Chapter 12

Native Americans

Section 1

When Indians Plied Its Waters

By Gene Yoachum

Skokomish elder Joseph AndrewsSr.

Hood Canal offered bountiful the canal as a much simpler, more pristine fishing amid cool waters and a place in their youth, when it was a base for picturesque aquatic highway to their subsistence. the three major Indian tribes Joseph A. Andrews Sr., 76, recalled the living there in the decades prior years just prior to 1920as a time when he to the 20th Century. The history rarely wore clothes and when Hood Canal of the canal was shaped by the Twana, was a "beautiful place" to be while growing Chemakum and S' tribes, but only up. Early in the morning, he'd watch deer remnants remain today: the Skokomish, the along the shores of the canal lick salt off Suquamish and the S'. rocks at low tide. Elders from the three tribes describe Andrews' eyes glistened as he talked

790 Native Americans »191 about how the autumn sky "just turned the portage between Hood's Canal and the dark" as huge flocksof migrating geese flew main waters of the Sound, where the Indian, overhead, issuing sounds "that were like a by carrying his canoe three miles, avoids lullaby to my ears." rowing around a peninsula 50 miles long." He remembered sitting in the bow of Skokomishmeans "River People," his grandfather's 24-foot shovel-nose canoe derived from their settlement at the mouth of as a preschooler, "eating salmonberries that the large freshwater river that empties into hung out over the canal.I wasn't a very good the canal. The Northwest picker,but I could eat them pretty good. The Chemakums are believed to have Coast tribes "When I was a young boy, before I originated from the Kwilleuts, who lived went to school, the Indians traveled the canal south of Cape Hattery on the PacificCoast. lost most of by canoesand rowboats equipped with Eellswrote that a portion of the Kwilleut their creative sails,"said Andrews, an elder among the tribe, according to the Kwilleut tradition, traditions Skokomish, whose reservation sits at the came inland from the coast followinga very within a few GreatBendof Hood Canalin MasonCounty. high and sudden tide long ago and settled decades of the "We had camps on both sides of the near Port Townsend, calling themselves treaties they canal," he said. "Therewere plenty of fish "Chemakums." and clams. There were trees along both sides; By 1887,Eells said the Chemakums signed with the loggingcamps were just getting started." were "virtually extinct," there being only 10 whites in the Andrews said he "didn't wear clothes left who had not married whites or members mid-19th until he was 8 years old. There was no need of other tribes.Only one four-member family Century. to becausethere was lots of privacy out was included in the total. At one time, the Indian culture there." Chemakums occupied lands from the mouth When he was about 13 years old, of Hood Canal to Port DiscoveryBay. was banished Andrews had an encounterwith a coupleof The S'Klallam tribe derived their name during the whales that he's not forgotten. from"Nusklaim," a word in their language school year at "About halfway across the canal, these which meant "strong people." boarding two whales buzzed me," Andrews recalled. The S'Klallams had claimed territory "They bumped the boat and made waves from Port Discovery Bayto the Hoko River schools the that bumped me, and the dogs barked, but on the northern coast of Washington. children were they didn't tip me over." Shortly before the turn of the 20th sent to. When he told about being accostedby Century, Eellsnoted many S'Klallams had the whales, Andrews said his mother moved to Little Boston,opposite Port explained the huge beasts may have been Gamble; to Jamestown north of Sequim; and trying to get to the dog and her puppies, Port Townsend and Port Discovery Bay, noting that whales eat seals and other small where most were employed at sawmills. animals. Another band ofS'Klallams made their Andrews' tribe shared use of the canal home in Elwah, about eight miles west of with two others, the Suquamish and the Port Port Angeles, living largely on fish. (Al Gamble S'Klallams. though the Port Gamble clan changed the The Skokomishelder said his people spelling of the tribal name to S'Klallam, the had friends among the Suquamish Indians, closestreflection to the correctpronuncia although"theyhad a hostility among them. tion, the Jamestown and Lower Elwah clans It seemed like they always had to have still use Klallam in their names.) someone's permission to be in the area. We never worried about it, but they did." Ihe Suquamish and the