Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe

Last updated
Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe
Flag of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe.PNG
Flag
3780R Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation Locator Map.svg
Location of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe in Washington state
Headquarters2373 Old Tokeland Road, Tokeland, Washington
( 46°43′22″N124°01′33″W / 46.72278°N 124.02583°W / 46.72278; -124.02583 )
Ethnic groups
[1]
  • Lower Chehalis
  • Willapa Chinook
Demonym(s)
  • Shoalwater/Willapa Bay Indians
  • Georgetown Indians
Enrolled citizens373 (2016) [2]
GovernmentTribal Council
 Chairman
Quinton Swanson
 Vice chairman
Shane Thomas
 Secretary
Lynn Clark
 Treasurer
Joel Blake
 Member at-large
Dennis Julnes
Domestic dependent nation 
within the United States
 Reservation created
September 22, 1866
 Recognized
March 10, 1971

The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The tribe is descended from the Lower Chehalis and the Willapa (Shoalwater) Chinook peoples. [1] [2] [3] In 2016, the tribe had 373 enrolled citizens. [2]

Contents

The Shoalwater Bay Tribe governs the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation. Its tribal headquarters is in Tokeland, Washington. [3]

History

The Shoalwater Bay Tribe is descended from the Shoalwater Bay Indians, a term used to refer to the multiple peoples whose homelands are in Willapa Bay (formerly known as Shoalwater Bay), including the Lower Chehalis and the Willapa Chinook, as well as others. [4] [1]

In 1855, the Shoalwater Bay Indians attended the signing of the Chehalis River Treaty. However, leaders of the tribes living in Willapa Bay refused to sign the treaty, returning to their lands to continue their traditional lifestyles. Eleven years later, on September 22, 1866, Andrew Jackson issued an executive order that created a reservation at nám̓sč̓ac̓, the location of a former Lower Chehalis village. By this time, thirty to forty Indian families remained at Willapa Bay. The order set aside a 334.75 acres (1.3547 km2) tract of land for "miscellaneous Indian purposes," essentially allowing the Shoalwater Bay peoples to retain a land base without having signed any treaty. [4] [1]

From 1899 to 1936, the chief of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe was George A. Charley, one of the last people in the region to have a flattened head (as was the custom for noble families in the Pacific Northwest). His father, Charley Toke, was appointed chief before him. [5]

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe remained unrecognized by the federal government. In the 1960s, negotiations began between the Shoalwater Bay Indians and the United States. Eventually, on March 10, 1971, the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe was recognized by the US government, maintaining their sovereignty. [1] The Shoalwater Bay Tribe adopted their constitution shortly after, on May 22. [5]

In 1984, the tribe relinquished its claim to eight acres of land given by the US government to an American citizen in 1872. The tribe was given $1,000,000 for the claim. [5]

Between 1988 and 1998, the tribe went through a health crisis in which an "alarming" number of pregnancies, between 25 and 66 percent, were resulting in stillbirths, miscarriages, and infant deaths. No cause was ever officially identified, although it was associated with a lack of prenatal care. The crisis resulted in increased awareness and federal funding for tribal members' health care. [6]

In February 2006, the American Museum of Natural History in New York was issued a NAGPRA notice, as they held the remains of eight people who were likely of Shoalwater origin. [7]

Willapa Bay, formerly known as Shoalwater Bay Shoalwater Bay.JPG
Willapa Bay, formerly known as Shoalwater Bay

Government

The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe is governed by the General Council, which consists of all enrolled members 18 years of age or older. The Tribal Council is a five member elected body which is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the tribe. Additionally, the Tribal Council employs a Tribal Administrator who oversees administrative duties as well as managing the 29 departments of the government. [8] [9]

As of September 2024, the members of the Tribal Council are as follows: [8]

Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation

The Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation is the reservation of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe, located west of Tokeland on the southwest coast of Washington in northwestern Pacific County, along the northern shores of Willapa Bay. The reservation is 2.693 km2 (1.0397 sq mi) large. It had 70 residents in 2000. [10] In 2020, 82 people lived on the reservation. [11]

