The Nisqually Tribe is a Native American tribe in western Washington state. They traditionally fished for salmon and harvested shellfish, roots, berries, and bark. The Nisqually Indian Reservation was established in 1854, but the treaty was unfair to the tribe. They went to war with the United States in 1855 and lost. Chief Leschi was convicted of murder and hanged in 1858. The tribe continues to fish and operate fish hatcheries while also working to revitalize their cultural traditions.
The Nisqually Tribe is a Native American tribe living in western Washington state on the Nisqually Indian Reservation in the Nisqually River Valley. The Nisqually Tribe has over 650 registered members, most of whom live on the reservation. The Nisqually tribe originally lived on the coast and in the interior woodlands, ranging from Puget Sound to Mount Ranier, and their lifestyles centered around salmon and red cedar fishing, like other indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast.
The Nisqually tribe traditionally harvested shellfish and cama roots, berries, herbs and bark to supplement their salmon fishery. They also raised horses and hunted wild animals. The first white settlement in Puget Sound was Fort Nisqally, established in 1833. The Nisquallys remained peaceful with white settlers until the 1840s, even when other tribes in the area supported warfare.
The Nisqually Indian Reservation was established in 1854 through the Treaty of Medicine Creek between the United States and a group of Indian tribes. The treaty also guaranteed the rights of Native Americans to fish in their traditional waters, even if they were not protected by territory assigned to them, though these rights were routinely violated for decades to come. Nisqually the chief Leschi and his brother Quiemuth did not sign the treaty because of his iniquity; it allocated about four acres of undesirable land to each Indian, while white settlers were given 160 acres each. The Nisqually tribe was unhappy with the land they were allotted, as it was rocky and inaccessible to fishing, and went to war with the United States the following year in the War of Puget Sound. Fighting on the side of the Nisqually tribe were the Klickitat, Muckleshoot and Puyallup tribes.
In the aftermath of the war, won by the United States Army in 1856, Chief Leschi and his brother Quiemuth were arrested. Quiemuth was murdered by an unknown person while in police custody and Chief Leschi was convicted of the murder of Colonel Moses in 1858 and hanged. He was sacked in 2004.
The Nisqually Tribe constitution was passed in 1946 and amended in 1994. The tribe continues to make a living from fishing, operating fish hatcheries in Clear Creek and Kalama Creek, with an emphasis on protecting the natural environment. The Nisqually language is the southern dialect of the Salish Lushootseed language, which has up to 200 speakers. The Nisqually Culture program seeks to maintain and revitalize tribal traditions, with plans to develop programs in native art, oral history, fishing and hunting instruction, and native building construction.
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