Skokomish were the main users of Hood Canal during Doth sides of Hood Canal originally the latter years of the 19th Century, accord were inhabited by the Twana Indians, ing to Lawrence Webster of Indianola. divided into three bands, the Du-hlelips, At 91, Webster is the eldest of the Skokomish and Kolsids, the Rev. Myron Suquamish tribe, centered on the Port Eells wrote in The Twana, Chemakum and Madison Indian Reservationin North Kitsap. Klallam Indians of Washington Territory, 'They used the west side, we used the published in 1887. east side" of the canal, he said. The Klallam He said the word 'Twana" was Tribe, particularly those from Port Gamble, believed to meana portage,coming"from didn't begin to make substantial use of Hood 292 • The People of Hood Canal Canal until after Pope &Talbot built its it required. Younger Indians "began to get lumber mill at Port Gamble in 1854, Webster busy with other things." added. He recalled taking a cedar dugout canoe on a month-long fishing trip on the Irene Purser, 90, an eldermember of canal when he was about 4 years old. the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe at Little "It was a family canoe, seven of us," he Boston, also remembers the canal as a major The S'Klallam said. It was large enough for four adults, thoroughfare for early settlers. She and two other Tribe derived three children and the group's camping equipment. Hood Canal S'Klallam tribal elders — her its namefrom They paddled the half-sister, Mildred Decoteau, "Nu-sklaim," a canoe northward from Miller tribes 64, and Catherine Moran, 81 word in their Bayaround the Kitsap — recalled how game, fish language that Peninsula, into the mouth of and other forms of life were meant "strong Hood Canal and all the way found alongside the canal. Then commercial ventures people." to the south end of the saltwater channel. and increasing numbers of The group had timed residences began to change the journey to the canal to the life they'd grown to take advantage of the tides enjoy. because without help from "In those days, you tidal currents, their canoe trip could go where you wanted would have been much to dig clamsor go fishing," longer.Evenwith tides Decoteau said. "It was an working in their favor, the important part of daily life." trip required the better part Purser said she could of a day. The Skokomish (1), remember when there was They spent the next the Port Gamble "only one store on the canal month living in canvas tents S1 Klallam (2) and — at Lofall. People went pitched along the banks of the Suquamish (3) there to buy hardtack, flour the canal, sleeping on cattail and sugar." mats, fishing each day and allfound She recalled her drying their catch over sustenance in the grandparents taking her to campfires to keep it through bounty of the Hood Puyallup with them to pick the winter. Canal watershed. hops and going to Brinnon to After they'd caught and catch and dry fish for the dried what they could take back in their winter. She also remembered family mem canoe,they returned home.The trip back, bers baking bread by burying loaves in hot however, took a full day's paddling and part sand and "eating fishon a stickevery day of another, Webster recalled, because they and never getting tired of it." had miscalculated the tides needed to make Moran said her people would dig their journey easier. clams each winter and sell them for 50 cents When he was growing up, Webster a bushel. said Anderson Hill Road in Central Kitsap Purser's family had a large canoe, large and the Port Gamble-Suquamish Road in enough fora bed in the middle for the North Kitsap werenot roads,but merepaths childrenin her familyto sleep, with room on — routes used frequently by his people to each end for adults to sit and paddle the get to and from Hood Canal.He said tribal craft. members who were in fishing camps on the In addition to paddling and using tidal canal for extended periods often used the currents to their advantage, the Indians also trails to tend to matters back home. The nine- relied on the winds to power their canoes mile trek could be made within a few hours. and flat-bottomed boats, Moran said. She Webster recalled the Suquamish didn't recalled how sails were created by sewing go over to the canal as much starting in flour sacks together. about 1910. Older tribal members were less 'The canoe was how they got around," inclined to make the trip becauseof the effort she said. Native Americans »193

Section 2

Tribes Seek Their Spirit Song ByJulie McCormick

Skokomish spiritual leader Bruce Miller brought theold cleansing ritual back to his tribe.

