SAUK SUIATTLE TRIBE

THESE FOLKS LIVED UNDER THE GAZE OF WHITE HOUSE MOUNTAIN FOR MANY GENERATIONS. THEY WERE KNOWN AS SAHKUMEN IN THE EARLY TIMES. THEY FISHED, GATHERED AND HUNTED NEAR DARRINGTON, WA. THEY ESPECIALLY LIKED BUILDING CANOES AND FLOATING ON THEIR FIVE RIVERS AND THE OCEAN. THEY TRAVELED TO PUGET SOUND. THERE WE HARVESTED FISH, SHELLFISH, AND OTHER FOODS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE MOUNTAINS, WE EVEN VOYAGED IN LARGE SEAGOING CANOES.

WE ALSO TRAVELLED OVER MOUNTAINS TO GATHER FRUITS, NUTS AND BERRIES. AFTER SPANIARDS WERE HERE THEY BECAME SKILLED HORSEMEN TRADING WITH TRIBES. OUR TRIBES WERE THE ENTIRE DRAINAGE OF THE SAUK SUIATTLE, CASCADES. SAUK PRAIRIE WAS THEIR IMPORTANT VILLAGE. THEIR WERE EIGHT CEDAR LONGHOUSES DESTROYED HERE BY THE U. S. ANGLOS IN 1884. THEY BECAME LANDLESS PEOPLE BUT LIVED IN SCATTERED GROUPS CLOSE TO THEIR HOMELANDS. MANY FOLKS JOINED OTHER NEIGHBORING TRIBES. EVEN SO THEY MAINTAINED A TRIBAL GOVERNMENT, SOCIAL STRUCTURE, THEIR IDENTITY, AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. BEFORE 1855 THEY HAD ABOUT 4000 FOLKS. BY 1925 THEY DWINDLED TO 18 MEMBERS. THE SURVIVING DESCENDANTS ARE IN THE SAUK SUIATTLE RESERVATION WHO HAVE 1/4TH INDIAN BLOOD. THEY ARE THE ANCESTRAL NATIVE AMERICANS WHO INHABITED THIS UNIQUE VALLEY IN 1942.

SAUK-SUIATTLE.COM