PUYALLUP TRIBE

PUYALLUP MEANS GENEROUS AND WELCOME TRIBE TO ALL PEOPLE. THEY HAVE LIVED HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THEIR MEMBERS HAVE LIVED HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THEIR MEMBERS HAVE GROWN AND TODAY THERE ARE 4000 PEOPLE. SOME ARE ATTORNEYS, DOCTOR, FISHERMEN, ETC. OTHERS HAVE THEIR OWN BUSINESS. THEY LIVED HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND EXISTED HERE FOR THAT WHICH WAS BOUNTIFUL AND GIVEN TO THEM BY THE CREATOR. THEY CAUGHT ABUNDANT SALMON, SHELLFISH, WILD GAME, ROOTS AND BERRIES. THEIR HOMES WERE MADE OF CEDAR PLANK HOUSES. THEY HAD FREEDOM TO PRACTICE THEIR RELIGION, TAKE CARE OF THEIR ELDERS AND CHILDREN AND THEY HAD NO WORRIES ABOUT FOOD. THEY SPEAK SALISH LANGUAGE. THEY LIVED IN THE FOOTHILLS OF MOUNT TACOMA, ALONG THE CREEKS AND SHORES OF PUGET SOUND THEY HAD VILLAGES ON MANY ISLANDS. IN 1792 LT. PUGET ENTERED THEIR LANDS AND HE NAMED MANY SITES. BY 1833 FORT NISQUALLY WAS THE CENTER OF THE BRITISH TRADING COMPANY WHICH CHANGED THE NATIVES LIFE BY CROWDING OUT THEIR PEOPLE. THEIR ANCESTORS WERE CONVINCED TO NEGOTIATE A TREATY. IN 1854 A GROUP OF TRIBES SIGNED THE TREATY OF MEDICINE CREEK THAT FORMED THREE MORE. HOWEVER THE LAND WAS TOO SMALL AND THEY WENT TO WAR. BY 1856 THEY RENEGOTIATED A TREATY. MOST FAMILIES WENT TO THE RESERVATION OF PUYALLUP.


THEIR FISHING OF SALMON WAS IN DANGER BY 1896. THE STATE'S EFFORTS DID NOT WORK. YEARS OF COMMERCIAL FISHING AND UNWARRANTED FOREST PRACTICES CAUSED LOSS OF THIS RESOURCE. BY 1960 THE STATE SAID INDIAN FISHING ILLEGAL. THIS WAS AGAINST THEIR TREATY RIGHTS. THEY SET UP AN ARMED CAMP. SO THEY COULD TAKE MEASURES TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS TO FISH. AFTER SIX WEEKS THIS STAND WAS MET WITH HOSTILITY BY THE STATE'S FISH AND GAME DEPARTMENT. HUNDREDS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS JOINED THE STATE IN AN EFFORT TO CLOSE THIS CAMP LOCATED ON TRIBAL LAND. MANY SUPPORTERS WERE ARRESTED,BEATEN, AND MACED. THEY WERE CHARGED WITH INCITING A RIOT.

THE CHARGES WERE EVENTUALLY DROPPED. THE GOVERNMENT INITIATED A COURT CASE ON THE FISHING RIGHTS. THIS CASE BECAME IMPORTANT TO THE TRIBES IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. IN 1974 THE JUDGE DECIDED THAT THE INDIANS DID HAVE THE RIGHT TO FISH. THEY WERE ONLY TO FISH 50% OF THE AMOUNT THEY HAD BEFORE. THEY GO0T A MANDATE THAT THE TRIBES SHOULD REGULATE THEIR OWN FISHERIES. IF THEY FAILED IT WOULD BE UP TO THE STATE . SINCE THEN THIS TRIBE AND MANY OTHERS HAVE DEVELOPED SYSTEMS TO ENHANCE AND IMPROVE THE FISH ON THEIR RESERVATIONS.







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