry, and made other adaptations.
Many longtime residents of West Seattle tell stories about finding middens full of clam scrapers, arrowheads, and other artifacts in the 1920s and 1930s—archeological sites were not protected until 1906, and then only on public land. Two vista points looking across Elliott Bay toward the city are marked with Northwest Indian totem poles.
West Point (Seattle)
West Point is the westernmost point in Seattle, Washington, USA, jutting into Puget Sound from the Magnolia neighborhood. It also marks the northern extent of Elliott Bay; a line drawn southeastward to Alki Point marks the western extent of the bay. At the point itself is the 1881 West Point...
in Discovery Park
Discovery Park (Seattle)
Discovery Park is a 534 acre park in the peninsular Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is the city's largest public park and contains 11.81 miles of walking trails. United Indians of All Tribes' Daybreak Star Cultural Center is within the park's boundaries...
, Magnolia
Magnolia, Seattle, Washington
Magnolia is the second largest neighborhood of Seattle, Washington by area. It occupies a hilly peninsula northwest of downtown. Magnolia is isolated from the rest of Seattle, connected by road to the rest of the city by only three bridges over the tracks of the BNSF Railway: W. Emerson Place in...
confirm that the Seattle area has been inhabited by humans for at least 4,000 years and probably much longer. West Point was called Oka-dz-elt-cu, Per-co-dus-chule, or Pka-dzEltcu. The village of tohl-AHL-too ("herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
house") had been inhabited at least since the 6th century CE, as had hah-AH-poos—"where there are horse clam
Horse clam
The horse clam are related to the Geoduck, though smaller, with shells up to eight inches long , weight to 3–4 lb . Two similar species of horse clams inhabit the Pacific coast intertidal zones: the pacific gaper, Tresus nuttallii, more abundant south to California; and the fat gaper, T...
s"—at the then-mouth of the Duwamish River
Duwamish River
The Duwamish River is the name of the lower of Washington state's Green River. Its industrialized estuary is known as the Duwamish Waterway.- History :...
in what is now the Industrial District
Industrial District, Seattle, Washington
The Industrial District is the principal industrial area of Seattle, Washington. It is bounded on the west by the Duwamish Waterway and Elliott Bay, beyond which lies Delridge of West Seattle; on the east by Interstate 5, beyond which lies Beacon Hill; on the north by S King and S Dearborn Streets,...
. The Lushootseed
Lushootseed
Lushootseed is the language or dialect continuum of several SalishNative American groups of modern-day Washington state...
(Skagit-Nisqually)-speaking Salish
Coast Salish
Coast Salish languages are a subgroup of the Salishan language family. These languages are spoken by First Nations or Native American peoples inhabiting the territory that is now the southwest coast of British Columbia around the Strait of Georgia and Washington state around Puget Sound...
Dkhw'Duw'Absh ("People of the Inside") and Xacuabš ("People of the Large Lake")—ancestors of today's Duwamish Tribe—occupied at least 17 villages in the mid-1850s and lived in some 93 permanent longhouses (khwaac'ál'al) along the lower Duwamish River, Elliott Bay
Elliott Bay
Elliott Bay is the body of water on which Seattle, Washington, is located. A line drawn from Alki Point in the south to West Point in the north serves to mark the generally accepted division between the bay and the open sound...
, Salmon Bay
Salmon Bay
Salmon Bay is that part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal--which passes through the city of Seattle, linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound--that lies west of the Fremont Cut. It is the westernmost section of the canal, and empties into Shilshole Bay, which is part of Puget Sound. Because of the...
, Portage Bay
Portage Bay
Portage Bay is an arm of Seattle, Washington's Lake Union and is part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Its western limit can be said to be the Ship Canal Bridge, which carries Interstate 5 over the water; North Passage Point Park and South Passage Point Park sit on opposite shores between the...
, Lake Washington
Lake Washington
Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and...
, Lake Sammamish
Lake Sammamish
Lake Sammamish is a freshwater lake east of Seattle in King County, Washington, United States. The lake is long and wide, with a maximum depth of and a surface area of . It lies east of Lake Washington and west of the Sammamish Plateau, and stretches from Issaquah in the south to Redmond in...
