Archives West Finding Aid

Lushootseed is a member of the Salish language family, whose approximately twenty surviving languages are spoken from northern Oregon to central British Columbia. The Lushootseed-speaking region extends along the shores of Puget Sound from modern-day Olympia to the Skagit watershed and from Hood Canal to the Cascades. The term “Northern” refers to the language as spoken by the Skagit, Swinomish, Sauk-Suiattle, Stillaguamish and neighboring peoples; “Southern Lushootseed,” is spoken by the peoples of Snoqualmie, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Nisqually, Squaxin Island, Suquamish and their neighbors. The Snohomish Lushootseed spoken at Tulalip exhibits features of both Northern and Southern language, though it is usually categorized as “Northern.”

(Source: Lushootseed: The Language of Puget Sound, “About dxʷləšucid Lushootseed” Web. Date Accessed: 03/07/23)

The Tulalip (pronounced Tuh’-lay-lup) Tribes have an approximate population of over 5,000 and growing, with 2,700 members residing on the Tulalip Indian Reservation located north of Everett and the Snohomish River and west of Marysville, Washington. The Reservation is rich with natural resources: marine waters, tidelands, freshwater creeks and lakes, wetlands, and forests. The Tulalip Reservation was reserved for the use and benefit of Indian tribes and bands signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliott of January 22, 1855. Its boundaries were established by the treaty and by Executive Order of President U.S. Grant on December 23, 1873. It was created to provide a permanent home for the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish Tribes and allied bands living in the region.

(Source: Tulalip Tribes Official Website, “About Us” Date Accessed: 03/07/23)

The Swinomish Reservation is home to a community of Coast Salish peoples that descended from tribes and bands that originally lived in the Skagit Valley and Samish River Valley, the coastal areas surrounding Skagit, Padilla, and Fidalgo bays, Saratoga Passage, and numerous islands including Fidalgo, Camano, Whidbey, and the San Juan Islands. For thousands of years, these Coast Salish tribes maintained a culture centered around abundant saltwater resources that included salmon, shellfish, and marine mammals, as well as upland resources such as cedar, camas, berries, and wild game. Four major groups and their allied bands - the Aboriginal Swinomish, Lower Skagit, Kikiallus and Aboriginal Samish Tribes – also signed the Treaty of Point Elliott with the United States in 1855 and reserved the southeast peninsula of Fidalgo Island for their reservation and future use.

(Source: Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Website, “The Swinomish People” Date Accessed: 03/07/23)