Itis mid-winter and pre-white man. Farther were more S'Klallams at Little The last of the yabu, the dog salmon Boston and Port Gamble, Port Ludlow, people from the Skokomish and other Hadlock and Port Townsend. rivers, have been hauled in and The S'Klallams spread into the former smoked. Food the Tuwa'duxq have Chemakum territory from their original gathered should last the season. camps along the Strait of Juan de Fuca as the Now it's time for the 1,000 or more Chemakums — depleted, it is said, by war people of various bands scattered around the and smallpox — declined first to a remnant curled leg of water they call of a people, then to a memory, then to a tuwa'duxqlsi'dakw — the Twana's saltwater footnote. — to congregate in their plank houses and By1859, only a few years after the devote their time to more spiritual matters. federal treaty had been signed with the three Nine communities surround the tribes, the S'Klallamswere very much in Twana's saltwater, occupied by three or five evidence all along the passage to the canal. bands, depending upon whose account Their chief, Chetzemoka, hosted a constitutes history. three-day ceremonial gathering of 400 Edward S. Curtis, who photographed S'Klallams in 1859 that a San Francisco tribes throughout the West at the turn of the newspaper correspondent described as an century, located the Duhle'lips at Union "invocation to their Tomanawos, or Great Creek, the S'kokomish at their river, the Spirit." Tomanawos was a Chinook word, Soatlkobsh along both sides from what is the trading jargon spoken by Indian and now Hoodsport to the Dosewallips at what white alike. is now Brinnon. Once into the canal, the saltwater Members o{ the S'Klallam tribe belonged to the Twanas. Beforecentury's apparently camped at Brinnon, but farther to end, their five bands were all called the northeast there were more Twanas — the Skokomish after the river where their 4,000- Kolsids at what is now Quilcene, another acre reservation was located, and where version of their name, and the Slchoksbish most of their depleted population eventually on both sides beyond. settled. 194* The People of Hood Canal were full of color — although he was not lheyhad named 32 different places on allowed to witness much — but not the river, 146on the canal, including some grounded in meaning. whirlpools and other special spots that were Four people went into extended to be avoided lest the salmon people become trances and were revived by mask-wearing offended and not return. dancers.Spiritswere calledby the beating of This intimate relationship with their rattles upon the roof of the lodge house. Unlike the natural surroundings, upon which they People danced masked as bears, northern tribes, relied for their relatively abundant existence, lizards, cranes. People blackened their faces was shared by all the Coast Salishand other and filled their hair with white feathers. One many of whose tribes throughout the Northwest Pacific man appeared to swallow an arrow. similar Coast. None of that should have been re ceremonies Winter was the time when those corded, remarks Miller. The correspondent were attended, relationships were most often displayed in notes that Chetzemoka was admonished for permitting whites at an evening perfor described in song and dance. It is the timewhen tribal members may become "Indian sick," the mance, where they disgraced him with detail, term members of Xanxanitl, the Skokomish laughter. explained and tribe's secretsociety, have given to a state of Unlike the northern tribes, many of analyzed by mind that requires certain prescribed whose similar ceremonies were attended, white scholars, spiritual steps. described in detail, explained and analyzed most of the "Indian sickis when you go through a by whitescholars, mostof the CoastSalish sudden or maybe a gradual characterchange were — and still are — secret. And the in your life," saysBruce Miller, a Skokomish artifacts of their rituals gone. were — and spiritual leader. "Youcould pass along the right to have still are — Millerbrought the old practices backto a mask, but not the mask itself," explains secret. And the the tribe after his initiation in a Miller. "To have an uninitiated person artifacts of ceremony in 1977. Indiansickislikea flufor observe vilified the ceremony." which there is no detectable cause. Until the 1978 Native American their rituals 'That means that your spirit song is Freedom of Religion Act, ceremonies were gone. tryingto be born," Miller explains. "Welive also technicallyillegal.Tribal members were in a societyin which the majorityof people sometimes jailed for participation. are without a song, and from my observation At the Skokomish Reservation, only they wander lost.Theyleavetheir own theTreatyDaysceremonies the lastSaturday culture to find a culture that will give them a in January are open to the public.They are song." calledTreaty Daysbecausecelebrationof the Song—harmoniesofhuman sound Point-No-PointTreaty was the only justifica that precedeand underlie formal language tiongovernmentagents would allow for the — was given by the Great Spirit to express forbidden practices. basic human emotion. Xanxanitl initiates must endure It's the same old song — and dance — isolationand deprivation, based on the Millernotes with a slight smile.Spiritdance theory that it strengthens one for hardship accompaniessong in the longhouseor that can comeat any time. 'That teacheskal, smokehouse where rituals known only to the utmost belief that the spirit will give you members resemble those of ancestors like what you need to survive until you get Frank Allen, one of the last dancers. better," says Miller. Allen's death in the 1950s, at the same The Salish and other Pacific coast time as that of Miller's grandmother, also a people had wealth-basedcultures.Status dancer, was the end of spirit dancing for the was achieved partly through the redistribu Skokomish until Miller reintroduced the tion of wealth in the potlatch ceremony and practice. the children of the wealthy particularly Songis a cure for Indian sickness, an needed such training. expression of the powerofthespiritwhose When an initiate ends his or her fast, name you have taken in a naming ceremony. each morsel must be shared, "because then In the old days,says Miller, a personwithout you beginyour new lifeby sharing ...in an a song wasn't really alive. atmosphereof thankfulness," saysMiller. The ceremonies described by the San 'They are forced to admire the beauty of the Francisconewspaper correspondent in 1859 simplicityof their life." Native Americans *195

