Suquamish tribe

The Suquamish are a Native American tribe living in what is now the U.S. state of Washington. Its official name is the Suquamish Tribe, Port Madison Reservation, Washington, as about 500 of them live in the same reserve. Of the 950 tribal members today half of them live outside the reserve in the neighboring towns of Sequim, Bremerton, Port Orchard, but also in Seattle on the other side of the estuary and in Tacoma.

Culturally include the Suquamish to the coastal Salish and they spoke a dialect of the Lushootseed attributable. The most famous descendant of the tribe is likely to be Chief Seattle, who gave the name of the largest city in Washington. He was born about 1786 in Blake Iceland. His father was a chief of the Suquamish, his mother belonged to the Duwamish.

The name " Suquamish " is derived from a village on the Agate Passage on the Kitsap Peninsula, near the present town of Suquamish. The word " d' suq'wub " means " clear water ". The east, on the other side of the Puget Sound, Snohomish living they called the "mixed people".

History

Early History

The Suquamish were, like most coastal Salish, fixed only in winter. They lived between Gig Harbor and Appletree Cove, between Hood Canal and Admiralty Inlet and south to the Case and Carr Inlets, to Blake on the islands of Iceland, Iceland Bainbridge and Whidbey Iceland. Between Hood Canal and Admiralty Inlet were three villages with longhouses, which, like the Ole Man House could be up to 160 m long and 30 m wide. Lived here almost all the Suquamish in winter. Other villages existed at Point Bolin, Poulsbo, Silverdale, Chico, Colby, Olalla, White Point, Lynwood Center, Eagle Harbor, Port Madison, and at the Battle of the Points.

As with most of the tribes of the coastal Salish, the boundaries between the groups were very permeable, there were close relationships and the home groups were largely autonomous. Around 1825, however, Kitsap rose to become a sort of head chief, who led a coalition of tribes on Puget Sound against the raids of the Cowichan.

An extensive trade in whale oil, mussels, salmon, blankets and baskets reached as far as Iceland and Vancouver to Oregon. This was due not only with the close contacts of the Salish groups cooperate with each other, but also with the fact that the Suquamish lived on land which had no large salmon runs, as occurred elsewhere annually and provided rich winter stores. Therefore, they had to leave very early swarming far to catch fish can.

First contact with Europeans, northern slave hunters, contract with the U.S., reserve

In 1792 it came to probably the first contact with Europeans, when George Vancouver explored the region and recorded on Bainbridge Iceland contact with Suquamish. The father of Chief Seattle, Schweabe was involved in wars with the Chimakum who wanted to occupy the Suqamish country according to the oral tradition. The Suquamish turn, tried to conquer the land of the Duwamish.

Built in 1833, the British Hudson 's Bay Company Fort Nisqually as a trading post. Through this connection came about 1840 Catholic missionaries to the Suqamish. 1844 was estimated their number at 525, two counts in 1856 were 441 and 509 With Oregon Donation Land Claim Act of Congress forcibly opened all Indian land in the region for white settlers. Soon came sawmills, as in Port Madison, Port Gamble and Port Blakely, the exposed the original dense forest.

The Suquamish had to give up in the Treaty of Point Elliott on January 22, 1855 their country. Their chief and six sub- chiefs - in the diction of Americans - signed the contract. They were recognized as a tribe and received a reserve that. Port Madison Indian Reservation near their winter village on Agate Pass The reserve consisted of 7284.48 acre. It was often " Fort Kitsap Reservation " called, although this declined to live there, but also " Seattle Reservation ".

5909.48 acres were assigned to 39 Indians as private property. The remaining 1,375 acres were not privatized. Minor support by the government was not enough for living in the reserve, so that many of them had to seek outside work. In addition, the government did not protect them from raids of the Haida and other northern tribes, with their canoes sailed the Pacific and made easy prey here. Against this type of slave hunting is defended and attacked the Suquamish 1859 Haidagruppe on the western shore of Bainbridge Iceland.

In the long run much more serious rides the sale of so-called whiskey were peddler who sold the Indians brandy and whiskey. In October 1862 attacked headmen, hereditary leader, such a boat.

Industrialization, privatization, assimilation

With the growing number of sawmills around the Puget Sound, more and more Suquamish worked in whites. Initially, these were paid for with money sheet.

On 24 October 1864, Congress put the reserve boundaries established new. The so-called Indianola Tract, separated by a narrow strait from the reserve, was added to the area. 1886 began to grant the land to individual owners, and thus dissolve the tribal area. In 1904 the village to Ole Man House, which was burnt down in the 1870s by order of an Indian agent, was dissolved. From 1900 to 1920 all children had to attend Indian boarding schools, where the use of their native language was forbidden.

1909 were counted only nooch 180 tribal members, many of whom were forced to sell their land. In 1980 there were over 800 non- Indians on the reservation, a further 2,500 in the neighborhood. Beginning of the 20th century the village Suqua was purchased and converted into a military base. The Suquamish, now scattered in different houses, refused to become farmers and continued to live on fishing and doing odd jobs. However, around 1920, white fish companies also dominated this industry.

Self- Government

On May 23, 1965, the tribe adopted a constitution. Since then leads a seven-member board his fishing characteristics. How many Indian tribes, as claimed, the Suquamish jurisdiction on their reserve area, but in 1978, the Congress had this requirement in the case of Oliphant vs.. Suquamish Tribe back and made the law and non- Indians to punish the express permission of the congress dependent.

Compared to the Indian Claims Commission was of the tribe - one of the 11 tribes of the region who complain - enforce that compensation for the assignment traditional area were paid by the Treaty of Point Elliott. So he received for 87 130 acres of land, less the 1,280 for the reserve, a compensation of $ 78,500 to the value of 1859 awarded. The Suquamish were, according to their share in the country $ 42,170.49.

Current situation

Opened in 1977, the tribal council office, which conducted cultural programs. 1980, a tribal center was completed after it had burned down the year before the already built. Opened in 1985, the tribe as the second in the U.S. has its own museum, the Suquamish Museum & Cultural Center. There can be found next 123 artifacts over 9,300 photos. 2009 is to be completed, which will house the coastal Salish exhibition of the National Museum of the American Indian, a new museum. In August each year, the Chief Seattle Days will take place.

1985 the tribe had 577 members, 2008, about 950 of the original reserve in 1985 were only 2849.42 acres owned by the tribe. Some Suquamish worked in the fishing industry and others in the nearby plant for nuclear submarines ( Trident ). A considerable part of them is now working in the administration of the tribe and in casinos.

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