Vancouver, Whistler & Vancouver Island - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 851

Decimation of Native Americans
By 1860 the Pacific Northwest's coast was strung with white settlements, and most major
cities had been founded. The area's wildlife, especially the beaver and otter populations,
had been nearly extinguished. European diseases had devastated whole Native American
communities, while alcoholism took its own insidious toll on their cultures.
Missionaries eventually delivered the final blow. In 1847, near Walla Walla, the Whit-
man mission's attempts to bring Christianity to eastern Washington tribes ended in
tragedy. The Cayuse Native Americans slew over a dozen missionaries in revenge for a
measles epidemic. Settlers now felt justified in removing Native Americans from their
land and incarcerating them on reservations. Coastal Native Americans were marched or
shipped to reservations in 1855 and 1856, where increased illness, starvation and disloca-
tion led to the complete extinction of many tribal groups. Even on Vancouver Island,
where British policies were generally more enlightened, most arable land was given to
European settlers. Missionaries worked to make illegal the traditional potlatches that
formed the nucleus of coastal Native American religion and social life.
East of the Cascades, Native Americans were more resistant to the US military and
settlers. Fierce battles were fought between the US Army and various tribes from 1855 to
1877. Especially bloody were the Rogue River and Modoc Wars, in southern Oregon,
and the Cayuse War, near Walla Walla. However, these Native American groups also
ended up on reservations, dependent upon the federal government for subsistence.
CHIEF SEALTH
'How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land?' Chief Sealth of the
Duwamish tribe reportedly stated in his famous 1854 speech. 'If we do not own the
freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every
shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear-
ing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people…'
Though it's unlikely Chief Sealth uttered these exact words, his thoughts are prob-
ably reflected in them.
The Seattle area was originally the homeland of the peaceful Duwamish tribe,
who initially welcomed members of the Denny party (who founded Seattle) when
they arrived in 1851. Chief Sealth (1786-1866) had urged peaceful coexistence
between his tribe and the whites. Relations with other tribes in Puget Sound were
not as good, however - in 1855 warfare erupted between the Native Americans and
European settlers, and in the end the settlers prevailed.
The Duwamish were moved to the Port Madison Reservation in 1856 despite
their peaceable history. In part to recognize Chief Sealth's aid and pacifist efforts,