Suquamish artisan EdCarriere.

EdCarriere's eyes gaze down at Although there are many basket thick fingers tangled in their makersamong the coastal tribes, only Section 3 deliberate work. Lost in it, his voice Carriere regularly attempts the traditional is barely audible as he tells about open-weave clam basket. They are sturdier the conviction that drove him to re- and less showy than the more tightly woven He Weaves learn this painstaking task after so grass and cedar bark baskets used for Past and many years. storage, carrying and cooking. "My desire is to make baskets that Clam basket makers did not adorn Present aren't being made anymore," says the theircreations with meticulousfancywork Together Suquamish Indian, arching and weaving stiff like that of the other types. They would last cedarstrips of limband root into warp and only a season or two before breaking down ByJulie weft. from heavyuse and saltwater decay, while McConuick "I feel like it's a link, a connection, and the others lasted generations. I'm doing it exactly the way it was done The Northwest Coast tribes lost most hundreds of years ago." of their creative traditions within a few Carriere is starting clam basket bot decades of the treaties they signed with tomsfor hisclassof novices. Theyoftenget whitesin the mid-19th Century. stuck on this difficult initial part of the They were quick to adapt to new ways. process, so he is sparing them that frustra Manufactured goods replaced many of the tion in their early work. materials they had collected for centuries to 196 • The People ofHood Canal

carve, weave and decorate. workshop addition to house not only Denim and gingham replaced hide, basketrybut carving materialsand tools. beaten cedar and dog's wool clothing. He's taken up carving under the Modern cookingin pots and pans replaced tutelageofS'Klallam JakeJonesand Duane the tightly woven basketsused to make Pasco, a white carver who has gained a "stone soup," any water-based concoction worldwide reputation for meticulous work into which hot rockswere dropped for heat. in the Northwest Indian tradition. The art of Peopleused pailsto collect and wash "Everyartist needs something else," he basket making clams.They lasted longer than the strong old says with a conviction born of experience. baskets. He has a log on his land all picked out for his wanedfrom Only a few women retained the basket- nextmajor project, a canoecarved in the arrival of weaving skill.One of them was Carriere's traditional style. white society great-grandmother, Julie Jacob. Carriere sellsevery basket he makes, until the 1930s, Once her fingersbecametoo stifffor and he also likes to produce a bent cedar bark pouch of a type used to carry whaling when, the work, the 15-year-old great-grandsonshe had raised was taught to help. tools in the bows of canoes. ironically, But when he was grown, Carriere, now People find him. He does not advertise, government in his late 50s,stopped making baskets,went nor prepare work for galleries, nor take programs to work at Puget Sound NavalShipyardand specialorders, "because then it would be just sought to teach raised a family. like a job.I just do it when I have the time basket making "In '691 started to work with it again and I feellike doing it, because then I can and bring the art back," he said. "It tookme make a better basket." to about four years to make a fairlygood, Completing the firstof a long seriesof impoverished decentlookingbasket.I had to try to pull all bottoms for the class he's teaching at the Port Indians during that knowledge out and try to remember." Gamble S'Klallam Art Center, Carriere the Depression. Carriere believes he owns close to muses aloud about his students and his everybasketbook everwritten in English. work. Multipleexamplesfrom other basketry He says it takes 12hours to make a specialties havejoined a broadassortment of medium-sized clam basket, not including Northwest native work on shelves in gathering and preparing materials,which Carriere's living room. are stored in a freezer. For more than 20years, his workbench "It looks so easy, and then, when I start has been the dining tablein the house he teachingclass,no one can do it." He smiles built acrossfrom his great-grandmother's into his hands. "My fingers get really worn home. It is located on familyland along the and smooth if I'm weaving every day ...All Indianola beachfront in North Kitsap. the little fingerprints get worn off." Butthis year, Carriereis completinga Native Americans *197

Duane Pasco, a non-Indian who isanexpert in traditional Northwest Coast tribal carving, teaches a class in bentwood boxmaking.

