SKOKOMISH TRIBE

THIS IS ONE OF 9 TRIBES OF THE TWANA, A NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN WESTERN WASHINGTON. THEY LIVE WEST SIDE OF THE PUGET SOUND IN SEVERAL VILLAGES. HISTORICALLY THEY WERE HUNTERS, GATHERERS, FISHERS, WHO HAD A NOMODIC LIFESTYLE IN WARMER MONTHS. IN WINTER THEY LIVED IN PERMANENT HOMES. THEIR NAME MEANS "RIVER PEOPLE". BEFORE 1860 THEY THEY WERE ONE OF THE LARGEST TRIBES ON THIS AREA. THE TRIBE MOVED ON THE SKOKOMISH RESERVATION IN THE CENTRAL PART OF WASHINGTON AROUND 1855. IT ONLY HAS 8 SQUARE MILES FOR 730 PEOPLE. THEIR FIST CONTACT WITH ANGLOS WAS IN 1792 AND THEY WERE DEVASTATED FROM SMALL POX. THEY HUNTED , GATHERED, AND FISHED. BETWEEN 1900 - 1960 A TYCOON ACQUIRED THE LAND IN THE MAIN CHANNEL OF SKOKOMISH RIVER. HE PLOWED IT AND VARIOUS PLANT SPECIES HE RELIED ON WERE LOST. AND SWEETGRASS THEY USED FOR BASKETRY WAS LOST.
THEY REGAINED THEIR FISHING RIGHTS IN 1974 AND WERE AWARDED $374,ooo IN 1965 TO PURCHASE A FISH HATCHERY AND TRIBAL HOUSING. MANY FOLKS WORK IN FISHING AND LOGGING INDUSTRIES. SINCE THE 1970S SOME OF THEIR TRADITIONAL DANCES ARE REEMERGING. THEY ALSO HAVE A TRIBAL MUSEUM.

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