Native Americans

Native Americans. Mulkilteo Walking Tour Stop 2. , Use of the Spit in Mukilteo , This area is within the traditional territory of the Snohomish who, along with the Snoqualmie, Skykomish and other allied tribes and bands, are Salish-speaking indigenous peoples that lived along the shoreline of Puget Sound and throughout the Snohomish and Stillaguamish watersheds. Their territory extends west from the Cascade crest to the mouth of the Snohomish and Stillaguamish Rivers. It includes the shoreline of Possession Sound and Port Gardner, southern Whidbey Island, much of Camano Island, Saratoga Passage, Port Susan and Tulalip Bay (dxwlilap in Salish or Lushootseed, meaning "far to the end"). Today, these tribes make up the "Tulalip Tribes" who reserved the Tulalip Reservation north of Everett as a permanent homeland. The Tribes' usual and accustomed fishing grounds extend to large areas of the Salish Sea from Seattle to the Canadian Border., The Coast Salish people have thrived on the lands surrounding Puget Sound since time immemorial. The year-round climate was mild and everything they needed to subsist was abundant: fish, shellfish, game, berries, roots, and cedar trees. During the summer months families left their permanent villages to fish, hunt and gather these resources, on which their livelihood depended. It was during this time that they lived in temporary summer mat houses (such as the one shown on this panel). During the winter, families and extended families all resided in a longhouse, a structure built from cedar beams and planks, measuring 100 to 200 feet long. The longhouse was a place of learning and gathering and where elders would pass down stories to the young. In addition to storytelling, winter ceremonies such as the winter potlatch took place. During the cold months, women stayed inside the warm longhouse, creating their fine crafts such as basketry and weaving. It would be the decades after their encounter with Captain George Vancouver, in the summer of 1792, that their cyclical lifeways would begin to change., Archeological evidence documents encampments that date back 10,000 to 12,000 years ago around Puget Sound, since the end of the Pleistocene glaciation period. Mukilteo native encampments date back at least 1,000 years. An expansive shell midden shows intensive use of this culturally important site for many centuries. The name Mukilteo (Bək'^wəttiwʔ) in Lushootseed is said to have two interpretations: 1) "Goose neck" (based on the spit formation); and 2) "Good Camping Ground". Both are likely since the location was prominent, relatively flat along the shoreline, and there was access to two freshwater streams., [Photo captions, counterclockwise from top left, read] , . SEASONAL SHELTER AT TULALIP 1920s, . DRYING SALMON AT TULALIP 1920s, . TRADITIONAL SMOKING OF SALMON AT TULALIP BAY., . CANOE TUG-O-WARS, TULALIP BAY, 1912, . GROUP CANOEING AT SUNSET, . TULALIP TRIBAL CANOE COMPETITION