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American Indian Legends of Washington State

© Jerri Brooker

Many who know of the historical culture of the Pacific Northwest know of Chief Noah Seattle and his famous speech arranged by Doctor "Doc" Maynard at the presentation of the treaty proposals in 1854 in which the Indians were to sign away their lands to the United States government in return for reservations and promises of government aid. Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens met with Chief Seattle and his people on that historic December day on a beach just north of the present-day Kingdome in Seattle.

For those of you who don't know, Chief Seattle was the son of a Suquamish Indian Chief from Bainbridge Island. He was, however, considered Duwamish, as his mother was a daughter to the Duwamish chief. The line of descendency in the Duwamish tribe is with the mother. He was later made hereditary chief of the Suquamish tribe and then chief of six allied coastal tribes due to his war heroics.

There's still controversy over what was really said that day, as his speech was interpreted by Dr. Harry Smith and published thirty-three years later, October 29, 1987 in the Seattle Sunday Star. His rendition of Chief Seattle's words is not in the Salish language of the time, but Smith's eloquent musings; so its authenticity is questionable. Smith knew Chinook, and some of it may have been misinterpreted in the translation from Salish to Chinook so Smith could take notes. It is, however, the only written eyewitness account of his famous speech.

In the early 1970's screenwriter Ted Perry used Chief Seattle's speech for a piece on ecology called Home, and muddied it all the more. He changed the speech to meet his environmental film's flavor. The original speech, nevertheless, is a part of our written history in this state, since its later newspaper publication.

Chief Seattle's eldest daughter, Princess Angeline, Kick-Is-Om-Lo, also became a well-known northwest figure through the eyes of prominent photographers, one being Northern Pacific Railroad's official photographer, F. Jay Haynes. He photographed her before her death in 1896.

She was born in 1811 when Chief Seattle was 25 years old, and remembers when the first white settlers came to establish the Hudson's Bay Company. She also remembers the white settlers at Fort Nisqually near Tacoma. She and her father befriended white settlers who were the first to land at Elliott Bay in Seattle. She was instrumental in teaching the white pioneers about the bounty of the land. She got the name, Princess Angeline, from Catherine Maynard, "Doc" Maynard's wife.

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