Kanasket (alternately spelled Kanaskat) was a chief of the Klickitat people. He was present at the signing of the Treaty of Medicine Creek, [1] and participated in the Puget Sound War, fighting against white settlers and the U.S. Army.
The Treaty of Medicine Creek was an 1854 treaty between the United States, and nine tribes and bands of Indians, occupying the lands lying around the head of Puget Sound, Washington, and the adjacent inlets. The tribes listed on the Treaty of Medicine Creek are Nisqually, Puyallup, Steilacoom, Squawskin, S'Homamish, Stehchass, T'Peeksin, Squi-aitl, and Sa-heh-wamish. The treaty was signed on December 26, 1854, by Isaac I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian Affairs of the territory at the time of the signing, along with the chiefs, head-men and delegates of the stated tribes. For the purpose of the treaty, these representatives who signed the treaty were stated to have been, "regarded as one nation, on behalf of said tribes and bands, and duly authorized by them."
The Puget Sound War was an armed conflict that took place in the Puget Sound area of the state of Washington in 1855–56, between the United States military, local militias and members of the Native American tribes of the Nisqually, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, and Klickitat. Another component of the war, however, were raiders from the Haida and Tlingit who came into conflict with the United States Navy during contemporaneous raids on the native peoples of Puget Sound. Although limited in its magnitude, territorial impact and losses in terms of lives, the conflict is often remembered in connection to the 1856 Battle of Seattle and to the wrongful execution of a central figure of the war, Nisqually Chief Leschi. The contemporaneous Yakima War may have been responsible for some events of the Puget Sound War, such as the Battle of Seattle, and it is not clear that the people of the time made a strong distinction between the two conflicts.
White people is a racial classification specifier, used mostly and often exclusively for people of European descent; depending on context, nationality, and point of view. The term has at times been expanded to encompass persons of Middle Eastern and North African descent, persons who are often considered non-white in other contexts. The usage of "white people" or a "white race" for a large group of mainly or exclusively European populations, defined by their light skin, among other physical characteristics, and contrasting with "black people", Amerindians, and other "colored" people or "persons of color", originated in the 17th century. It was only during the 19th century that this vague category was transformed in a quasi-scientific system of race and skin color relations. The term "Caucasian" is sometimes used as a synonym for "white" in its racial sense and sometimes to refer to a larger racial category that includes white people among other groups.
At Medicine Creek, Kanasket protested what he saw as a bad deal for the Nisqually tribe, and told their chief, Leschi (c. 1808-1858). Those present told him to leave, stating "You are half-Klickitat; you have nothing to say; the treaty is made." [1] In September 1855, Kanasket and Chief Leschi met with officials of Washington Territory at Muckleshoot Prairie, but the outcome is not known. Later, after the start of the Puget Sound War, along with Quiemuth (half brother of Leschi, c.1798-1856) of the Mishalpam ("Mashel River People") or Mica'l Band of Nisqually, Chief Kitsap of the Muckleshoot, and Powhowtish, Kanasket was credited with leading a group of 80 warriors that attacked an army camp, [2] killing Lieutenant William A. Slaughter. In this same attack, two corporals and a private were killed, as well as three privates being wounded. [3]
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the portion of the Oregon Territory north of the lower Columbia River and north of the 46th parallel east of the Columbia. At its largest extent, it also included the entirety of modern Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming, before attaining its final boundaries in 1863.
The Mashel River is a river in Pierce County, in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a tributary of the Nisqually River, which it enters about 3.6 miles (5.8 km) northwest of Eatonville, at Nisqually river mile 39.6.
The Muckleshoot are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe, part of the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest. They are descendants of the Duwamish and Puyallup peoples whose traditional territory was located along the Green and White rivers, including up to the headwaters in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, in present-day Washington State. Since the mid-19th century, their reservation is located in the area of Auburn, Washington, about 15 miles northeast of the port of Tacoma and 35 miles southeast of Seattle, another major port.
On February 29, 1856, Kanasket was leading a group towards an army camp at Lemmon's Prairie, when they were spotted by a Private Kehl. Kehl shot Kanasket, who was at the lead of the group. Kanasket was paralyzed from the waist down from being shot in the spine. His companions fled, while he was dragged into the camp. Carrying on him a Kentucky rifle, a spear, and a butcher knife, Kanasket attempted to attack with the knife, but was subdued by two men. When one of the soldiers recognized him, Kanasket said in the Chinook jargon, "Kanasket-Tyee-mamalouse nica-nica mamalouse Bostons" ("I'm Kanasket, chief, kill me, for I kill Bostons"). He reportedly went on to state "My heart is wicked towards the whites, and always will be, and you had better kill me." Silas Casey ordered that he be hung, and he began to yell out in his own language, and Erasmus Keyes presumed he was yelling for help, as two shots had been fired at the camp, so Corporal O'Shaughnessy shot him in the head. [3]
A butcher knife or butcher's knife is a knife designed and used primarily for the butchering or dressing of animal carcases.
Silas Casey was a career United States Army officer who rose to the rank of Major General during the American Civil War.
