| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 300 (1855) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States (Washington) | |
| Languages | |
| English, Lushootseed | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Indigenous | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Coast Salish peoples |
The Lower Skagit (sometimes called Whidbey Island Skagits) are a tribe of the Lushootseed Native American people living in the U.S. state of Washington. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Swinomish Indians of the Swinomish Reservation.
In pre-Contact times, the tribe occupied approximately 56,300 acres (228 km2) of land, including land on central Whidbey Island from Dugula Bay south to Holmes Harbor [1] (including sites at Maylor Point, Penn Cove and Coupeville), as well as sites on the mainland around the mouth of the Skagit River. The Lower Skagit had conflicts with Haida from the north, who would raid their camps to take slaves, as well as Klallam from the other side of the Puget Sound, who tried to occupy their lands. [2] Like other Coast Salish tribes, the Lower Skagit were semi-sedentary. Their lives revolved around the food they could harvest from the sea, such as salmon, through use of fish weirs, as well as nets dragged between two canoes, [3] and hunting duck, seals and deer. [4] This diet was supplemented by gathering of a wide variety of nuts and fruits, as well as cultivation of camas roots, nettles, bracken, and after European contact, potatoes.
During the fur trading era, the Lower Skagit were active in trading at posts of the Hudson's Bay Company. By the 1840s, Roman Catholic missionaries like François Blanchet Jean-Baptiste Bolduc were trying to convert the Lower Skagit to their beliefs. During the United States Exploring Expedition, the explorer Charles Wilkes made contact in 1841 with the people. He found the Lower Skagit building a Catholic church. [5]
In January 1855, a Lower Skagit chief named Goliah signed the Treaty of Point Elliott, by which the United States established reservations for numerous coastal tribes. The estimated 300 tribal members were put under jurisdiction of the Tulalip Agency. In September 1873, an executive order moved the tribe, along with members of the Swinomish and other tribes, to the Swinomish Reservation on Fidalgo Island in Skagit County, Washington.
In the twentieth century, the tribe pursued a land claim against the federal government because of receiving inadequate settlement. On October 13, 1971, the Indian Claims Commission ordered US$74,856.50 to be paid to the Lower Skagit to cover the amount of land that they had lost as a result of the Point Elliott Treaty. [2]
The Swinomish Indian Reservation has a land area of 31.381 km² (12.116 sq mi) and a 2000 census resident population of 2,664 persons. About 23 percent identified as being solely of Native American heritage. Like many other elements of American society, the tribe has a long history of intermarriage with other ethnic groups, but children of the tribe identify as Lower Skagit. Today, Lower Skagit members who live on the reservation are primarily commercial fishers by trade. [6]
The Lower Skagit language is a subdialect of the Northern Lushootseed dialect. [7]
La Conner is a town in Skagit County, Washington, United States with a population of 965 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon–Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town hosts several events as part of the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival held in April.
The Stillaguamish people are a Southern Coast Salish people Indigenous to the Stillaguamish River valley in northwestern Washington State in the United States, near the city of Arlington, Washington. The Stillaguamish speak Northern Lushootseed, a Coast Salish language. Although usage of the language has declined, there are ongoing revitalization efforts by the Stillaguamish Tribe.
The Squaxin Island Tribe are the descendants of several Lushootseed clans organized under the Squaxin Island Indian Reservation, a Native American tribal government in western Washington state.
The Tulalip Tribes of Washington, formerly known as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Duwamish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish people. They are South and Central Coast Salish peoples of indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their tribes are located in the mid-Puget Sound region of Washington.
The Suquamish are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American people, located in present-day Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish people.
The Duwamish are a Lushootseed-speaking Coast Salish people in western Washington, and the Indigenous people of metropolitan Seattle.
Sauk-Suiattle, or Sah-Ku-Me-Hu, is a federally recognized Native American tribe in western Washington state in the United States. The tribe historically lived along the banks of the Sauk, Suiattle, Cascade, Stillaguamish, and Skagit rivers, in the area known as Sauk Prairie at the foot of Whitehorse Mountain in the North Cascade Range.