"... the construction of (these) boxes is The tribe put up a building in 1989 to somewhat peculiar. The sides andends are made house a canoe carving project led by Pasco Section 4 ofone board; where the corner is tobe, a small for the state's centennial. When that was miter is cut, both on the inside and outside, partly done, the building became a classroom to through. Then the corners are steamed and bent help bring back the traditional arts. Teaching at right angles, andthe inside miter is cutso Pasco, a non-Indian carver in the the Tribes' perfectly that itfits water-tight when thecorners Northwest Coast tribal tradition, teaches are bent." — Rev. Myron Eells,missionary design and box making to several older LostArt and diarist, in The Twana, Chemakum and tribal members. They, in turn, will pass it on By Julie Klallam Indians of Washington Territory, 1887. to the next generation, said Jones. McConnick More modern steaming methods are Onthe beach at Point Julia, available to soften the wood for bending, but Northwest carver Duane Pasco the class also used the traditional method of is tending a rock-filled fire and burying it with hot rocks covered in sword digging trenches in the sand. ferns. His students in the bent box Bent box making methods were class, several from the Port entirely lost, even among the more tradi Gamble S'Klallam tribe, are putting finishing tional northerly tribes, by the time Pasco first touches on their rectangular cedar boards, tried it 30 years ago. An account by pioneer prepared at the reservation's new art anthropologist Franz Boasseemed complete building across from the tribal center. until he tried it and failed, Pasco said. The last bent boxes handed down The next step was to study examples within the tribe were reduced to ash several collected in museums and — voila! — a key years ago in a fire that destroyed tribal undercutting method could be discerned chairman Jake Jones' home. that allowed a scored piece of wood to fold 198 • The People of Hood Canal

tightly in upon itselfand forma watertight Eskimos." seal. The basket making is an integral part of The bent boxes — unique to the world the economic well being of the community of the Northwest tribes — were often used because we're a poor people, basically," said for storage, and sometimes bound by woven Miller. strands of cedar bark for carrying and to Miller and other basket makers in the bind them together inside canoes. tribe now often use modern dyes and The bent boxes materials, including raffia from Madagascar, — unique to At theSkokomish Reservation, 40 rather than pursue the laboriousprocess of miles south by canoe along Hood Canal, gathering, treating and creatingnative dyes. the world of tribal member Bruce Miller has shared his "The basket making itself comprises the Northwest basket making skills and experience with only about 5 percent of the whole process," tribes — were others, including children, since 1970. he said. often used for Among the three Hood Canal area But some entirely traditional baskets storage, and tribes, the Skokomish have been most with trademark Skokomish dog, stacked-box successful at maintaining their traditional and other designs are still made from sometimes art. beargrass, cattail rushes, shredded cedar bound by "Actually, we have a budding commu bark and "sweet grasses." woven strands nity of artists," said Miller,known primarily Rit dye easily replaces and outlasts the of cedar bark for his twined and coiled baskets, but also as "blue mud" of the marshes used to stain for carrying a carver and beadwork artist. There are 14 materialsblack, the rootsof Oregon grape Skokomish basketmakers, who generally for yellow, the alder bark that once was and to bind market their work to a steady clienteleof chewed to a paste to obtain red. "Nowadays, them together collectorsand galleries. we use a blender," Miller said, "but ifs not The work of carver Andy Wilbur, the same red." silversmith Pete Peterson and basket maker While such methods may not seem Richard Cultee has gained international entirely authentic, Skokomish artists are recognition for beauty, Millersaid. quick to point out that the elders themselves Miller, 46, credits two key elders, were fond of innovative techniques that Louisa Pulsifer and Emily Miller,for passing could save them time and trouble. along before their deaths the traditionally Hernandez laughs at the memory of female art of basket making to his genera her grandmother, who decided the best way tion. to remove unwanted mucus from grass Miller learned from Emily Miller, materials was to place it between plywood whose granddaughter Mary Hernandez sheets and drive back and forth over it with a recently decided to continue the family car. tradition into the fourth generation. "My grandmother didn't even know Basketsof all sizes and for all purposes how to drive," she laughed, but it beat continued to be made privately by tribal scraping off the stuff with dull knives. members, Miller said, because it was an It's not only troublesome, it's often enjoyable occupation and because it, unlike hopeless to try to do things the old way. other arts associated with forbidden reli Rediscovering the old methods is gious practices, was never banned. another matter. Miller said he learned most Miller once found some "Louisa of what he knows about tribal traditions "by baskets" in New York shops and learned keeping my ears open. Some of this I've that one of his had reached a collection at the never seen, but was described time after time Museum of Folk Art in Berlin. by my elders." But the art waned from arrival of white For several decades, renewed interest society until the 1930s,when government in the Northwest native arts has opened new programs sought to teach basket making to markets and created a revival of interest impoverished Indians during the Depres among tribal members themselves, who can sion. point to the work of their elders and ances "We thought it was hilarious," said tors with pride and appreciation. Miller. "It was like selling refrigerators to Native Americans • 199

