Treaty of Point Elliott
Encyclopedia
The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as Treaty of Point Elliot (with one t) / 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 Washington Territory
(March, 1853), one of about thirteen treaties between the U.S. and Native Nations in what is now Washington. The treaty was signed on 22 January 1855, at Muckl-te-oh or Point Elliott, now Mukilteo, Washington
, and ratified 8 March and 11 April 1859. Lands were being occupied since settlement in what became Washington Territory began in earnest from about 1845.
Signatories to the Treaty of Point Elliott included Chief Seattle
(si'áb Si'ahl) and Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens
. Representatives from the Duwamish
, Suquamish
, Snoqualmie
, Snohomish
, Lummi
, Skagit
, Swinomish
, (in order of signing) and other tribes also signed. The treaty established the Suquamish Port Madison
, Tulalip
, Swin-a-mish (Swinomish), and Lummi reservations. The Native American signers included: Suquamish and Dwamish (Duwamish) Chief Seattle
, Snoqualmoo (Snoqualmie) and Sno-ho-mish Chief Patkanim
as Pat-ka-nam, Lummi
Chief Chow-its-hoot
, and Skagit Chief Goliah. The Duwamish signatories to the Point Elliott Treaty of 22 January 1855 were si'áb Si'ahl as Chief Seattle, and Duwamish si'áb Ts'huahntl, si'áb Now-a-chais, and si'áb Ha-seh-doo-an. The treaty guaranteed both fishing rights and reservations. Reservations for the Duwamish, Skagit, Snohomish, and Snoqualmie are absent.
intrusion into Indian territories. The Oregon Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 opened Oregon Territory; Washington Territory had similar law. The law sunset 1 December 1855; settlers had to file by that date, so White leaders had incentive to get treaties signed as speedily as possible. Each male settler could homestead and receive 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) free for himself and 160 with his wife (women could not individually hold property). Settlers arriving before 1850 could receive 640 acres (2.6 km²), or 1 Regular Section, one square mile. No explanation has been provided for how this property could be titled before Indian claims were extinguished. The effective means of doing so was by unilateral occupation, implicitly backed by militia if not military. The response was disconcertion, sometimes as extreme as raids and uprisings.
The headlong pace of Westward Expansion
[" 'Westward Expansion' article neutrality may be compromised by 'weasel words' "; cites only minimal sources] and Manifest Destiny
by American exceptionalism
throughout the 19th century effectively precluded other than a freebooter development model.
By and large, Native leaders were willing to sell (having at the time no cultural comprehension of individuals or people owning land), but they were very unwilling to move out of Puget Sound country.
The courts have said that the power of Congress in Indian affairs is plenary (full and complete)—great but under present law not absolute. The federal government and tribes are co-equal sovereign entities; the tribal governments predated the existence the United States. One of the basic principles underlying Indian nations is that they retain all the inherent powers of any sovereign nation, retaining all original sovereign rights and powers which have not been given up or taken away by due process of law. Courts have ruled that the "intent of Congress to limit the sovereign powers of Indian governments by legislation must be clearly expressed in the law in order to be effective" (in legal terminology, per Saito, Georgia State University College of Law). [Emphasis added.]
This leaves many of the mid-19th century treaties in an interesting legal status.
The U.S. Constitution
, Article 6
, states:
(Treaties must comply with the Constitution.) Treaties are international agreements by definition. The Supreme Court has ruled that there are "canons of construction" for interpreting treaties; of the two principal canons, one is that they are to be interpreted as they would have been understood by the signatories. The Supreme Court has ruled, in a manner remarkably like the Bill of Rights
, Tenth Amendment
, that "Treaties are to be construed as a grant of rights from the Indians, not to them—and a reservation of those not granted."
