Thanksgiving from a native Viewbpoint

Thanksgiving from a Native American Viewpoint

We all love to celebrate Thanksgiving. Great turkey, family, A time to be thankful for this country we live in. Native American tribes see it a little differently. More like a modern Ukrainian might see things if a boatload of Russians had landed on their shore last year and set up a colony telling the locals, “We want to be friends, and by the way can you help us out with some local food tor a big thanksgiving meal celebrating that we discovered this land.”

The Suquamish Tribe in Kitsap Peninsula has their own version of a Thanksgiving. It’s called the First Salmon Ceremony. It’s held n early spring when the first salmon began entering their waters. There is a ritualized catching of the salmon. Then they cook and slice it, and they return the bones of the first fish caught to the water. Their early tribal beliefs saw the salmon as a type of people who become the fish to provide food for the humans. The First Salmon Ceremony ensures good relations between the Human People and the Salmon People.

I recently visited the tribal reservation and learned much of their history. Our host, Danita, who is treasurer of the Suquamish Tribe, led us through the Suquamish Museum and explained many of the tribe’s traditions and customs.

One of the main parts of life in the days before the European settlers came was and still is their fishing. They were skilled canoe builders. The museum has exhibits showing one of their ceremonial canoes. They made different types of paddles for different function. They used some when they had to paddle quietly in times of war. Others had ceremonial uses.

Because their life was tied so completely to the water, they called themselves Suquamish, translated into English, it means, “people of the clear salt water.” The museum’s main exhibit, Ancient Shores-Changing Tides, gives visitors a glimpse of the history of the Suquamish People. They were basket weavers as well.

The Suquamish lived in permanent winter homes, but in spring and summer, they took planks from these longhouses and built small summer homes. This was their fishing season. They ate the salmon fresh and smoked some for winter. There is a replica of a summer home in the yard of the museum.

After the white people came, many Suquamish families preferred to remain in their villages. To destroy the native culture and force assimilation, the US government ordered the burning of the Old Man House in 1870. This was the home of Chief Seattle and Chief Kitsap. The museum has an entire room telling the history and culture of The Old Man House where many elders and families lived.

Chief Seattle

Chief Seattle saw the inevitable and signed the Port Elliott Treaty, which would supposedly protect the Suquamish fishing and hunting rights to the land and waters permanently. It provided health care, education, and land plots at Port Madison Indian Reservation. The Point No Point Treaty was signed a few days later, on January 26, 1855, at Point No Point, on the northern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula. Today it is the site of Point no Point Lighthouse, another spot well worth a visit. Under the terms of the treaty,

By Kathleen Walls AmericanRoads.net Editor

Thanksgiving from a Native American Viewpoint

the natives of northern Kitsap Peninsula and Olympic Peninsula were to cede ownership of their land in exchange for the reservation land and a payment of $60,000 from the federal government.

Chief Seattle’s gravesite is just a short distance from the museum. He died in 1866 and is buried in the Suquamish Memorial Cemetery near St. Peters Church on the shore of Agate Passage. Chief Seattle’s grave shows his tribal name, Sealth. In front of the grave, people have left tributes ranging from rocks and shell to feathers and coins. Chief Seattle converted to Catholicism in his later years and there’s a small mission church at the cemetery.

It’s a great place to visit for Thanksgiving or any other time of year.