Head Start students at the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribal Center are introduced to the language oftheir ancestors.

A Cultural Appreciation on Native American studies. "Just that time of year everybody says Section 5 Manyof their grandparents went to "I am part Indian,' " said Pat Hawk, director boarding schools,where much of the of Indian Education at the school. Hawk, an Indian culture was banished during 18-yearHood Canal employee, directs the Using the the school year. session, where students learn cultural Classroom to Today, the grandchildren attend Hood comparisons among the American tribes. Rekindle Canal School, where educators try to re "They didn't all live in tepees; they kindle interest in Indian traditions. didn't all wear feathers." Tradition Almost 100 Indian students attend the The session also includes visits by school, located at the Skokomish Reservation people in the tribal community who share on the Great Bend of the canal. They repre skillsin storytelling, puppetry, dancing and sent about 40 percent of the K-7student fishing lore. population. She also directs a year-long art class for Inside the school, students get remind the older students, who worked on painting ers of the culture that existed long before an Indian mural in the hallway. white man's schools first came to the "We want to keep the traditional arts Skokomish in the 1870s. Interest in Indian alive," Hawk said. heritage seems to rise during the fallwhen The school's funding for Indian the curriculum includes a three-week session education is limited, said Superintendent 200 • The People ofHood Canal Robert Weir. Statefunds totaling $5,200, and Reviving the Language federal TitleVfunds totaling $17,000 went to the school for Indian education in 1990. Nuts'oo... chasa ... lleewh." "We have to squeeze salaries from that, The guileless pre-schoolers in the Port as well as things for the kids," Weir said. Gamble S'Klallam Tribe's Head Start Tied to the money is the requirement class wrap their throats around the clustered that Indianpeoplein the community stay syllables of theirancientlanguageas ifborn Native involved with the school. An Indian Parent to it. American Education Committee meetsmonthlyto "...ngoos... lhq'achsh ...t'xung." discusscurriculum and classroom problems. students learn Theyhold up eachlittlefingerand "Weare a liaisonbetween parents and better by repeat with teacher Myrna Milholland from the teachers and staff,"said LaurieByrd, the Lower Elwha Klallams, who holds doing. They parent and Head Start teacher. flashcardswith pictures of familiartradi pick up more If parents raise concerns, committee tional objects. • from discovery members act on their behalf. Nuts'oo kw'ayungsun — one eagle. than from "A lot of the parents are uncomfortable Two whales— chasa ch'whe'yu. They run with the teachers,"Byrdsaid. out of fingers at 'oopun. books. Only two of the school's 22 teachers are Milholland is out of numbers after Indian.The underlying cultural differences nineteen, she admits to her adult class later may have something to do with parental in the morning. Shehad only a few words of discomfort. Whateverthe reasonforany nuwhstla'yum ootsun — the S'Klallam discomfort, Byrd believes the solution is language —until, as a young woman, she getting people together to talk. began helping her mother, NellieSullivan, "We need to keep communication with the sometimesunruly mixed summer open," she said. classes ofadults and children. The Indian Parent Education Commit Milholland recalls that children in the tee was successful in arranging tutoring for tribe had begun to mimic the language when Indian students last year. The Skokomish her mother used it, poke fun at the old TribalCouncilfootsthe bill,paid for out of sounds, until she stopped speaking it. the council's fish tax. Many of the Skokomish She loved working with her mother are fishers. and tries to keep up the work despite The tutoring sessionsinclude not just occasional feelings of inadequacy. "Someof emphasis on any skill the students need to thewords are so hard, I'd almosthave my practice, but also about 15 minutes a session facein her mouth trying to pronounce on native arts or crafts. them," she