Suquamish people
The Suquamish people are a Southern Coast Salish people Indigenous to western Washington state. Historically, the Suquamish dominated much of northeastern Kitsap Peninsula, with their main village, dxʷsəq̓ʷəb, being located at what is today Suquamish, Washington. They are politically succeeded by the Suquamish Indian Tribe, a federally recognized Native American tribe that governs the Port Madison Indian Reservation.
The Suquamish were deeply affected by both smallpox epidemics and raids from more northern Indigenous peoples like the Cowichan and Lekwiltok in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the early 19th century, they were led by Kitsap, who met with George Vancouver's expedition in 1792. Around 1825, Kitsap led the Suquamish and other Indigenous peoples from Puget Sound in a region-spanning coalition against the Cowichan, who had long been targeting the region with slave raids, ultimately losing the battle but ending Cowichan raids in the future. After Kitsap's death, Challacum became the preeminent leader of the Suquamish, who continued Kitsap's policy of friendliness with European traders. Seattle led the Suquamish and Klallam in a major raid against the neighboring Chemakum, killing most of them. He would later become the leader of the Suquamish after Challacum, and was recognized as head chief of the Suquamish and other tribes during the treaty process of the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855.
The Point Elliott treaty created the Port Madison reservation in their territory, on which the Suquamish continued to live. During this period, they faced cultural repression from the policies of assimilation of the United States government and changes in the traditional culture and social organization. Traditional Suquamish life was dominated by seasonal cycles of fishing, hunting and gathering, based from permanent winter villages. They maintained close ties with groups such as the Twana and Duwamish as they travelled to summer grounds, but fishing and canning industries in the 20th century threatened this lifestyle. In the 1960s, the Suquamish organized into the modern Suquamish Indian Tribe, which continues Suquamish political sovereignty today.
Name
The name "Suquamish" is from suq̓ʷabš, the name for the Suquamish people in their language, Lushootseed. The name is from the root √suq̓ʷ and the suffix 2abš, 'people'.The name suq̓ʷabš is often translated to mean "people of the clear saltwater". This translation derives from dxʷsəq̓ʷəb, the name for the site of the main Suquamish village on Agate Pass. According to early-20th-century anthropologist T. T. Waterman, the meaning of the name probably arose from the contrast of the slow-moving and turbid water of Liberty Bay as compared to the swift-moving and clear tide water flowing through Agate Pass.
This is most likely a folk etymology according to anthropologists and linguists Nile R. Thompson and William W. Elmendorf. Elmendorf instead posited a Twana-language origin for the name suq̓ʷabš. According to Elmendorf's Twana informants, the name came from the Twana word wuq̓ʷatəb, 'drifted away'. They believed that most Suquamish were unaware of the Twana etymology of their name, since the word for drift in Lushootseed is p̓əq̓ʷ. Additionally, Thompson noted that in Twana oral history, there is a story about how after a great flood, the ancestors of the Suquamish drifted away eastward to their homeland on Agate Pass, which he argued supports the Twana origin theory.
The Suquamish have also been called ʔitakʷbixʷ, 'mixed people' by other groups such as the Snohomish. This name could have referred to the Suquamish as having many connections, or it could have been a derogatory nickname questioning the ancestry of the noble families of the Suquamish.
The English name "Suquamish" in the past has been spelled variously as Soquamish, Soquam, Swuwkwabsh, and Suqabsh.
Classification
The Suquamish are a Southern Coast Salish people. Coast Salish refers to a grouping of Indigenous peoples on the Pacific Northwest Coast who are speakers of the Coast Salish languages. The entirety of the Coast Salish region was connected by a socio-economic network of cooperation, intermarriage, and trade, between the Coast Salish peoples, which created a social continuum across the region. Although they have similar cultural backgrounds, there are differences within the traditional cultures and post-contact histories within the region that can be used to create subregions within the broader Coast Salish world. Anthropologist Wayne Suttles divided the Coast Salish nations into four subregions based on these differences. The Southern Coast Salish subregion includes the Twana and the many Lushootseed-speaking nations of Puget Sound.Subgroups
Other groups have been identified as subgroups of the Suquamish. The Saktamish occupied Dye's Inlet and Sinclair Inlet. These people were an extended settlement of Suquamish people; a poor, low-class group that lacked any high-class families. They were looked down upon by their neighbors, who described them as "poor people" and "not good for much".Early-20th-century ethnographer Edward Curtis associated the S'Homamish with the Suquamish as well. However, other sources identify the S'Homamish with the Puyallup. Specifically, anthropologist Marian W. Smith noted that the S'Homamish were closely affiliated with the Puyallup. According to their oral history, their original village at Gig Harbor was founded by an offshoot group of the Puyallup.
