Puyallup (people)

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Traditional territory of the Puyallup (green) and today's reservation (orange) in the northwest of the USA

The Puyallup (formerly S'Puyalupubsh) than among the Native Americans called Indians and live in the US state of Washington . Culturally they belong to the coastal Salish . Originally they spoke a language from the Salish family , the Lushootseed . In 2008 more than 3,800 people were part of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians .

The meaning of the name is not clear. There are speculations that Puyallup was the name of the local river mouth, or that it meant “shadow” in reference to the dense forest.

history

According to regional mythological ideas, the Puyallup and their surroundings were based on a converter (Transformer, sometimes also called Changer). This dokibat was also the teacher of the people who had taught them all their skills.

View from the Commencement Book of Mount Tahoma

The area of ​​the Puyallup originally bordered the Puget Sound and extended about 25 km east of the Commencement Bay, where Tacoma is today . But the tribe was not very stable, so that it could be found around Carr Inlet and in the south of Vashon Island . The Puyallup lived mainly on fish and supplemented their diet with berries, rhizomes, roots and - after their first contact with Europeans - with tomatoes.

First Europeans, fur trade

George Vancouver and Peter Puget have already met them. In 1833 the Hudson's Bay Company founded Fort Nisqually on Puget Sound. However, the region was added to the United States in the 1846 border treaty between Great Britain and the United States, so that the company had to give up their posts south of the 49th parallel.

Medicine Creek Treaty, reservation

Isaac Ingalls Stevens , the first governor of the Washington Territory established in 1853 , was also the Superintendent of Indian Affairs and Superintendent of the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey . The Puyallup lost around two thirds of their members during this time, because around 100 of the 150 tribe members were probably victims of smallpox .

On December 24, 1854, several tribes signed the Medicine Creek Treaty . Three reservations have been set up in Puyallup, Nisqually and on Squaxin Island . But the area was small (1,280 acres | acre ) and poorly equipped. The Upper Puyallup rose, part of the tribe was brought to safety from them by the Indian agent JV Weber and housed on Squaxin Island. On January 20, 1857, the reservation was gradually expanded to 18,062 acres (around 73 km²). Lengthy negotiations in 1873 and 1886 led to new borders being drawn. In addition to the Puyallup, some Cowlitz , Nisqually, Muckleshoot , Steilacum and other groups lived in the reserve .

Forced land sale, mission

When the Northern Pacific Railway was looking for a destination in 1873 , it found it in Tacoma (from Mt. Takkobad), which was yet to be established , on Commencement Bay. The Indians were forced to sell their land. The approval of the reservation ended in 1886. In that year the majority of the Indians were forced to move to Puyallup, where 178 so-called allotments were set up. Only a single strip of territory remained in the common possession of the tribe. On August 19, 1890, Congress decided to approve the sale of Puyallup reservation land to give the residents of the city of Tacoma, which has now grown to 40,000 residents, opportunities to purchase land.

Since the 1870s, President Ulysses S. Grant's denominational policies had ensured that the Catholic influence that had existed since the 1840s was pushed back to make way for Protestantism. At the same time, the Puyallup were urged to work the land as farmers. The proportion of arable land in the reserve increased from 291 to 1200 acres between 1871 and 1880 . Several schools emerged on the reservation, with the Puyallup Indian School becoming a trade school for all Indians in the region in 1906 . As early as 1910, it was attracting numerous students, and it was now called the Cushman Indian Trade School .

An 1893 law stipulated that unsold reserve land should remain in tribal ownership and not be sold for ten years. Around half of the reservation was still sold in the following years, and by 1909 most families had sold. That year the Puyallup lost a lawsuit against the creeping dispossession at bargain prices. Some of the residents continued to resist, and even in 1950 there were still 10 families sitting on a few hectares of land. In 1899 railway companies received a blank permit from the Interior Ministry to build through Indian territory. A commission took over the land, which was, however, largely sold on to timber companies and land speculators.

Limited self-government, fight for fishing rights

In 1937 the United States Office of Indian Affairs report counted 322 Puyallup. Since 1936, the Puyallup obtained limited self-government, with the affairs of government being led by a Tribal Council . In 1929 the tribe had 344 registered members, in 1937 only 322.