smiles. "We want to ensure that there is a When her mother died a few years ago, multi-cultural concept in all the curriculum," only six elders in the Elwha tribe retained said SallyBrownsfield, a fifth-grade teacher any use of the spoken tongue. at the school and a parent member of the Now Milholland must use a tape Indian Parent Education Committee. She is a recorder to preserve what is left of the member of the . language among her elders and hopes to get Brownsfield contends that Indian access to the University of Washington students have different learning stylesfrom language tapes made decades ago and their Anglo classmates. stored somewhere.A book of the language "It's been shown that Native American created by University of Hawaii researchers students learn better by doing. They pick up is flawed,based upon only one source who more from discovery than from books," spoke two tribal languages and mixed them Brownsfield said. With that knowledge, she up. Her mother told her to ignore it. plans her classes so the students can be Milholland's mother needed her help interactive. because she was educated to teach children "I let them do the experiment first, then and she knew how to keep them busy and the reading, then the experiment again," she deal with their short attention spans. Today, said. "With other classes, I might give the as with every Wednesday language class, the reading and instruction first." children are learning something new and adding it to the small store of basics. ByJessie Milligan Out come the animal puppets. You Native Americans • 201 remembersta'ching, the wolf,says Port Gamble, where tribal sources say the Milholland. campwasdisplaced by thewhite He playeda keyrolein the storyof community's graveyardafterthe milltown pretty Nakeeta, heard lastweek and related was established in 1853. again today. Straying from hermother The ancients were known as excellent duringa berrypicking expedition, she traders and fierce warriors. But by the time became lost and was eaten. Her mother's Jones' generation was born, therewere no grief wassostrongthatshewasgiven Lake more canoe makers, no more spirit quests, Most adult Sutherland as consolation. no more "nuts'oo... chasa ... lleewh." tribal members Tsyas, hand. They trace theoutlines of The Port Gamble S'Klallams recently share a legacy put thetraditional "s" prefix backbefore their ten fingers onto theirbook of coloring of generations pictures. Later, theywilltakethese books theirname.Likemany of the words, it works home and maybe their parents willtake an bestifyou suckin on the prefix, breatheout of white interest. on the next syllables, much like playing control that It is with the children that the future of harmonica. included The tribe hired Milholland to help the traditional culture rests, tribal leaders distrust and regaintheirculture,whichas any linguistor say. contemptfor a Most adults share a legacy of genera poetknows, isembeddedin the words. tions of white control that included bans on Jones' sisters, Ginger and Geneva Ives, Pacific the languageand customs,distrust and signed up fortheadultlanguage class and Northwest contemptfor the "savage"waysofa Pacific added to MilhoUand's vocabulary with Coast culture memories of sounds buried since the death Northwest Coast culture rich in personal rich in industry, art and religiousceremony. of their grandmother 47years ago. "I think we were one of the first people Allthreeagree on the variablemeaning personal togivethem up," S'Klallam chairmanJake of umit, which can be sit down or get up, industry, art Jones saysofthe old ways,mostlybecauseof dependingon what you do with your hands. and religious earlyand persistentcontact with whites,he But nu can't be the only way to say ceremony. surmises. "no," saysGeneva. "Shealways said SeparateS'Klallam bands onceranged 'aunu'," she muses about the large old lady fromNeahBay at the far westerntip of the she waited upon in old age. Maybe she OlympicPeninsulato Discovery Baynear meant "no more." Port Townsend; from Lower Hadlock, where Myrna Milhollandwrites that down. artifacts at a beach called Tsetsibus indicate a Maybeher elders will know. meeting ground centuries old; and later to ByJulie McCormick