The Swinomishpeople are a historically Lushootseed-speaking Native American people in western Washington state in the United States. The Tribe lives in the southeastern part of Fidalgo Island in northern Puget Sound, near the San Juan Islands, in Skagit County, Washington. Skagit County is located about 70 miles (110 km) north of Seattle.
The Skagit Lushootseed: sqaǰətabš refers to either of two modern-day tribes of Lushootseed-speaking Native American people living in the state of Washington: the Upper Skagit tribe, and the Lower Skagit band of the Swinomish tribe.
The Snohomish people are a Lushootseed-speaking Coast Salish people who are Indigenous to the Puget Sound area of Washington in the United States. They primarily reside around the Snohomish River and northern Puget Sound. Traditionally, the Snohomish spoke a subdialect of Northern Lushootseed; although it has fallen out of use in favor of English in more modern times, several tribes have attempted to revitalize the language and other traditional teachings.
The Samish are a Native American people who live in the U.S. state of Washington. They are a Central Coast Salish people. Through the years, they were assigned to reservations dominated by other Tribes, for instance, the Swinomish Indians of the Swinomish Reservation of Washington and the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation. They are also enrolled in the Samish Indian Nation, formerly known as the Samish Indian Tribe, which regained federal recognition in 1996.
The Sammamish people are a Lushootseed-speaking Southern Coast Salish people. They are indigenous to the Sammamish River Valley in central King County, Washington. The Sammamish speak Lushootseed, a Coast Salish language which was historically spoken across most of Puget Sound, although its usage today is mostly reserved for cultural and ceremonial practices.
The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as the Treaty of Point Elliot / Point Elliot Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes of the greater Puget Sound region in the recently formed Washington Territory, one of about thirteen treaties between the U.S. and Native Nations in what is now Washington. The treaty was signed on January 22, 1855, at Muckl-te-oh or Point Elliott, now Mukilteo, Washington, and ratified 8 March and 11 April 1859. Between the signing of the treaty and the ratification, fighting continued throughout the region. Lands were being occupied by European-Americans since settlement in what became Washington Territory began in earnest from about 1845.
The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe located in the state of Washington. Before European colonization, the tribe occupied lands along the Skagit River, from as far downstream as present-day Mount Vernon, Washington, and villages going north as far as Newhalem along the Skagit River, as well as lands on the Baker, and the Sauk rivers.
Skagit Bay is a bay and strait located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Whidbey Island Basin of Puget Sound. The Skagit River empties into Skagit Bay. To the south, Skagit Bay connects with the rest of Puget Sound via Saratoga Passage and Possession Sound. The boundary between Saratoga Passage and Skagit Bay is between Polnell Point on Whidbey Island and Rocky Point on Camano Island. To the northwest, Skagit Bay connects to the Strait of Juan de Fuca via the narrow strait of Deception Pass. A third waterway, the Swinomish Channel, connects Skagit Bay with Padilla Bay to the north.
The Samish Indian Nation is a Coast Salish nation and a signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855. Samish has a government-to-government relationship with the United States of America. The Samish are a Northern Straits branch of Central Coast Salish peoples. The Samish Nation is headquartered in Anacortes, Fidalgo Island, in Washington, north of Puget Sound.
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, also known as the Swinomish Tribe, is a federally recognized Tribe located on Puget Sound in Washington, United States. They are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest that includes the Central and Coast Salish peoples who lived in the Samish and Skagit River valleys, nearby coasts, and islands. The Tribe's population includes Swinomish, Lower Skagit, Upper Skagit, Kikiallus, and Samish peoples.
The Snoqualmie people are a Lushootseed-speaking Southern Coast Salish people indigenous to the Snoqualmie Valley, located in east King and Snohomish counties in the state of Washington.
The Kikiallus people are a Lushootseed-speaking Coast Salish people Indigenous to parts of western Washington.
The Lushootseed-speaking peoples of Puget Sound | ||||||
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| Lushootseed language |
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| Peoples |
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| Federally recognized tribes |
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