Methow (people)

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The Methow River in Mazama, Washington's Okanogan County

The Methow or Mitois are a tribe in the United States so-called Native Americans ( Indians ) in the state of Washington . They originally lived on the Methow River , which flows into the Columbia at Pateros . The Methow called the river Buttlemuleemauch ("river of salmon falls"). They lived in the Winthrop area .

Linguistically they are most closely related to the Sinkiuse-Columbia and the Wenatchi . They belong to the Salish language family , their dialect is one of the Okanogan dialects. Traditionally, however, they belonged to the Columbia-Wenatchi dialects and their dialect was called nselxcin . Culturally, they belong to the inland Salish .

history

According to the mythology of the neighboring Chelan , the Methow emerged from the heart of the Great Beaver.

In 1908 human remains were discovered near Winthrop. In 1910 they came to the Burke Museum in Seattle (Burke Accn. No. 242). Since the Methow later lived in this area, they are considered the descendants of the deceased and are allowed to apply for burial. Other findings suggest that the region has been inhabited for around 9,000 years.

David Thompson of the North West Company visited the Methow in 1811 to get furs from them. He called them "Smeathhowes" and said they knew little of the Columbia downstream. When his colleague Alexander Ross made contact with them three years later , he called them "Batte-le-mule-emauhs". Both dealers described her as extremely friendly.

At the beginning of the 1870s, their number was estimated at 300, but their actual number remains unclear as other groups were included here. At that time they had small farms and planted corn and potatoes . Around 1870 a Methow group traveled to Walla Walla to buy agricultural equipment. They also traded with whites in Ellensburg , in the Kittitas Valley further south.

In 1872 the Colville Indian Reservation was established, and in 1879 the Moses Columbia Reservation , to which many Methow moved. However, this reservation was given up again in 1886, and the groups gathered there had to move to the Colville reservation. One group, the Chilowhist or Chilliwist , split off and had their winter villages on the Okanogan River between Sand Point and Malott , between two Sinkaietk groups (called bands).

In 1883, many methow in the reservation accepted an offer to take 640 acres of land on the terms of the Moses Agreement of July 7th that year. Other Methow recognized the leadership of Chief Moses and settled in the Nespelem Valley in the Colville Reservation . In 1886 their home was released to white settlers who first looked for gold there.

In 1907 there were still 324 Methow. At this time there were still 32 tipis on Lake Creek north of Winthrop in the summer .

The majority of the Methow lives today in the Colville Indian Reservation as they belong to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation . There they try to save their dialect with language courses.

literature

  • Sally Portman: The Smiling Country. A History of the Methow Valley . Sun Mountain Resorts, Winthrop, Washington 1993, ISBN 0-96369-210-0 .
  • Robert H. Ruby, John A. Brown: A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest . New edition University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 1992, ISBN 0-8061-2479-2 , pp. 129f.

Web links

  • Arabella Clemens Fulton: [www.methow.us/books/Tales-Of-The-Trail-ArabellaFulton.pdf Tales of the Trail] , Ed. Dale W. Dibble 1999 (PDF) (travel report from 1864, including a report on Methow George )

See also

Remarks

  1. ^ Creation of the First Indians
  2. ↑ Federal Register , Vol. 72, No. 50, March 15, 2007, Notices section
  3. ^ Winthrop History
  4. ^ Access Genealogy. Indian Tribal Records: Washington Indian Tribes