432 
INDIAN TRIBES OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 
under a chief named Se-at-tle, belonging to the Suquamish tribe, but residing principally with 
another, the D’Wamish. This last is the one called, on the charts of Puget sound, the Nowa- 
misli; and it should be mentioned that a very considerable difference in the spelling of almost all 
these names exists, arising from the fact that several letters of their alphabet are convertible; as 
D and N, B and M, Q and G. For instance, the band in question are indifferently termed 
N’Wamish and D’Wamish; another clan of the same trio, the Samamish, are also called Sababish; 
and the name Suquamish is frequently changed into-. The D’Wamish are the best 
known of this connexion, from their neighborhood to the rising town, named after their chief 
Se-at-tle, and the whole generally bear their name, though they are by no means the most nu¬ 
merous. Their proper seat is the outlet of a large lake emptying into the D’Wamish river, and 
not on the main branch. At that place, they, and some others, have small patches of potato 
ground, amounting altogether to perhaps thirty acres; where, it is stated, they raised during the 
last year about 3,000 bushels, or an average of one hundred bushels to the acre. Of these they 
sold a part, reserving the rest for their own consumption. Each head of a family plants his own, 
the quantity being regulated by the number of his women. Their potatoes are very fine, though 
they have used the same seed on the same ground for a succession of years. 
The jealousies existing among all thesepetty bands, and their fear of one another, is everywhere 
noticeable in their establishing themselves near the whites. Whenever a settler’s house is erected, 
a nest of Indian rookeries is pretty sure to follow if permitted; and in case of temporary absence, 
they always beg storage for their valuables. The compliment is seldom returned, though it is 
often considered advantageous to have them in the neighborhood as spies upon others. Some 
amusing traits of character occasionally develop themselves among Indians, of which an instance 
happened with these. A saw-mill was erected during the last autumn, upon the outlet of the 
lake, at a place where they are in the habit of taking salmon. The fishery was much improved 
by the dam, but what afforded the greatest satisfaction to them was its situation upon their prop¬ 
erty, and the superior importance thereby derived to themselves. They soon began to understand 
the machinery, and took every visitor through the building to explain its working, and boast of it, 
as if it had been of their own construction. 
The southern end of Whidby’s island, and the country on and near the mouth of the Sinaho- 
mish river, belong to the Sinahomish tribe. These number, including the bands connected with 
them, a little over 300. Their chief is S’Hoot-soot, an old man who resides chiefly at Skagit 
head. Above them, and upon the main branch of the river, is another band, not under the same 
rule, the Snoqualmoos, amounting to about 200 souls. Their chief, Pat-ka-nam, has rather an evil 
celebrity among the whites, and two of his brothers have been hung for their misdeeds. This 
band are especially connected with the Yakimas, or, as they are called on the Sound, Klikatats. 
It requires notice in this place, that besides the tribes, or bands, inhabiting the shores and the 
lower part of the rivers, there are on the headwaters of the latter, along the whole course of the 
Cascade mountains, another range of tribes, generally independent of the former, who rarely 
descend from their recesses, but are intermediate in their habits between the coast and mountain 
tribes; except the Taitinapam, however, they all belong to the general family upon whose borders 
they live. Those in the neighborhood of the passes own a few horses, which subsist in the small 
prairies skirting the base of the mountains. 
The tribes living upon the eastern shore possess also territory upon the islands, and their usual 
custom is to resort to them at the end of the salmon season—that is, about the middle of Novem¬ 
ber. It is there that they find the greatest supply of shell-fish, which form a large part of their 
winter stock, and which they dry both for their own use and for sale to those of the interior. The 
summer and fall they spend on the main, where they get fish and put in their potatoes. 
Below the Sinahomish come the Stoluchquamish, (river people) or, as their name is usually 
corrupted, Steilaquamish, whose country is on a stream bearing their name; and still north of 
them the Kikialtis. No opportunity has afforded itself for accurate inquiry into the numbers of 
