Seattle (1788-1866)
Seattle, more correctly Seathl or Sealth, the chief of the Susquamish,
Duwamish, and allied Salish-speaking tribes, was born near the present
location of the city named for him. He was the son of Susquamish
leader named Schweabe and a Duwamish woman named Scholitza (or Wood-sholitsa);
therefore, he is usually regarded as Duwamish. The date of his
birth is uncertain; it was sometime between 1786-1790. As a young
man, Seathl was an active warrior widely known for his daring. Then
he became convinced that peace was preferable to war, largely due to
the influence of Catholic missionaries who were coming into the Northwest
Territory in the 1830s. In time, he converted to Christianity,
taking the name Noah from his favorite biblical character; at the same
time, many of his tribesmen also converted.
Following
the peak of the California Gold Rush, more Whites came into the Northwest to
settle in the Puget Sound region. They were warmly received by the Indians,
and in 1852 the name of the local settlement was changed to “Seattle” in
honor of the chief.
During this
time, however, there was increasing conflict between Indian and White. Some
Indians rebelled against the oppressive weight, and were led by Kamiakin and
Leschi; but Seathl and his people remained at peace. Finally, in the
spring of 1855, Governor Isaac Stevens called a series of councils to try to
persuade all of the tribes to move onto reservations which had been set aside
for them. The Indians were given a voice in establishing the boundaries
of these reservations, and were thereby able to include some of their favorite
lands.
Although
Seathl was the first to sign the Port Elliott Treaty of 1855 accepting a reservation,
he declared, “The red man has ever fled the approach of the White man
as morning mist flees the rising sun. It matters little where we pass
the remnant of our days. They will not be many. The Indian’s
night promises to be dark . . . a few more moons . . . a few more winters.”
The reservations
were not readily accepted by many tribes, and warfare continued for over 15
years, until the military superiority of the U.S. Army finally crushed all
Indian resistance in the area. Seathl had continuously refused to let
his people become enmeshed in the conflict, realizing that only bloodshed would
result, with the certain extinction of his small band. They moved to
the Port Madison Reservation and lived in relative peace despite the chaos
whirling around them. There he lived in Old Man House, just across from
northern Bainbridge Island; this was a “community house,” measuring
some 60 x 900 feet—easily the largest Indian-made wooden structure in
the region.
In his old
age, Seathl asked for and received a small tribute from the citizens of the
town named after him—advance compensation against the tribal belief that
the mention of a man’s name after his death disturbed his spirit. He
died at Port Madison on June 7, 1866 and was buried in the Suquamish Indian
cemetery near Seattle. He married twice; his first wife, Ladaila, a Duwamish
woman, died after bearing one daughter, Kiksomlo, known as “Angeline.” The
second, Oiahl, had three daughters all of whom died young, and two boys, George
and Seeanumpkin.
Source: Great North American Indians by Frederick J.
Duckstander
NATIVE
AMERICAN RHYMES 