A treaty broken is not rescinded. Only a following treaty or agreement can relieve signatories of the original treaty. When the U.S. breaks a treaty, doing so reflects upon the integrity of the country. "Treaties are as old and as venerable as the Constitution of the United States. Age does not impair their validity or legality." [Deloria, 1994]
Indian tribes, for the most part, were not parties to and rarely agreed with the diminution in their sovereign powers by the laws of the colonizer and the alien tradition of European law. With significant justification they often claim to retain far greater sovereign powers than federal Indian law is prepared to concede. The resulting political dynamic is of tensions and disputes among tribal, federal, and state governments about sovereign powers and jurisdiction denied to tribes by the colonial justifications underlying federal law, which tribes and members point out they never voluntarily surrendered. Diminution of sovereignty is usually absent from accession of lands.
Washington Territory Governor Isaac Stevens
frequently made oral promises that were not matched by what was written down. The Native tribes were all oral cultures. When Stevens, in drafting treaties, acted in a manner that Judge James Wickerson would characterize forty years later as "unfair, unjust, ungenerous, and illegal", Natives were quite unprepared for such behavior by the official representatives of the white man's power. The local natives a thirty-year history of dealing with the "King George's men" of Hudson's Bay Company
(HBC), who had developed a reputation for driving a hard bargain, but sticking honestly to what they agreed to, and for treating Whites and Indians impartially. This continued through the dealings of the local Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) Superintendent General, Joel Palmer
, who (along with David 'Doc' Maynard
's brother-in-law, Indian Agent Mike Simmons) was among the few even-handed men in the BIA.
The Washington Territory treaties such as that of the Treaty of Medicine Creek
of 1854 (26 December) and this Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855 (22 January) were followed by the provocative Treaty of Walla Walla
of 1855 (21 May). Governor Stevens ignored federal government instructions to stick to sorting out the areas where natives and settlers found themselves immediately adjacent to one another or where settlers moved right in on Native places. After thirty years of dealings with King George's men of the HBC, Natives were angered, particularly since the Native concept of war had more to do with resources and complex concepts of prestige than with conquest or annihilation, which were not even considered.
Stevens appointed chiefs of tribes in order to facilitate goals of his administration.
"The salient features of the policy outlined [by Governor Stevens to his advisers] were as follows:
Note that these are significantly different from the verbal assurances provided during negotiations, and that all the Native Nations were oral cultures.
Indian tribes believed the treaties became effective when they were signed. But United States law required Congress to approve all treaties after they were negotiated. Consequently, there was no legal foundation for occupation from the time settlement began in earnest about 1845 until April 1859.
The commitments made by the U.S. government in the Treaty have never been implemented for the Duwamish, and several other tribes.
Initial Treaty Advisers, Washington Territory
Point Elliott Treaty, advisers to Washington Territory
, Semiahmoo
, Lower Puyallup
and Quileute
tribes did not take part in the treaty councils, though the rights of the Nooksack were signed over by the Lummi
chief Chow-its-hoot, without their presence. Samish attendance was documented by George Gibbs
and officially reported by Governor Issac Stevens
. Although the Samish
were listed next to the Lummi in the first draft of the treaty, it appears that line was inadvertently omitted during transcription of the final draft. Several of them, like the Duwamish and Snohomish, continue working toward official recognition. See also, for example, Duwamish (tribe).
(1974, upheld 1979) (see also the Treaty Article via link, below):
The treaty contains provisions that would raise concern by an attorney in the employ of the Natives during negotiations:
The complete treaty, unabridged can be found on Wikisource.
in 1974 was followed by extraordinary repression by the state and resistance by non-Indians, until the Supreme Court upheld the decision in 1979. Nooksacks, Upper Skagits
, Sauks-Suiattles, and Stillaguamishes won federal recognition in the 1970s, largely due to participation in treaty-rights struggles. Federal courts denied Samish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Steilacoom, and Duwamish, because they were not recognized as polities (civil governments).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government and the nominal Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes of the greater 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...
region in the recently-formed Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
(March, 1853), one of about thirteen treaties between the U.S. and Native Nations in what is now Washington. The treaty was signed on 22 January 1855, at Muckl-te-oh or Point Elliott, now Mukilteo, Washington
Mukilteo, Washington
Mukilteo , which means "good camping ground", is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 20,254 at the 2010 census. It is on the shore of the Puget Sound, and is the site of a Washington State Ferries terminal linking it to Clinton, on Whidbey Island.Mukilteo is...