Bob Satiacum , a leading figure in the Puyallup, campaigned primarily for their fishing rights. He was able to win Marlon Brando for this purpose. In March 1964, Brando took part in a protest action, a fish-in , during which the tribe demanded their guaranteed fishing rights. There were occupations and hundreds of police officers were used against the protesting Indians, including those from other tribes. On October 13, 1965, six Puyallup were arrested at Franks Landing. On January 15, 1969, the verdicts were extremely harsh. But in February 1974 Judge George Boldt ruled that the Indians have the right to fish, but only with a right to 50% of the total catch.

A separate court (since the beginning of the 1970s) and a self-equipped and trained troop are now enforcing fishing rights and controlling their own fishermen. Here, Fish & Wildlife for wildlife and hunting rights responsible country Enforcement of land rights.

Reparation, compensation

In a lawsuit on February 20, 1984, the United States Supreme Court upheld the judgment of an appeals court that 12 acres of the port of Tacoma, which had been built since 1950, belonged to the Puyallup - of 270 acres that were diverted into disappeared in 1918 and 1940. The area extended southeast from Commencement Bay to Puyallup. The breakthrough in land claims came in August 1988. An agreement between the Puyallup Tribe of Indians , the local government of Pierce County , Washington State, the United States government and the private landowners concerned was approved by Congress . In exchange for their land claims, the Indians were given 900 acres of land. President George HW Bush signed a bill in February 1989 transferring Puyallup land rights to the federal government. The tribe were in favor million 77.25 dollars paid by an agreed total of 162 million. Of this, the Port of Tacoma paid 43, Washington State 21, a further 11.4 million private companies and 9 million local administrative units. Each tribesman 21 and older received $ 20,000 and a housing program was conducted.

A trust administration should be set up to manage $ 22 million, as should a Fisheries Enhancement Program . In addition, there was vocational training, the promotion of self-employment, a social and health service to improve the social and health situation, and finally a program that was supposed to take care of the elderly (Elders), a day center and the Blair Navigation Project .

Numerous Puyallup now dared to stand by their ancestry, others only became aware of this ancestry through the dispute over recognition as a tribe. In addition, the "proportion of Indian blood" (Indian blood quantum) required for entry in the tribal list was reduced. In 1989, 7,987 people were recognized as Puyallup, and there are over 3,800 names in the tribal roll.

Today a place , a river and one of the largest trade fairs (Puyallup Fair) bear her name near Tacoma .

reservation

Flag of the Puyallup

The Puyallup have lived in an Indian reservation since 1854 in what is now Tacoma . This settlement is based on the Medicine Creek Treaty . The Puyallup Indian Reservation extends mostly in northern Pierce County , with a small part in King County . It has an area of ​​73.935 km² and in 2000 housed exactly 41,341 people. Of these, however, only 3.2% are descendants of the Indians, who originally formed the majority.

Todays situation

The current leader of the tribe is Herman Dillon . A significant portion of the Puyallup's income since 1997 has come from operating the Emerald Queen Casino , a casino on a river boat. But in 2004 the boat had to make way for a port expansion. In 2004 a new casino was built in Tacoma in a temporary tent construction. The casino and the attached hotel (140 rooms) in Fife were built in 2005. The Puyallup have created a total of almost 2,000 jobs. As early as 1991, funds had been raised for this purpose, which initially flowed into the so-called Bingo Hall on Commencement Bay.

A monthly information sheet has been published for a number of years and a tribal archive has been set up. Since numerous services are linked to the status of an Indian, the dispute revolves again and again about the role established in 1929 in which the eligible Indians were first registered. In the meantime, however, there are again over 3,800 people in this role.

A separate Historic Preservation Office (3009 E. Portland Avenue / Tacoma) provides information on the history of the Puyallup and prepares its narratives.

On May 1, 2007, the Puyallup signed a letter of intent with SSA Marine / Seattle to jointly build a container terminal that will provide several hundred jobs.

See also

Web links

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ US vs. Ashton (170f., 509, 1909).
  2. ↑ See the article Washington Fish-in .
  3. ↑ United States vs. State of Washington, 384 F. Supp 312, 1974.