Chief Seattle
Chief
Seattle was born about 1786. His name was originally spelled See-Yahtlh by the
Indians. His father was a noted headman and war leader. But his mother was a
slave, so he was considered of low birth. About the time of his birth, the Puget
Sound area was hit hard by small pox, a white man's disease that came to them
before they'd even seen a white man. Also at that time they saw the white man's
great ships off shore. These Indians took these things as a sign that the prophecy
of the end of the world was imminent.
In
1792, Captain Vancouver's ship Discovery visited the natives to trade.
This event left a lasting impression on the eight year old future chief. He
began to greatly appreciate western technology, especially firearms. The respect
for firearms grew from recent raids. After 1800, tribes to the north of the
Suquamish tribe raided them frequently to capture women and children to increase
the size of their families. The Yakama tribe to the east of the Cascades also
raided the Puget Sound area, taking captives and selling them to small tribes
on the lower Columbia. Kitsap, a Suquamish leader, led a raiding party to Vancouver
Island to put down the Cowiche peoples, ending further disturbance by the Cowiches.
Seattle took part in this battle and had fared well.
By
the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805-06, the battles among the
Puget Sound peoples was under way. Seattle led a group that killed a raiding
party of Green River and White River people. One of his methods of dealing with
his enemies was very clever. He knew most attacks came at night and that the
attackers traveled on the river. So he chopped down a tree so it fell just a
few inches above the water. Unsuspecting raiders would collide into it. While
they were busy rescuing the canoe and their equipment, Seattle's men would attack
from shore. After this successful raid, he assumed the name See-yahtlh, the
name of his father's father, at a potlatch ceremony.
He became chief of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes shortly after his victory over the Green River tribes. He was widely respected among the Indians for leading successful attacks on Puget Sound tribes. About 1811, his first child was born, known by the settlers as Princess Angeline. Seattle was known to have owned eight slaves, some may have been concubines.
1832,
the Hudson's Bay Company began building a trading post at Nisqually Prairie.
The Suquamish were active traders and Seattle was quick to take advantage of
the situation. At the same time, whites were concerned about Christianizing
the Indians. At this time several hundred Indians were baptized, Seattle possibly
being one of them. His baptismal name was Noah. The village headmen were then
charged with bringing about reforms in their own villages, setting up chapels,
and instructing people. Seattle established morning and evening prayer and instructional
teachers. His conversion seemed sincere but it was also an advantage to him.
It strengthened his relationship with the whites, who were his main trading
partners.
He
took part in several raids. In 1841 at 55 years old. He led an attack upon the
winter village of ee-lahl-ko at the confluence of the upper Green and White
rivers. He is also said to have led an attack on a Chemakum stronghold near
Port Townsend. Seattle is said to have participated in more raids than any other
chief in the Puget Sound region.
In
1850, the Ebey-Shaw party had reached Elliot Bay and were welcomed by Chief
Seattle and his band. Seattle wanted to trade with the whites. He talked Dr.
David Maynard, an Indian agent and trader, into establishing a store near his
people at Alki Point. Maynard agreed. This is when Maynard renamed the city
after Seattle. Seattle had invited Maynard to the town site established by Arthur
Denny, which he had named Duwamps, in honor of the Duwamish tribe. Maynard's
successful enterprise prompted him to change the name after his Seattle. Seattle
wasn't happy with this tribute, since his culture forbid use of a person's name
while they were still alive. But Seattle received money and more influence as
a result so his displeasure lessened somewhat.
From
then on, Chief Seattle tried to get whites to uphold their agreement. But it
was an economically hard time. The Fraser River, British Columbia, gold rush
of 1858-59 was the only high spot until after the Civil War. He was always sensitive
to the wishes of American and British authorities. He freed his own slaves after
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Seattle acted as judge at tribal
councils. He eventually found this to be futile since his people kept declining
due to disease, alcohol, and poverty. He petitioned the Indian agents for the
needs of the tribe.
At
his last potlatch in 1862 he gave away what few things he had: old clothes,
a horseshoe, a muleshoe, fishhook, gunny sacks, tin cans, boxes, food, and knickknacks.
He spent his time leading prayers or petitioning the reservation agent for the
people's needs. He also acted as a judge in tribal councils. He generally wore
old pants, a shirt, and a Hudson's Bay blanket. On special occasions he wore
a frock coat and a stovepipe hat.
More Info:
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seattle
or Sealth of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes was born in the 1780s
on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State, and died June
7, 1866 on the Suquamish Reservation at Port Madison,Washington. His father,
Schweabe, was a noble of the Suquamish tribe, and his mother was Scholitza of
the Duwamish. Seattle, Washington. was named after him.
Seattle
earned his reputation at a young age as a leader and a warrior, ambushing and
defeating enemy groups of raiders coming down to the Puget Sound region
from the north along the Green River, and in attacks upon the S'Kallam,
a powerful people living on the north shore of the Olympic Peninsula. He also
married well, taking wives from the village of Tola'ltu on the western shore
of Elliott Bay. His first wife died after bearing
a daughter. A second wife bore him sons and daughters. After the death of one
of his sons, he sought and received baptism in the Catholic Church. His
children were also baptized and raised in the faith, and his conversion marked
his emergence as a leader seeking cooperation with incoming American settlers.
In
an American Indian Quarterly paper assessing the chief's legacy, Klallam
leader Phillip Howell is said to have thought of him as "a low type of
Indian, a joke among the Natives and worse, a coward and a traitor" for
going along with the treaty negotiations and
yielding Indian lands to the white men. A different view is cited by Peg Deam,
a cultural development specialist at the Suquamish Tribal Council. She is quoted
as saying Chief Seattle "was put in a position where he had to make some
very difficult -- and ultimately harmful -- choices. Many hearts were broken
because their lifestyle was completely changed. The settlers made the Natives
move to these little pieces of land, separated from each other. But as a leader
and what he could foresee at that time, I think he made the right choice."
Murray
Morgan remarks in Skid Road that a Puget-Sound-area chief was merely
"a rich man with some eloquence, a man whose opinions carried more weight
than those of his fellow tribesmen," rather than a hereditary leader. He
also points out that Chief Seattle was exceptional in that he first made his
mark as a warrior, but served primarily as a peacetime tyee.
ChiefSeattle's grave marker reads "Seattle, Chief of the Suquamps and Allied Tribes, Died June 7, 1866. Firm Friend of the Whites, and For Him the City of Seattle was Named by Its Founders," and, on the reverse, "Baptismal Name: Noah Sealth, Age probably 80 years."