Geography
Historic territory
The core of the historic territory of the Suquamish is northern Kitsap Peninsula. In 1855, the Suquamish held the west side of Puget Sound from the mouth of Hood Canal to Olalla and Vashon Island, including Port Madison, Liberty Bay, Port Orchard, Dye's Inlet, and Sinclair Inlet. They also held Bainbridge Island and Blake Island. They were bounded by the Twana to the west on Hood Canal, the Chemakum to the north, the Duwamish to the east, and the Puyallup to the south.Some descriptions of the Suquamish land base have included the western parts of Whidbey Island. There is no clear evidence of any Suquamish winter villages on Whidbey Island, so references to Suquamish habitation of the island may be referring to seasonal occupation for fishing, hunting, and gathering, rather than permanent occupation. One Skokomish informant mentioned that the village at Port Gamble was originally Suquamish, but by the time of the treaty, it was primarily occupied by the Chemakum and Klallam. Suquamish people recalled in the late 20th century that previous generations seasonally utilized sites on Hood Canal as well.
One 1930 ethnographic report stated that the Suquamish also occupied the eastern shore of Puget Sound from Mukilteo south to Seattle. However, other sources do not include this area as Suquamish territory.
Historic village sites
According to anthropologist Barbara Lane, by the mid-19th century, the Suquamish resided in six winter villages: at Suquamish, Poulsbo, Chico Creek, Phinney Bay, and Colby. Other villages existed before the mid-19th century, and some seasonal sites became permanent settlements after white contact. At the site of the modern-day town of Suquamish on Agate Pass, there was the village of dxʷsəq̓ʷəb. This village was home to the famous Old Man House, a by shed-roof longhouse that was the center of Suquamish cultural and political life. Old Man House accommodated several families. Notable Suquamish figures such as Kitsap, Schweabe, Challacum, and Seattle, after whom the city was named, lived in this house. Another village was located just south of Agate Pass on Sandy Hook ; this village had several small shed-roof longhouses.One village was located at the head of Liberty Bay, near what is today Poulsbo. This village had one shed-roof house in which several families lived. The area was good for salmon fishing and deer hunting, as well as gathering mushrooms. Snyder, who recorded place names in 1952, also noted that a Suquamish family had lived in the past at dəxʷp̓əc̓p̓əc̓əb, east of what is today Lemolo. The people in this village were called sqaqabixʷ, 'many people'. A fort was located south of this spot at Keyport Lagoon, built to defend against raids from tribes to the north.
On Dye's Inlet, there was a village at Chico Creek. This village had one shed-roof house, but Synder's Suquamish informants did not remember whether it was built before or after settlers came to Puget Sound. Nearby, on Erland's Point, there was a large gable-roof longhouse that was built around 1880 and was possibly the last-standing Suquamish longhouse. Barbara Lane also wrote that there was a village on Phinney Bay as well.
Another village was located at bək̓ʷaʔkʷbixʷ, present day Colby. This village was described as "ancient." The name means "people from different places gathered together", literally "all people". Only the frames of the houses here were remaining by the mid-19th century. The southernmost place occupied regularly by the Suquamish was the area around Ollala Creek. Charles Wilkes, who visited the area in 1841, noted that there was a village at this creek, but later it was only remembered by Suquamish informants to be a temporary camping ground.
Villages were also located on Bainbridge Island. An old village was located at Snag Point, which had a fort like the one at hudčupali. Another village recorded by Waterman was at Point White. Waterman reported an "ancient village" on the west side of Port Madison Bay, near West Port Madison, noting that Kitsap lived there at one point. Smith reported winter villages at Point Monroe on Hedley Spit and Eagle Harbor. However, Snyder disagreed that these was originally anything other than campsites, noting that although there were shacks there, Synder's Suquamish informants only remembered them as places of seasonal occupation before white settlement. A number of Duwamish people were made to move to Hedley Spit by the federal government in 1856, because they mistakenly believed that the Duwamish were a part of the Suquamish because Seattle was assigned to be their treaty signer. However, most of the Duwamish left this spot soon after.