, and ratified 8 March and 11 April 1859. Lands were being occupied since settlement in what became Washington Territory began in earnest from about 1845.
Signatories to the Treaty of Point Elliott included 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...
(si'áb Si'ahl) and Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens
Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly...
. Representatives from the Duwamish
Duwamish (tribe)
The Duwamish are a Lushootseed Native American tribe in western Washington, and the indigenous people of metropolitan Seattle, where they have been living since the end of the last glacial period...
, Suquamish
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...
, Snoqualmie
Snoqualmie (tribe)
The Snoqualmie Tribe is a tribal government of Coast Salish Native American peoples from the Snoqualmie Valley in east King and Snohomish Counties in Washington state. The Snoqualmie settled onto the Tulalip Reservation after signing the Point Elliott Treaty with the Washington Territory in 1855...
, Snohomish
Snohomish (tribe)
The Snohomish are a Lushootseed Native American tribe who reside around the Puget Sound area of Washington, north of Seattle. They speak the Lushootseed language. The tribal spelling is Sdoh-doh-hohbsh, which means "wet snow" according to the last chief of the Snohomish tribe, Chief William...
, Lummi
Lummi
The Lummi , governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group in western Washington state in the United States...
, Skagit
Skagit (tribe)
The Skagit are either of two tribes of the Lushootseed Native American people living in the state of Washington, the Upper Skagit and the Lower Skagit. They speak a subdialect of the Northern dialect of Lushootseed, which is part of the Salishan family. The Skagit River, Skagit Bay, and Skagit...
, Swinomish
Swinomish (tribe)
The Swinomish are an historically Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe in western Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives in the southeastern part of Fidalgo Island near the San Juan Islands in Skagit County, Washington. Skagit County is located about north of Seattle...
, (in order of signing) and other tribes also signed. The treaty established the Suquamish Port Madison
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...
, 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 :...
, Swin-a-mish (Swinomish), and Lummi reservations. The Native American signers included: Suquamish and Dwamish (Duwamish) 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...
, Snoqualmoo (Snoqualmie) and Sno-ho-mish Chief Patkanim
Patkanim
Patkanim was chief of the Snoqualmoo and Snohomish tribe in what is now modern Washington State....
as Pat-ka-nam, Lummi
Lummi
The Lummi , governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group in western Washington state in the United States...
Chief Chow-its-hoot
Chow-its-hoot
Chow-its-hoot or Chowitsuit is a Lummi name. Several Lummi individuals have carried this name. Commonly, the name refers to the man who signed the Point Elliott Treaty in 1855 on behalf of the southern band of Lummis. He had no children. His father was named Sa-hop-kan. He had at least one brother,...
, and Skagit Chief Goliah. The Duwamish signatories to the Point Elliott Treaty of 22 January 1855 were si'áb Si'ahl as Chief Seattle, and Duwamish si'áb Ts'huahntl, si'áb Now-a-chais, and si'áb Ha-seh-doo-an. The treaty guaranteed both fishing rights and reservations. Reservations for the Duwamish, Skagit, Snohomish, and Snoqualmie are absent.
Context
The Intercourse Act of 1834 specifically prohibited White AmericanWhite 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...
intrusion into Indian territories. The Oregon Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 opened Oregon Territory; Washington Territory had similar law. The law sunset 1 December 1855; settlers had to file by that date, so White leaders had incentive to get treaties signed as speedily as possible. Each male settler could homestead and receive 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) free for himself and 160 with his wife (women could not individually hold property). Settlers arriving before 1850 could receive 640 acres (2.6 km²), or 1 Regular Section, one square mile. No explanation has been provided for how this property could be titled before Indian claims were extinguished. The effective means of doing so was by unilateral occupation, implicitly backed by militia if not military. The response was disconcertion, sometimes as extreme as raids and uprisings.