, and the Duwamish River tributaries, the Black
Black River (Duwamish River)
The Black River, also known as the Duwamish River, was a river in King County in the U.S. state of Washington. It drained Lake Washington until 1916 when the opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal lowered the lake, causing the Black River to dry up...
and Cedar River
Cedar River (Washington)
The Cedar River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington. About long, it originates in the Cascade Range and flows generally west and northwest, emptying into the southern end of Lake Washington...
s.
Tens of people lived in each longhouse; forerunners of cohousing
Cohousing
A cohousing community is a type of intentional community composed of private homes supplemented by shared facilities. The community is planned, owned and managed by the residents – who also share activities which may include cooking, dining, child care, gardening, and governance of the...
, they were cooperatives of extended families that were quite unlike the single or single family cabins of White American
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
settlements. The villages were traditionally larger than they might have first appeared to White settlers, since Coast Salish
Coast Salish
Coast Salish languages are a subgroup of the Salishan language family. These languages are spoken by First Nations or Native American peoples inhabiting the territory that is now the southwest coast of British Columbia around the Strait of Georgia and Washington state around Puget Sound...
people had, in recent decades before extensive White settlement (c. 1774–1864), experienced some 62% losses due to introduced diseases. For comparison, the catastrophic Spanish Flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
Pandemic of 1918–19 took an estimated 2.5%–5% mortality worldwide; about 28% of the U.S. population contracted the Spanish Flu.
Like many Northwest Coast natives, the Dkhw'Duw'Absh and Xacuabš relied heavily on fishing for their well-being and their livelihood: the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
fisheries were once one of the richest in the world, second only to the Grand Banks. Remnants of Dkhw'Duw'Absh fishing gear were found near the abundant tide pools of sbuh-KWAH-buks ("shaped like a bear's head", the West Seattle peninsula). The site is in what is now called Me-Kwa-Mooks Park
Me-Kwa-Mooks Park
Me-Kwa-Mooks, meaning "shaped like a bear's head" and pronounced sbuh-KWAH-buks in Nisqually, was what the Duwamish tribe called the West Seattle peninsula when the first European-American settlers landed at Alki in 1851....
, where dense trees provide habitat for many birds including screech owls. Me-Kwa-Mooks Park is about 1 mi. (1.6 km) west of Camp Long in the south of the Alki neighborhood of West Seattle, (map http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/%7Epublic/nmaps/html/NN-1505S.htm). Up the hill, a 50-acre (20 hectare) stand of massive, old-growth Douglas fir and western red cedar—many towering more than 200 feet (61 m), their roots carpeted by sword ferns and salal—survived the clear cutting of Seattle. The fragment of forest in Schmitz Park
Schmitz Park (Seattle)
Schmitz Park, also known as Schmitz Preserve Park, is a 53.1 acre park around 15 blocks east of Alki Point in West Seattle, Washington. It features Schmitz Park Creek and one of the last stands of old-growth forest in the city....
(1908–1912) is a living reminder of what much of Seattle looked like before the City of Seattle.
From the 1800s the Maritime Fur Trade
Maritime Fur Trade
The Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...
opened access to European goods for rival northern tribes from Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
and the Georgia Strait). Having guns prompted their more effective raiding south, deep into recently-named Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
, in turn prompting social and organizational change. The Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
(HBC) established Fort Langley
Fort Langley National Historic Site
Fort Langley is a former trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, now located in the village of Fort Langley, British Columbia. Commonly referred to as "the birthplace of British Columbia", it is designated a National Historic Site of Canada and administered by Parks Canada.-A new fort:After John...
(1827), then Fort Nisqually
Fort Nisqually
Fort Nisqually was an important fur trading and farming post of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Puget Sound area of what is now DuPont, Washington and was part of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department. Today it is a living history museum located in Tacoma, Washington, USA, within the...
(1833) near present-day Dupont
DuPont, Washington
DuPont is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 8,199 at the 2010 census.-History:The Nisqually tribe arrived in the area at least 5700 years ago, subsisting on shellfish from the beaches and salmon from Sequalitchew Creek...
