MUCKLESHOOT TRIBE

THESE NATIVES LIVE BETWEEN TWO GREAT MOUNTAIN RANGES. THE OLYMPICS AND THE CASCADES. THEIR COUNTLESS BAYS COVER MORE SHORELINE MILES THAN THE ENTIRE CALIFORNIA COAST! THE TRIBE IS FROM THE DESCENDANTS OF THE AREA'S ORIGINAL COAST SALISH PEOPLE. THEY HAVE LIVED HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, SINCE THE LAST GLACIERS RECEDED. THERE LAND IS A VAST AREA ALONG THE SOUTH PART OF PUGET SOUND AND THE WESTERN SLOPE OF CASCADE RANGE. THEY HAVE LUSH FORESTS AND MODERATE CLIMATE. THEIR ENVIRONMENT IS THE MOST PRODUCTIVE IS ONE OF THE MOST PROACTIVE ECOSYSTEMS ON EARTH. THEY HAVE ABUNDANT SALMON RUNS TO PROVIDE EXCELLENT QUALITY OF LIFE. THE EASTERN SHORE OF PUGET SOUND AND RIVER OF THE CASCADE ARE THE ANCESTRAL HOMELAND TO THE FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES. THEIR RESERVATION IS LOCATED SOUTHEAST OF SEATTLE.

THEY ARE KNOWN AS PEOPLE OF THE SALMON AND WERE AMONG THE MOST PROSPEROUS ON THE COAST. THEY HAD GREAT REVERENCE FOR THE SALMON. THEIR RIVERS WERE FILLED WITH SALMON THEY SMOKED SURPLUS QUANTITIES FOR YEAR ROUND USE. THEY HAD TRADE NETWORK THROUGHOUT THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND CASCADE MOUNTAINS AND INTO DRY COUNTRY.

1ST SALMON CEREMONY

EACH YEAR THE FIRST SALMON TO RETURN FROM THE SEA TO THE FRESH WATER STREAMS OF ITS ORIGIN WAS CEREMONIALLY CAPTURED. THEY BROUGHT IT TO THE VILLAGE AS AN HONORED GUEST. IT'S FLESH WAS WAS METICULOUSLY REMOVED FROM THE REMOVED FROM FROM THE CEREMONIOUSLY FROM THE BONES AND CEREMONIOUSLY SHARED BY THE VILLAGE. THE SKELETON WAS RETURNED TO THE RIVER WITH AN INTEGRAL PART OF A CEREMONY. TODAY IT REMAINS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF A CEREMONY. TODAY IT REMAINS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THEIR CEREMONIES. THEIR ANCESTORS WERE ALSO GREAT HUNTERS. BY THE TIME THE EUROPEANS EXPLORED THEIR AREA IN 1790'S IT RESULTED IN TRADE BETWEEN THE NEW COMERS AND THE INDIANS. AFTER ABOUT 1850 THE USE ANGLOS BEGAN TO CONTROL THE AREA. THEY BROUGHT DISEASES TO THE NATIVES WHO HAD NO IMMUNE SYSTEM. THEIR POPULATION WAS DECIMATED BY ACADEMICS. THE FABRIC OF THEIR COMMUNITIES WAS PERMANENTLY ALTERED. AFTER 1850'S THE ANGLOS BEGAN CLAIMING THE CHOICEST SPOTS AMONG THE LANDS OF THE PUGET SOUND. AT FIRST THE NATIVE HELPED THEM TO SURVIVE AND WERE VALUED NEIGHBORS.THE ANGLOS FORCED UNFAIR TREATIES UPON THEM AND THEY WERE MOVED TO SMALL RESERVATIONS. THE NATIVES FOUGHT BACK IN WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE PUGET SOUND INDIAN WAR. AFTER THEIR PERIOD OF ARMED RESISTANCE THE MUCKLESHOOT PEOPLE SETTLED ON THEIR CURRENT RESERVATION. AS TIME PASSED A NUMBER OF PEOPLE FROM OTHER LOCAL TRIBES CAME HERE. IT IS SIX SQUARE MILES . THEIR MOST IMPORTANT WAS THAT OF THE FISH WARS. THEY WANTED THE RIGHT TO FISH FOR SALMON AT ALL OF THEIR USUAL FISHING SITES. IT IS STATED IN THE TREATIES. EFFORTS TO REASSESS THOSE RIGHTS LED TO THE FISH WARS OF THE 1960'S AND 1970'S MANY OF TODAY'S TRIBAL LEADERS WERE ACTIVE IN THESE WARS. THEIR PERIOD OF PROSPERITY RESULTING FROM THE RESTORATION OF THE FISHING RIGHTS WAS SHORT LIVED AS THERE WAS A GREAT DECLINE IN SALMON IN RECENT YEARS. THE CAUSES OF THIS WERE MANY, INCLUDING URBANIZATION OF THE HOMELAND AND OVER CATCHING OF THE SALMON. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SALMON AND PEOPLE WILL ENDURE. TODAY THE TRIBE IS ONE OF WASHINGTON STATE'S LARGEST TRIBE WITH ABOUT 3,300 PEOPLE THEY HAVE BEEN ASSERTING THEIR RIGHTS IN DEFENDING THEIR RIGHTS AND TRADITIONAL FREEDOM. THEY ARE WORKING ON WAYS TO IMPROVE THE ECONOMIC WELL BEING OF THE TRIBE. THEY NOW HAVE A SUCCESSFUL CASINO AND BINGO PARLOR WHICH HAS PROVIDED THEM SOME FINANCIAL SUCCESS.

MUCKLESHOOT.MNS.US/ABOUT