The headlong pace of Westward Expansion
Territorial acquisitions of the United States
This is a simplified list of United States territorial acquisitions, beginning with American independence. Note that this list primarily concerns land acquired from other nation-states; the numerous territorial acquisitions from American Indians are not listed here.-1783-1848:*The 1783 Treaty of...
[" 'Westward Expansion' article neutrality may be compromised by 'weasel words' "; cites only minimal sources] and Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
by American exceptionalism
American exceptionalism
American exceptionalism refers to the theory that the United States is qualitatively different from other countries. In this view, America's exceptionalism stems from its emergence from a revolution, becoming "the first new nation," and developing a uniquely American ideology, based on liberty,...
throughout the 19th century effectively precluded other than a freebooter development model.
By and large, Native leaders were willing to sell (having at the time no cultural comprehension of individuals or people owning land), but they were very unwilling to move out of Puget Sound country.
The courts have said that the power of Congress in Indian affairs is plenary (full and complete)—great but under present law not absolute. The federal government and tribes are co-equal sovereign entities; the tribal governments predated the existence the United States. One of the basic principles underlying Indian nations is that they retain all the inherent powers of any sovereign nation, retaining all original sovereign rights and powers which have not been given up or taken away by due process of law. Courts have ruled that the "intent of Congress to limit the sovereign powers of Indian governments by legislation must be clearly expressed in the law in order to be effective" (in legal terminology, per Saito, Georgia State University College of Law). [Emphasis added.]
This leaves many of the mid-19th century treaties in an interesting legal status.
The U.S. Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, Article 6
Article Six of the United States Constitution
Article Six of the United States Constitution establishes the Constitution and the laws and treaties of the United States made in accordance with it as the supreme law of the land, forbids a religious test as a requirement for holding a governmental position and holds the United States under the...
, states:
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in persuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the landSupremacy ClauseArticle VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, known as the Supremacy Clause, establishes the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Treaties, and Federal Statutes as "the supreme law of the land." The text decrees these to be the highest form of law in the U.S...
; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. [Emphasis added.]
(Treaties must comply with the Constitution.) Treaties are international agreements by definition. The Supreme Court has ruled that there are "canons of construction" for interpreting treaties; of the two principal canons, one is that they are to be interpreted as they would have been understood by the signatories. The Supreme Court has ruled, in a manner remarkably like the Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
, Tenth Amendment
Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791...
, that "Treaties are to be construed as a grant of rights from the Indians, not to them—and a reservation of those not granted."
A treaty broken is not rescinded. Only a following treaty or agreement can relieve signatories of the original treaty. When the U.S. breaks a treaty, doing so reflects upon the integrity of the country. "Treaties are as old and as venerable as the Constitution of the United States. Age does not impair their validity or legality." [Deloria, 1994]
Indian tribes, for the most part, were not parties to and rarely agreed with the diminution in their sovereign powers by the laws of the colonizer and the alien tradition of European law. With significant justification they often claim to retain far greater sovereign powers than federal Indian law is prepared to concede. The resulting political dynamic is of tensions and disputes among tribal, federal, and state governments about sovereign powers and jurisdiction denied to tribes by the colonial justifications underlying federal law, which tribes and members point out they never voluntarily surrendered. Diminution of sovereignty is usually absent from accession of lands.
Governor Stevens and the U.S. government
Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly...
frequently made oral promises that were not matched by what was written down. The Native tribes were all oral cultures. When Stevens, in drafting treaties, acted in a manner that Judge James Wickerson would characterize forty years later as "unfair, unjust, ungenerous, and illegal", Natives were quite unprepared for such behavior by the official representatives of the white man's power. The local natives a thirty-year history of dealing with the "King George's men" of 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), who had developed a reputation for driving a hard bargain, but sticking honestly to what they agreed to, and for treating Whites and Indians impartially. This continued through the dealings of the local Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
(BIA) Superintendent General, Joel Palmer
Joel Palmer
General Joel Palmer was an American pioneer of the Oregon Territory in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. He was born in Canada, and spent his early years in New York and Pennsylvania before serving as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives.Palmer traveled to the Oregon...