, within easy range and prompting keen interest in trade. As a young man, Si'ahl (later called Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle , was a Dkhw’Duw’Absh chief, also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with David Swinson "Doc" Maynard. Seattle, Washington was named after him...
) made himself both well-known and notorious around Fort Nisqually. Catholic missionaries began arriving in 1839, settlers in earnest from 1845. In 19th century maneuvering with European Great Power
Great power
A great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength and diplomatic and cultural influence which may cause small powers to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions...
s, the United States assumed regional sovereignty in 1846. White settlements at sbuh-KWAH-buks (Alki) and what is now Pioneer Square in Downtown Seattle
Downtown Seattle
Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared to other city centers on the West Coast because of its geographical situation: hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by the Elliott Bay, and on the south by reclaimed land that was once...
were established in 1851 and 1852. The latter settlement was right upon and between prominent villages on Elliott Bay
Elliott Bay
Elliott Bay is the body of water on which Seattle, Washington, is located. A line drawn from Alki Point in the south to West Point in the north serves to mark the generally accepted division between the bay and the open sound...
and villages on the Duwamish River
Duwamish River
The Duwamish River is the name of the lower of Washington state's Green River. Its industrialized estuary is known as the Duwamish Waterway.- History :...
estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
.
1855–1920s
By the time Coast Salish began to realize the implications of the changes brought by Europeans at ever-increasing rates, the time was late. After just five years, lands were occupied; the harsh Treaty of Point ElliottTreaty of Point Elliott
The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as Treaty of Point Elliot / Point Elliott Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the nominal Native American tribes of the greater Puget Sound region in the recently-formed...
was signed in 1855. There is question about the legitimacy of the treaty, from the lack of understanding of whether the Natives signing the treaty were legitimate representatives of their peoples and whether the written treaty accurately matched what they were told they were signing. Squalli-Absch ("People of the Grass Country", Nisqually
Nisqually (tribe)
Nisqually is a Lushootseed Native American tribe in western Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives on a reservation in the Nisqually River valley near the river delta. The Nisqually Indian Reservation, at , comprises 20.602 km² of land area on both sides of the river, in...
) si'ab Lescay (Chief Leschi
Chief Leschi
Chief Leschi was chief of the Nisqually Native American tribe. He was hanged for murder in 1858, but exonerated in 2004.-Life:...
, 1808–1858) urged and led resistance, with Yakama
Yakama
The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, or simply Yakama Nation , is a Native American group with nearly 10,000 enrolled members, living in Washington. Their reservation, along the Yakima River, covers an area of approximately 1.2 million acres...
Chief Kamiakim. Si'ahl warned his white friend and sub-Indian Agent 'Doc' Maynard
David Swinson Maynard
David Swinson "Doc" Maynard was an American pioneer and doctor, and one of Seattle's primary founders. He was an effective civic booster and, compared to other white settlers, a relative advocate of Native American rights...
, possibly saving some 30 white people in early Seattle by sending a messenger to warn of a raid by Lescay and Kamiakim's war party (1856). Note that Native Americans warred for complicated conceptions of prestige and for resources, and did not comprehend the European war for conquest or annihilation. The blockhouse was sturdy timber with breastworks and ravines, defended by 57 armed volunteers—at least six Marines—and overshadowed by the 150 man, 566 ton, 16 gun sloop-of-war
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
Decatur
USS Decatur (1839)
USS Decatur was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the mid-19th century. She was commissioned to protect American interests in the South Atlantic Ocean, including the interception of ships involved in the African slave trade...
and the bark Bronte, anchored and cannon zeroed (bearing and range laid in) at close range out on Elliott Bay. The Battle of Seattle (1856)
Battle of Seattle (1856)
The Battle of Seattle was a January 26, 1856 attack by native Americans upon Seattle, Washington. At the time, Seattle was a settlement in the Washington Territory that had recently named itself after Chief Seattle , a leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish peoples of central Puget Sound.Backed by...
ended more a skirmish, somewhat more farce than tragedy.