The reservation was established in 1866. [3]

In 2010, there were "about half a dozen" Indigenous families living on the reservation. [5] As of 2020, the reservation has 32 households living in 41 housing units. Sixty percent of the reservation population is employed, and 80.4 percent have health care coverage. Only 3.6 percent have earned a bachelor's degree or higher. [11]

Economy and services

The tribe operates the Shoalwater Bay Casino, which opened in 1998. The tribe also operates a police force, library, wellness center, oyster company, and a recreation center. [6]

Many tribal members work in nearby cranberry bogs and in the fishing and crabbing industries. Children attend school in the nearby community of Ocosta. In the 1990s, the tribe ranked as one of the poorest in the state, with ninety percent of tribal members living below the poverty line. [6]

The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe is part of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. They provide medical care for American Indian and Alaska Native people, as well as local non-Native people. Their tribal clinic serves 890 people. [3]

Demographics

The Shoalwater Bay Tribe is one of the smallest tribes in Washington state. In 2016, there were 373 citizens of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe. [2] In 2005, there were 207 members. In 1992, there were 134 members. In 1985, there were 64 enrolled members. About "half a dozen" of the enrolled members lived on the reservation around 2010. [5]

Culture

The ancestral tribes of Willapa Bay relied heavily on canoes for transport, and were regarded as expert canoers. [1] However, canoes stopped being produced by members of the tribe since the late 19th century. On August 23, 2008, the Shoalwater Bay tribe built canoes for the first time since the 1800s, participating in a canoe journey with the Chinook Indian Nation and Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde from Toke Point to Bay Center.

Language

Historically, the peoples of Willapa Bay spoke Lower Chinook, Lower Chehalis, and likely Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie, an Athabaskan language. By 1879, the peoples of Shoalwater Bay spoke Lower Chehalis, a Salishan (Coast/Tsamosan) language. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muckleshoot</span> Federally-recognized tribe in Washington state

The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, also known as the Muckleshoot Tribe, is a federally-recognized tribe located in Auburn, Washington. The tribe governs the Muckleshoot Reservation and is composed of descendants of the Duwamish, Stkamish, Smulkamish, Skopamish, Yilalkoamish, and Upper Puyallup peoples. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe was formally established in 1936, after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, but its origins lie in the creation of the Muckleshoot Reservation in 1874 and the treaties of Medicine Creek (1854) and Point Elliott (1855).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moclips, Washington</span> Census-designated place in Washington, United States

Moclips is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 211 at the 2020 census. It is located near the mouth of the Moclips River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tokeland, Washington</span> CDP in Washington, United States

Tokeland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 158 at the 2020 census, a slight increase from 151 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chehalis people</span>

The Chehalis people or Tsihalis are a Native people of western Washington state in the United States. They should not be confused with the similarly named Chehalis First Nation of the Sts'Ailes people along the Harrison River in the Fraser Valley area of British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowlitz people</span> Two distinct indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest

The term Cowlitz people covers two culturally and linguistically distinct indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest; the Lower Cowlitz or Cowlitz proper, and the Upper Cowlitz / Cowlitz Klickitat or Taitnapam. Lower Cowlitz refers to a southwestern Coast Salish people, which today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes: Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, and Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation. The Upper Cowlitz or Taitnapam, is a Northwest Sahaptin speaking people, part of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinookan peoples</span> Group of Indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest

Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE Chinookan peoples have resided along the upper and Middle Columbia River (Wimahl) from the river's gorge downstream (west) to the river's mouth, and along adjacent portions of the coasts, from Tillamook Head of present-day Oregon in the south, north to Willapa Bay in southwest Washington. In 1805 the Lewis and Clark Expedition encountered the Chinook Tribe on the lower Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sauk-Suiattle</span> Federally-recognized Indian Tribe in Washington (state)

The Sauk-SuiattleIndian Tribe is a federally-recognized tribe of Sauk people located in western Washington state. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lummi Nation</span> Federally-recognized tribe in Washington (state)

The LummiNation is a federally-recognized tribe of primarily Lummi people. The Lummi Nation also includes some Nooksack, Samish, and other local tribes which were removed to the reservation. It is based in the coastal area of the Pacific Northwest region of Washington state in the United States, and is located within the Bellingham Metropolitan Area

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swinomish people</span> Ethnic group

The Swinomishpeople are a Lushootseed-speaking people Indigenous to western Washington state.