, who (along with David '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...
's brother-in-law, Indian Agent Mike Simmons) was among the few even-handed men in the BIA.
The Washington Territory treaties such as that of the Treaty of Medicine Creek
Treaty of Medicine Creek
The Treaty of Medicine Creek was an 1854 treaty between the United States, and the Nisqually, Puyallup and Squaxin Island tribes, along with six other smaller Native American tribes.-Site:...
of 1854 (26 December) and this Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855 (22 January) were followed by the provocative Treaty of Walla Walla
Walla Walla Council (1855)
The Walla Walla Council was a meeting in the Pacific Northwest between the United States and sovereign tribal bodies of the Cayuse, Nez Perce, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Yakama. The treaties signed at this council were ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1859...
of 1855 (21 May). Governor Stevens ignored federal government instructions to stick to sorting out the areas where natives and settlers found themselves immediately adjacent to one another or where settlers moved right in on Native places. After thirty years of dealings with King George's men of the HBC, Natives were angered, particularly since the Native concept of war had more to do with resources and complex concepts of prestige than with conquest or annihilation, which were not even considered.
Stevens appointed chiefs of tribes in order to facilitate goals of his administration.
"The salient features of the policy outlined [by Governor Stevens to his advisers] were as follows:
- 1. To concentrate the Indians upon a few reservations, and encourage them to cultivate the soil and adopt settled and civilized habits.
- 2. To pay for their lands not in money, but in annuities of blankets, clothing, and useful articles during a long term of years.
- 3. To furnish them with schools, teachers, farmers and farming implements, blacksmiths, and carpenter, with shops of those trades.
- 4. To prohibit wars and disputes among them.
- 5. To abolish slavery.
- 6. To stop as far as possible the use of liquor.
- 7. As the change from savage to civilized habits must necessarily be gradual, they were to retain the right of fishing at their accustomed fishing-places, and of hunting, gathering berries and roots, and pasturing stock on unoccupied land as long as it remained vacant.
- 8. At some future time, when they should have become fitted for it, the lands of the reservations were to be allotted to them in severalty." [Emphasis added]
Note that these are significantly different from the verbal assurances provided during negotiations, and that all the Native Nations were oral cultures.
Indian tribes believed the treaties became effective when they were signed. But United States law required Congress to approve all treaties after they were negotiated. Consequently, there was no legal foundation for occupation from the time settlement began in earnest about 1845 until April 1859.
The commitments made by the U.S. government in the Treaty have never been implemented for the Duwamish, and several other tribes.
Staff for the U.S. government
- James Doty, Secretary
- George Gibbs, Surveyor [witness at treaty signing. Gibbs also kept extensive records and made expansive reports through his career; became a prominent historical primary source.]
- H. A. Goldsborough, Commissary
- B. F. Shaw, Interpreter
- Colonel M. T. Simmons
Point Elliott Treaty, advisers to Washington Territory
- M. T. Simmons, Special Indian Agent, [witness at treaty signing]
- H. A. Goldsborough, Commissary, [remaining member of the initial staff, witness at treaty signing]
- B. F. Shaw, Interpreter, [remaining member of the initial staff, witness at treaty signing]
- James Tilton, Surveyor-General, Washington Territory
- F. Kennedy
- J. Y. Miller
- H. D. Cock, [witness at treaty signing]
Native Americans
Chiefs, as such, were appointed by Governor Stevens, though the treaty states "on behalf of said tribes, and duly authorized by them."Signatory tribes
- Dwamish (Duwamish)Duwamish (tribe)The Duwamish are a Lushootseed Native American tribe in western Washington, and the indigenous people of metropolitan Seattle, where they have been living since the end of the last glacial period...
