The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe ( ; ), also known as the Muckleshoot Tribe, is a
federally-recognized tribe
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States. located in
Auburn, Washington
Auburn is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States (with a small portion crossing into neighboring Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County). The population was 87,256 at the 2020 United States ...
. The tribe governs the
Muckleshoot Reservation and is composed of descendants of the
Duwamish
Duwamish may refer to:
People
* Duwamish people, a Lushootseed-speaking Indigenous people in Washington state
* Duwamish Tribe, an unrecognized tribe of Duwamish descendants
Places
* Duwamish Head, a promontory jutting into Elliott Bay
* Duw ...
,
Stkamish,
Smulkamish,
Skopamish,
Yilalkoamish, and
Upper Puyallup peoples. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe was formally established in 1936, after the
Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...
of 1934, but its origins lie in the creation of the Muckleshoot Reservation in 1874 and the treaties of
Medicine Creek (1854) and
Point Elliott (1855).
Name
The name "Muckleshoot" is an
anglicization
Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English languag ...
of the
Lushootseed
Lushootseed ( ), historically known as Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, or Skagit-Nisqually, is a Central Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Lushootseed is the general name for the dialect continuum composed of two main di ...
word .
originally referred only to a prairie, located between the White and Green rivers, and never as a word to refer to the peoples living in this area. Prior to the establishment of the Muckleshoot reservation, the Indigenous peoples of the Green-White river systems were variously called "Green River Indians", "White River Indians", or by their native village terms (such as Skopamish). The name "Muckleshoot" was first recorded in a survey conducted by
George Gibbs from 1853-1856, where he recorded "Mukl-shootl", as being a "prairie between the White and Green
ivers Ivers is the Name of the following people:
*Alice Ivers (1851 - 1930), professional saloon poker player and faro player
*Donald L. Ivers (born 1941), former judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
*Eileen Ivers (born 1965), ...
U.S. Military Station".
The term evolved from referring to a prairie, to referring to a military outpost on the prairie. After the reservation was established at the fort, it took the name of the prairie, and later, was applied to the
Indians
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Associated with India
* of or related to India
** Indian people
** Indian diaspora
** Languages of India
** Indian English, a dialect of the English language
** Indian cuisine
Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
living at the reservation. The earliest recorded use of "Muckleshoot" to refer to a people was in 1864, by one John Montgomery, who described his wife as "an Indian woman of the Muckleshute Band of the Klikitat Tribe." Montgomery, like other settlers at the time, evidently referred to peoples east of the
Cascade mountains
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...
indiscriminately as "
Klikitats," and likely thought that the "Muckleshutes" of the Muckleshoot Reservation were a sub-group of the "Klikitats", due to close ties between the peoples of the Green and White rivers and the
interior peoples. In 1868 and 1870, reports from the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
described the "Muckleshoots" and the "Muckleshoot Tribe" living at the Muckleshoot reservation.
History
The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe is the successor of various groups which lived along the