Swinomish

La Conner, Washington, Swinomish Channel

The Swinomish /ˈswɪnəmɪʃ/ SWIN-ə-mish[1] are an historically Lushootseed-speaking Native American people in western Washington state in the United States. The Tribe lives in the southeastern part of Fidalgo Island in northern Puget Sound, near the San Juan Islands, in Skagit County, Washington. Skagit County is located about 70 miles (110 km) north of Seattle.

Swinomish people are enrolled in the federally recognized Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, also known as the Swinomish Tribe, which is headquartered in Swinomish Village, across the Swinomish Channel from La Conner.[2]

Language

The Swinomish people speak a dialect of the Salishan Lushootseed language.[3]

Culture

A skate from the Swinomish fishtrap, Tulalip Indian Agency, Washington, 1938

The lifestyle of the Swinomish, like many Northwest Coast indigenous peoples, involves the fishing of salmon and collecting of shellfish. They reserved the right to fish and harvest in their usual and accustomed areas in the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855.[4]

History

The Swinomish moved onto reservation lands after the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty in 1855.[4] The Swinomish police department was the second in the U.S.--and the first in Washington State—to be state-accredited.[5]

Native American Advocacy

The current Swinomish Chairman, Brian Cladoosby, is the 21st president of the National Conference of American Indians (NCAI).[6]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 468. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4.
  2. ↑ Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. (retrieved 28 July 2009)
  3. ↑ Lushootseed Language (Whulshootseed, Puget Sound Salish). Native Languages of the Americas. (retrieved 28 July 2009)
  4. 1 2 Mapes, Lynda V. "Swinomish are told to restrict shellfish." The Seattle Times. 19 April 2007 (retrieved 28 July 2009)
  5. ↑ https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/native-news/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-swinomish-tribe/
  6. ↑ http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/ncai-leadership
  • Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, official website
  •  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Swinomish Indians". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • March Point (2008), a film about the Swinomish Reservation
  • March Point page, from Independent Lens site
  • "Swinomish Indian Tribe", a brief history at u-s-history.com

Coordinates: 48°24′05″N 122°31′37″W / 48.4014°N 122.5270°W / 48.4014; -122.5270

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