- SuquamishSuquamishThe 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...
- Sk-kahl-mish (Skokomish)Skokomish (tribe)The Skokomish are one of nine tribes of the Twana, a Native American people of western Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives along Hood Canal, a fjord-like inlet on the west side of the Kitsap Peninsula and the Puget Sound basin...
- Sam-ahmish (Samamish)Sammamish (tribe)The Sammamish people were a Coast Salish Native American tribe in the Sammamish River Valley in central King County, Washington. Their name is variously translated as "meander dwellers"" or "willow people." They were also known to early European-American settlers as "Squak", "Simump", and...
- Smalh-kamish
- Skope-ahmish
- St-kah-mish
- Snoqualmoo (Snoqualmie)Snoqualmie (tribe)The Snoqualmie Tribe is a tribal government of Coast Salish Native American peoples from the Snoqualmie Valley in east King and Snohomish Counties in Washington state. The Snoqualmie settled onto the Tulalip Reservation after signing the Point Elliott Treaty with the Washington Territory in 1855...
- Skai-wha-mish
- N'Quentl-ma-mish
- Sk-tah-le-jum
- Stoluck-wha-mish (Stillaguamish)Stillaguamish (tribe)Stillaguamish are a Native American tribe located in northwest Washington state in the United States near the city of Arlington, Washington, near the river that bears their name, the Stillaguamish River. The tribe petitioned for recognition from the United States Government in 1974, and received...
- Sno-ho-mishSnohomish (tribe)The Snohomish are a Lushootseed Native American tribe who reside around the Puget Sound area of Washington, north of Seattle. They speak the Lushootseed language. The tribal spelling is Sdoh-doh-hohbsh, which means "wet snow" according to the last chief of the Snohomish tribe, Chief William...
- LummiLummiThe Lummi , governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group in western Washington state in the United States...
- SkagitSkagit (tribe)The Skagit are either of two tribes of the Lushootseed Native American people living in the state of Washington, the Upper Skagit and the Lower Skagit. They speak a subdialect of the Northern dialect of Lushootseed, which is part of the Salishan family. The Skagit River, Skagit Bay, and Skagit...
- Kik-i-allus
- Swin-a-mish (Swinomish)Swinomish (tribe)The Swinomish are an historically Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe in western Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives in the southeastern part of Fidalgo Island near the San Juan Islands in Skagit County, Washington. Skagit County is located about north of Seattle...
- Squin-ah-mish
- Sah-ku-mehu
- Noo-wha-ha
- Nook-wa-chah-mish
- Mee-see-qua-guilch
- Cho-bah-ah-bish
Non-signatory tribes
For various reasons, the NooksackNooksack (tribe)
The Nooksack are a Native American people in northwestern Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives in the mainland northwest corner of the state near the small town of Deming, Washington , and has over 1,800 enrolled members.In 1971, the tribe was ceded a one acre reservation after...
, Semiahmoo
Semiahmoo
Semiahmoo may refer to:*Semiahmoo Bay, south-eastern section of Boundary Bay, bisected by the US-Canada border near White Rock, British ColumbiaIn Canada:*Semiahmoo people, a Coast Salish people*Semiahmoo First Nation, government of the Semiahmoo people...
, Lower Puyallup
Puyallup (tribe)
The Puyallup are a Coast Salish Native American tribe from western Washington state, U.S.A. They were forcibly relocated onto reservation lands in what is today Tacoma, Washington, in late 1854, after signing the Treaty of Medicine Creek. The Puyallup Indian Reservation today is one of the most...
and Quileute
Quileute
The Quileute , also known as the Quillayute , are a Native American people in westernWashington state in the United States, currently numbering approximately 750. The Quileute people settled onto the Quileute Indian Reservation after signing the Quinault Treaty in 1855...
tribes did not take part in the treaty councils, though the rights of the Nooksack were signed over by the Lummi
Lummi
The Lummi , governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group in western Washington state in the United States...
chief Chow-its-hoot, without their presence. Samish attendance was documented by George Gibbs
George Gibbs
George Gibbs may refer to:*George Gibbs, 1st Baron Wraxall , British member of parliament and peer*George Gibbs, 2nd Baron Wraxall , British peer and kidnapping victim...
and officially reported by Governor Issac Stevens
Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly...
