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 Stillaguamish emerged after the end of the last glacial maximum, settling what is now the Stillaguamish River valley after the ice melted. For thousands of years, the Stillaguamish have lived along the Stillaguamish River. The modern Stillaguamish nation descends from the aboriginal Stillaguamish peoples who signed the Treaty of Point Elliot in 1855 as the Stoluck-wa-mish River Tribe. Although they were promised a reservation in the treaty, they were not given one, so while some Stillaguamish moved to Tulalip, the majority of Stillaguamish remained in their traditional territory. In 1976, the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians was granted federal recognition, with a reservation being created in 2014. Today, most Stillaguamish people are enrolled in the Stillaguamish Tribe, while others are enrolled in the Tulalip Tribes.
Name
The name "Stillaguamish" is an anglicization of their Lushootseed endonym, . The Lushootseed name means "people of the river," from the root word meaning "river" and the suffix meaning "people." The name is a drainage term, referring not to a central village but to all the people living along the Stillaguamish River.
History
The Stillaguamish people have lived in the region for thousands of years. Although the first humans could have arrived in the Pacific Northwest as early as 30,000 years ago, the first permanent human habitation of western Washington began 12,000 to 13,000 years ago after the last glacial maximum ended and the Vashon Glacier retreated.
For thousands of years, the Stillaguamish have lived along the Stillaguamish River, fishing in it and its tributaries and hunting the surrounding country. The Stillaguamish were historically closely tied with neighboring peoples, such as the Snohomish, Sauk, and Skagit. Some Stillaguamish people were allied with peoples as far south as the Duwamish or even over the mountains from the plateau peoples. Warfare was uncommon, and generally defensive, as a retaliation for murder, broken promises, territory violations, or raiding.
Because of the Stillaguamish River's remoteness, the Stillaguamish did not have much contact from Europeans prior to the signing of the Treaty.
On January 22, 1855, the Stillaguamish were party to the Treaty of Point Elliot, listed as the "Stoluck-wa-mish." Although the Stillaguamish attended the signing and were listed on the treaty, they, along with one-third of the other tribes, were not included as signatories. The Stillaguamish were not included as signatories on the treaty because they were purposely placed as subjects of the Snoqualmie and their leader Patkanim. Anthropologist Barbara Lane concluded that, during the hastily-conducted treaty negotiations, the Stillaguamish were likely completely overlooked by Issaac Stevens, the Territorial Governor at the time. It was Stevens' policy to lump together as many tribes as possible, so as to sign as few treaties as possible.
Despite being promised a reservation by then-Indian Agent Michael Simmons, no reservation was originally established in their homeland. Instead, the Stillaguamish were instructed to move to the Tulalip Reservation. While some moved to the Tulalip Reservation, many others resisted moving and stayed in their homelands along the Stillaguamish River. Some of those who moved to Tulalip were prevented from settling there, in part due to rampant disease at Tulalip, as well as a lack of land for all the people there, and eventually returned to their homelands. In 1881, only 3 Stillaguamish had remained at Tulalip, whose descendants make up the Stillaguamish community of Tulalip.
During the Puget Sound War, temporary reservations were created to further pacify the Indigenous peoples. The Stillaguamish were overlooked in the process, and a reservation was not set up for the Stillaguamish. In May 1856, the Stillaguamish were forced to move to the temporary reservation at Holmes Harbor on Whidbey Island, which was established for the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, and Skykomish peoples. Only one family remained, because they were too sick to leave. However, with the lack of food and water, and growing sickness on the Holmes Harbor reservation, the Stillaguamish had returned to their homelands by July, refusing to return to a reservation until the government negotiated a better deal.