Humans have walked the Earth for countless generations and created culture after culture, mythology after mythology, and religion after religion. Lewis County’s first culture belongs to The Chehalis Native American Tribe.
The Chehalis People fish and hunt as far as the mountains to what is now known as Grays Harbor and lower Puget Sound. The rivers and animals in this region are essential for many reasons. Using baskets to carry the berries and fish, they also gather roots they deem sacred.
The rivers serve as a highway to the tribe. In the past, they navigated their way in shallow shovel-nosed canoes. The houses of their permanent villages were cedar plank houses that faced the water. The waterways serve them well, supplying the people with freshwater crayfish and clams, salmon, steelhead, and even eels coming to and from the ocean.
The lower Chehalis and upper Chehalis consist of two principal tribes that speak Salish and work together through visitation, intermarriage, and trade.
The Lower Chehalis People hunt from the sea using nets, weirs, and harpoons. They often hunted seals, along with clams and various other shellfish.
Historically, the tribes traveled a great distance, had many settlements, and were not bound by the modern-day county borders. The word Chehalis means “Sand” because of a village set in modern-day Westport.
The upper Chehalis People lived in Cloquallum Creek to the upper regions of the Chehalis River. The upper Chehalis People are heavily into a river-based and mountain-hunting lifestyle. They fish, hunt, and gather berries and roots.
In the past, tribe members used the river and then traveled on foot into the country, but in the 1800s, they acquired horses by trade with the Klickitat Tribe of Eastern Washington.
The Stories of the Chehalis People
Stories are something humans have done for thousands of years. For the Chehalis People, stories are sometimes oral traditions with lessons to teach children as well as means of entertainment and bonding.
One story is about The Changer. Shortly after birth, the Changer is taken to “The Land of the Salmon.” After a time, he managed to escape and embarked on a journey back home. On that journey, he named the fish and animals he encountered.
The Changer also created landmarks still seen today and is responsible for the fish’s knowledge of where to spawn. The Changer became the Sun, and his younger brother became the Moon.
The tribe’s storytellers were highly respected for their knowledge, for these tribal storytellers have minds full of tales shared around the fire on long winter nights. Picture people centuries ago or more gathered around the fire, listening to a great storyteller tell knowledgeable and fun stories as the moon shines bright and hearing the story of The Changer and other fantastic tales.
The Tribe’s Challenges
In 1792, trading ships arrived in Shoalwater Bay when the Hudson’s Bay Company got control of the fur trade, resulting in contacts made with the Upper Chehalis, where their land spanned from Cowlitz Landing and Fort Nisqually.
In 1824, John Work, an employee of The Hudsons Bay Company, traveled the Chehalis River to Black River, then Black Lake and Eld Inlet. John Work saw and described the people living in many villages along the Chehalis and Black Rivers. This contact resulted in the Chehalis People becoming exposed to the diseases brought over from across the sea, just as so many tribes across the continent were exposed to. The people were decimated in the early 19th century, and villages were either deserted or possibly burned by the people in the winter of 1852.
In the upper Chehalis before contact, the tribe’s numbers were estimated to be around 1,200 to 1,500. In 1841, estimates of their population were 700. In 1854, as per a census conducted by George Gibbs, the tribe’s population was 216. That’s an 85% decrease in less than a century.
In December of 1854, Governor Isac Stevens and many other commissioners proposed four treaties. These treaties were done quickly and resulted in the loss of land to The Chehalis People. The exact location where the Chehalis People could go was the proposed reservation between Cape Flattery and Grays Harbor. There were many disagreements regarding the conditions of the treaty.
A Shoalwater Bay resident described the treaty council held on the south side of the river ten miles from Grays Harbor. The camp consisted of tents in the center of a cleared-out rectangle. Outside the governor’s tent was a table where members of every tribe sat. Interpreters repeated the governors’ speech to tribal members, which consisted of how the great father in Washington was watching over them and that all promises would be fulfilled.
More on this speech can be read in “The Chehalis People,” available at the Chehalis Library.
As for the rest of the other tribes, they did not accept the conditions and took up arms in 1855 and an uprising began across the mountains.
The non-native residents in what is now known as Lewis and Thurston counties built fortresses in Claquato, as well as Tumwater and Mount Prairie. The Chehalis People did not participate in this uprising and had to carry a flag of truce when traveling to show they were not hostile.
In later years, the fish and game in the region began to diminish due to the progress of the non-natives, which caused concern and legal issues.
The Chehalis Tribe Today
Today, the Chehalis People have schools, a tribal government, medical clinics, and more. They have survived, and now they operate The Lucky Eagle Casino and Eagles Landing Hotel. They have also built new community and wellness centers that have positively impacted their quality of life.
Human history is filled with trials and tribulations, and The Chehalis People, despite almost being irradicated, have persevered and remain strong to this day.
Be sure to check out the Chehalis Tribe’s website as well as two books available at the Chehalis Library and historical photos at the Lewis County Historical Museum website.