The Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation is a

federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...

and

Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

in the U.S. state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The tribe includes

Suquamish The Suquamish () are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American people, located in present-day Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish people. Today, most Suquamish people are enrolled in the federally recognized Su ...

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 ...

, and

Sammamish people The Sammamish people () are a Lushootseed-speaking Southern Coast Salish people. They are indigenous to the Sammamish River Valley in central King County, Washington. The Sammamish speak Lushootseed, a Coast Salish language which was historica ...

s, all

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 ...

-speaking

Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and prac ...

, and was a signatory to the

Treaty of Point Elliott The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as the Treaty of Point Elliot / Point Elliot Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes of the greater ...

of 1855. They had 950 enrolled tribal citizens in 2012.

Location

The Port Madison Indian Reservation is located in northern

Kitsap County Kitsap County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, Washington, Port Orchard; its ...

and consists of 7,657 acres, of which 1,475 acres are owned by the Suquamish Tribe, 2,601 acres are owned by individual citizens of the Suquamish Tribe, and 3,581 acres are owned by non-citizens. The reservation is divided into two separate parcels by the geographic feature Miller Bay. The towns of

and Indianola both lie within the bounds of the reservation. A resident population of 6,536 persons was counted in the 2000 census.

History

The reservation was authorized by the

Point Elliott Treaty The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as the Treaty of Point Elliot / Point Elliot Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes of the greater ...

of January 22, 1855, for the

Suquamish people The Suquamish () are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American people, located in present-day Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish people. Today, most Suquamish people are enrolled in the federally recognized Suqua ...

, and was established by an executive order issued October 21, 1864. Other Coast Salish peoples, including the

and Sammamish, also moved to the reservation. When the land was reserved by the Point Elliott Treaty, all land was held by Tribal members and designated for their sole use. However, a series of procedures designed to accommodate non-Indigenous land acquisition created a situation where the reservation is widely interspersed with non-Tribal ownership.

Economic development

None of the tribe's reservation is zoned for agriculture. In 2012, the tribe established a shellfish nursery on a floating dock, where they raise clams. Successful economic development since the early 1990s has given the Suquamish Tribe government the ability to reacquire land lost during the allotment era, and "the Tribe and Tribal members now own more than half of the land on the reservation for the first time in recent history," Suquamish Tribe communications director April Leigh said in a story in the North Kitsap Herald. Recent major acquisitions include White Horse Golf Club in 2010, placed into trust in March 2014; and 200 acres known as the Place of the Bear, in the Cowling Creek watershed, in November 2014.

Important sites

Completion of the Suquamish Museum in 2012 helped solidify Suquamish Village as a walkable cultural district which includes: * The grave of Chief Si'ahl, or Seattle, at the Suquamish Cemetery * Old Man House Park, the former site of

Old Man House The Old Man House was the largest winter longhouse in what is now the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, once standing on the shore of Puget Sound. It was the center of the Suquamish village of on Agate Pass, just south of the present ...

, the largest winter longhouse in the Salish Sea * The Suquamish Veterans Memorial, with honor poles depicting

Chief Kitsap Kitsap (; ) was a leader of the Suquamish people during the 19th century. Kitsap was the orchestrator of a region-wide coalition that sought to end the constant slave raids perpetrated by the Cowichan. His wealth and prestige allowed him to bu ...

and Chief Seattle * The

House of Awakened Culture The House of Awakened Culture () is a community house in Suquamish, Washington State, on the Port Madison Indian Reservation. Built by the Suquamish tribe in 2008, it acts as a spiritual successor to the historic Old Man House, which was burnt by t ...

, overlooking Port Madison *

Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort The Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort (also known as the Clearwater Casino) is a casino and hotel located in Kitsap County, Washington, and owned by Port Madison Enterprises, the economic development authority of the Suquamish tribe. History Th ...

, located near the

Agate Pass Agate Pass or Agate Passage is a high-current tidal strait in Puget Sound connecting Port Madison and mainland Kitsap County in the US state of Washington. It lies between Bainbridge Island and the mainland of the Kitsap Peninsula near Suqu ...

bridge at Suquamish Way and Highway 305, is an events and entertainment destination, with 15,000 square feet of meeting space, a hotel with 183 rooms overlooking Agate Pass, and a showcase of Coast Salish art

Notable tribal members

Chief Seattle Seattle ( – June 7, 1866; , ; usually styled as Chief Seattle) was a leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship wi ...

(

, ca. 1786–1866), military leader and diplomat

Notes

References

Port Madison Reservation, Washington
United States Census Bureau

External links

Suquamish Tribe of the Port Madison Indian Reservation
official website
Suquamish Museum
Suquamish, WA
Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort
Suquamish, WA {{coord, 47.732396, -122.554893, display=title Duwamish Geography of Kitsap County, Washington Native American governments in Washington (state) Coast Salish governments American Indian reservations in Washington (state) Federally recognized tribes in the United States