Coos people are an indigenous people of the Northwest Plateau, living in Oregon. They live on the southwest Oregon Pacific coast. Today, Coos people are enrolled in the following federally recognized tribes:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clatsop</span> Indigenous people in Oregon state

The Clatsop are a Chinookan-speaking Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. In the early 19th century they inhabited an area of the northwestern coast of present-day Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia River south to Tillamook Head, Oregon. Today, Clatsop descendants are members of the federally recognized Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, as well as the unrecognized Chinook Indian Nation and Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clackamas people</span> Tribe of Native Americans in the US state of Oregon

The Clackamas Indians are a band of Chinook of Native Americans who historically lived along the Clackamas River in the Willamette Valley, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington State Route 105</span> State highway in Washington, United States

State Route 105 (SR 105) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It travels 48 miles (77 km) along the Pacific Coast between two junctions with U.S. Route 101 (US 101) in Raymond to the south and Aberdeen in the north. The highway also has two spur routes: a 4-mile (6 km) road serving the city of Westport on Grays Harbor and a short connector in Aberdeen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tokeland Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Tokeland Hotel and Restaurant is Washington State’s oldest resort hotel located at 2964 Kindred Ave in Tokeland, Washington. In 1978, the hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Chief Toke was a leader of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe of Native Americans on the Pacific coast of Washington. Of Chinook and Chehalis descent, he lived with his wife Suis and extended family at Willapa Bay, spending winters near present-day Bay Center and summers in the vicinity of present-day Tokeland, which is named for him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Skagit Indian Tribe</span> Federally-recognized Indian Tribe in Washington state

The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe is a federally-recognized Indian tribe located in the U.S. state of Washington. The tribe is the successor-in-interest to approximately eleven historic tribes which had many permanent villages along the Skagit River in what is now Skagit County.

The Lower Skagit 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.

The Willapa or Willoopah, also known as Kwalhioqua / Kwalhiokwa, were a Northern Athapaskan-speaking people in southwestern Washington, United States. Their territory was the valley of the Willapa River and the prairie between the headwaters of the Chehalis and Cowlitz Rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swinomish Indian Tribal Community</span> Federally recognized tribe in Washington (state)

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, also known as the Swinomish Tribe, is a federally recognized tribe located on Puget Sound in Washington state. Swinomish is a legal successor to signatories of the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott. Its Reservation is located 65 miles North of Seattle, Washington on Fidalgo Island.The tribe's population is primarily composed of Swinomish, Lower Skagit, Kikiallus, and Samish peoples and their descendants. Other populations on the reservation include the Suquamish and Upper Skagit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Cove, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

North Cove is an unincorporated community in Pacific County, Washington, United States. North Cove is mostly residential, with some vacation rentals and a general store being the only commercial properties. The community suffers from the extreme coastal erosion of Cape Shoalwater, which has been diminished drastically in size, with the ocean claiming dozens of structures over the last 100 years and remaining a substantial threat.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "History". Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe . Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe, Washington". Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Shoalwater Bay Tribe". Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  4. 1 2 Ruby, Brown & Collins 2010, p. 272.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Ruby, Brown & Collins 2010, p. 273.
  6. 1 2 3 Ruby, Brown & Collins 2010, p. 274.
  7. Ruby, Brown & Collins 2010, p. 273-274.
  8. 1 2 "Tribal Council Members". Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe . Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  9. "Departments". Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe . Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  10. United States Census, 2000
  11. 1 2 "Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, WA". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  12. Ruby, Brown & Collins 2010, p. 272-273.