Original Inhabitants of the Area

Original Inhabitants of the Area. . , Along the western shore of Bellingham Bay lies the Lummi Peninsula, named for the native American people who still derive their traditional livelihood from harvesting seafood, particularly salmon. Before the arrival of pioneer settlers to Whatcom County in the mid 1800's, the Lummi people's traditional territory extended from the shores of Bellingham Bay, north along the mainland coast, including numerous settlements and seasonal fish camps throughout the San Juan Islands. With the January 22, 1855 signing of the Point Elliot Treaty by Lummi Chief Chow-its-hoot, reservation land was established on the Lummi Peninsula., The Lummi, accomplished canoe carvers, traded with the Hudson's Bay Company at early trading posts at Fort Langley and Victoria, British Columbia. As settlers arrived in growing numbers, the Lummi expanded their economic sphere, selling fish and canoes as well as ferrying goods around the region, passengers from ship to shore, and goods and people up the Nooksack River. , While active in preserving native traditions including basket weaving and canoe carving, the Lummi are also a leading tribe in the commercial harvest of salmon, operating a large fleet of modern fishing vessels and managing a fish and shellfish aquaculture program., The Lummi also are working to preserve their native language, 'Exlemivchovsen', a coastal Salish tongue related to, but distinct from, the many other tribal groups of region. Fed with runoff from the slopes of the North Cascades and ice melt from 10,778 foot Mount Baker, the Nooksack River spills into the northwest reach of Bellingham Bay. Upstream, it flows through the ancestral home of the Nooksack people, a river dwelling tribe who based their livelihood on salmon, game and vegetable harvest, and whose settlements were more stationary than the Lummi, based around fish traps. The Nooksack have reservation and treaty land between the towns of Deming and Everson.