Whites asserted that the Point Elliott Treaty required the Dwamish who were living in what became metropolitan Seattle to move onto reservations established for other tribes, most of whom (with the exception of the Dkhw'Suqw'Absh
Suquamish
The Suquamish are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American Tribe, located in present-day Washington in the United States.The Suquamish are a southern Coast Salish people; they spoke a dialect of Lushootseed, which belongs to the Salishan language family. Like many Northwest Coast natives, the...
from c. 1855]) were long-time competitors if not rivals. The Duwamish tribe maintains that the terms of the treaty require a Duwamish reservation—explicitly blocked at local behest in 1866, in contravention of the superseding and precedent treaty. Some followed si'ab Si'ahl to the Suquamish reservation
Port Madison Indian Reservation
The Port Madison Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in northern Kitsap County, Washington. It occupies 30.273 km² on the western and northern shores of Port Madison, and is divided into two separate parcels by Miller Bay. The unincorporated towns of Suquamish and Indianola both lie...
at Port Madison
Port Madison
Port Madison, sometimes called Port Madison Bay, is a deep water bay located on the west shore of Puget Sound in western Washington. It is bounded on the north by Indianola, on the west by Suquamish, and on the south by Bainbridge Island. Port Madison connects to Port Orchard via the Agate Pass...
. Others moved to the Tulalip
Tulalip
Tulalip is a group of Native American peoples from western Washington state in the United States. Today they are federally recognized as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation.- History :...
or Muckleshoot
Muckleshoot
The Muckleshoot are a Lushootseed Native American tribe, part of the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest whose traditional territory and reservations is located in the area of Auburn, Washington, between Seattle and Tacoma...
reservations. Many refused to move, or shuttled back and forth between reservations.
Among losses due to introduced diseases, a smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
broke out among the Northwest tribes in 1862 and killed roughly half the affected native populations. Documentation in archives and historical epidemiology demonstrates that governmental policies furthered the progress of this epidemic among the natives, and did little or nothing about the waves of other introduced epidemics. Mean population decline 1774–1874 was about 66%.
The name "Seattle" for the city (c. 1853) is an Anglicization of si'áb Si'ahl, the Duwamish and Suquamish chief (si'áb, high status man). The name for the city is attributed to 'Doc' Maynard, a complex figure, who named the city after Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle , was a Dkhw’Duw’Absh chief, also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with David Swinson "Doc" Maynard. Seattle, Washington was named after him...
, an enigmatic one. True names and images of people contain a measure of the sacred for many indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
, particularly for Coast Salish (in contrast to social names, true names are only revealed intimately). Social names are considered sacred personal property, exclusive to the particular family. Consequently, Si'ahl, the Duwamish, and Suquamish were initially not pleased with the naming of the city. Eventually an accommodation was developed, with Si'ahl being accorded due honor in both Native and White cultures, and Seattle, the city, incurred another social obligation to the Duwamish people.
The trustees of the first incorporation of Seattle (January 1865) later passed an ordinance calling for the removal of Indians and providing for the punishment of those who might harbor them. A Duwamish reservation was blocked in 1866. The commitments made by the United States government in the Treaty of Point Elliott have not yet been met.
With the regional diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
of the Treaty, some Duwamish retreated to the West Seattle peninsula, where they carried on—at least for a while—their traditional ways of life. What was apparently their last enclave in West Seattle was destroyed by arson in 1893 when a white man identified only as “Watson” set fire to eight makeshift homes on the banks of what is today the East Waterway. Nearly all other remaining longhouses were destroyed by non-native arson by 1910. The demographic shift had become exponential after 1880.
In the 1900s, Native families came by canoe to the Seattle waterfront, where they camped on their way to work in the hops
Hops
Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
fields upriver. They were allowed to stay on Ballast Island, a bleak strip of land just offshore at what is now Alaskan Way, created by the ballast dumped from ships that took on cargoes of lumber or grain. Canvas tents were adopted in place of their native cattail mat shelters for traveling. Poverty was severe. Hops agriculture along the river valleys blossomed in the 1880s. Native men continued working in the lumber mills and in fishing; women sold shellfish, basketry, and made other adaptations.
Many longtime residents of West Seattle tell stories about finding middens full of clam scrapers, arrowheads, and other artifacts in the 1920s and 1930s—archeological sites were not protected until 1906, and then only on public land. Two vista points looking across Elliott Bay toward the city are marked with Northwest Indian totem poles.