. Although the Samish
Samish
The Samish are a Native American tribe who live in the U.S. state of Washington. The seat of their tribal government is in Anacortes. The Native American form of "Samish" is /sʔémǝš/, from /s–/, "nominalizer", /ʔé/, "be there", and /–mǝš/, "people".-Pre-Contact with Europeans:The Samish were less...
were listed next to the Lummi in the first draft of the treaty, it appears that line was inadvertently omitted during transcription of the final draft. Several of them, like the Duwamish and Snohomish, continue working toward official recognition. See also, for example, Duwamish (tribe).
Selected articles
The treaty contains the now-famous provision cited by Judge George Boldt in the Boldt DecisionBoldt Decision
United States v. Washington, 384 F. Supp. 312 , was a 1974 court case which affirmed the right of most of the tribes in Washington to continue to harvest salmon...
(1974, upheld 1979) (see also the Treaty Article via link, below):
ARTICLE 5.
The right of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the Territory,
The treaty contains provisions that would raise concern by an attorney in the employ of the Natives during negotiations:
ARTICLE 7.
The President may hereafter, when in his opinion the interests of the Territory shall require and the welfare of the said Indians be promoted, remove them from either or all of the special reservations hereinbefore make to the said general reservation, or such other suitable place within said Territory as he may deem fit, on remunerating them for their improvements and the expenses of such removal, or may consolidate them with other friendly tribes or bands; and he may further at his discretion cause the whole or any portion of the lands hereby reserved, or of such other land as may be selected in lieu thereof, to be surveyed into lots, and assign the same to suc[h] individuals or families as are willing to avail themselves of the privilege, and will locate on the same as a permanent home on the same terms and subject to the same regulations as are provided in the sixth article of the treaty with the Omahas, so far as the same may be applicable.
[...]
ARTICLE 12.
The said tribes and bands further agree not to trade at Vancouver's Island or elsewhere out of the dominions of the United States, nor shall foreign Indians be permitted to reside in their reservations without consent of the superintendent or agent.
The complete treaty, unabridged can be found on Wikisource.
After the treaty
Fishing rights were increasingly restricted after 1890. State repression increased through the 1950s. Protest fish-ins began in the 1960s, with successful public, peaceful outmaneuvering of police, garnering wide media attention. The Boldt DecisionBoldt Decision
United States v. Washington, 384 F. Supp. 312 , was a 1974 court case which affirmed the right of most of the tribes in Washington to continue to harvest salmon...
in 1974 was followed by extraordinary repression by the state and resistance by non-Indians, until the Supreme Court upheld the decision in 1979. Nooksacks, Upper Skagits
Upper Skagit (tribe)
The Upper Skagit are a Lushootseed Native American tribe living in the state of Washington. In pre-Colonial times, the tribe occupied lands along the Skagit River, from as far downstream as the land currently occupied by Mount Vernon, Washington, and villages going north as far as Newhalem along...
, Sauks-Suiattles, and Stillaguamishes won federal recognition in the 1970s, largely due to participation in treaty-rights struggles. Federal courts denied Samish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Steilacoom, and Duwamish, because they were not recognized as polities (civil governments).
See also
- Duwamish (tribe) # History
- History of Seattle before 1900 # Relations with the natives
- Histories of other Puget Sound Native AmericanNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes - Quinault TreatyQuinault TreatyThe Quinault Treaty was a treaty agreement between the United States and the Native American Quinault and Quileute tribes located in the western Olympic Peninsula north of Grays Harbor, in the recently-formed Washington Territory...
Further reading
- Washington State History Museum, Treaty of Point Elliott in PDF format.