Nisqually people
Nation | Active
1 CE to 2215 CE
The Nisqually is a Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe in western Washington state in the United States.
They are a Southern Coast Salish people.
They are federally recognized as the Nisqually Indian Tribe, formerly known as the Nisqually Indian Tribe of the Nisqually Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation.
The tribe lives on a reservation in the Nisqually River valley near the river delta.
The Nisqually Indian Reservation, at 47°01′12″N 122°39′27″W, comprises 20.602 km² (7.955 sq mi) of land area on both sides of the river, in western Pierce County and eastern Thurston County.
In the 2000 census, it has a resident population of 588 persons, all in the Thurston County portion, on the southwest side of the Nisqually River.
The tribe moves onto their reservation east of Olympia, Washington, in late 1854 with the signing of the Medicine Creek Treaty.
As reaction to the unfairness of the treaty, many members of the tribe led by Chief Leschi engage and are eventually defeated by the US Army in the conflict known as the Puget Sound War in 1855-56.
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While at Nisqually he writes in his journal about nearby Mount Rainier and his desire to see it more closely.
In August 1833 he had arranged a "botanizing excursion" to the mountain, with Lachalet, a Nisqually, and Nuckalkat, a Puyallup, as guides.
Three other Native Americans had joined the party.
They had traveled through the thick forests, following the general course of the Puyallup River to the Mowich River and into what is today the northwest part of Mount Rainier National Park.
Wanting to reach the snow level, Tolmie had chosen the nearest snowy peak and climbed it with Lachalet and Nuckalkat.
Tolmie Peak is named for this event, although it is not known exactly which peak was summited.
During the expedition, Dr. Tolmie had discovered a new species of plant, which is now known as Tolmie's saxifrage (Micranthes tolmiei).
Due to this trip, Dr. Tolmie is the first European to explore the Puyallup River valley and Mount Rainier.
At the end of 1833, Tolmie goes to the HBC post of Fort Simpson before returning to Europe.
Stevens is also integral in the drafting and negotiation of treaties with native bands in the Washington Territory.
The site of Olympia has been home to Lushootseed-speaking peoples known as the Steh-Chass (or Stehchass; who became part of the post-treaty Squaxin Island Tribe) for thousands of years.
Other natives regularly visit the head of Budd Inlet and the Steh-Chass including the other ancestor tribes of the Squaxin, as well as the Nisqually, Puyallup, Chehalis, Suquamish, and Duwamish.
The first recorded Europeans came to Olympia in 1792.
Peter Puget and a crew from the British Vancouver Expedition are said to have explored the site, but neither recorded any encounters with the resident Indigenous population here.
In 1846, Edmund Sylvester and Levi Smith jointly claimed the land that now comprises downtown Olympia.
In 1851, the U.S. Congress established the Customs District of Puget Sound for Washington Territory and Olympia became the home of the customs house.
Its population has steadily expanded from Oregon Trail immigrants.
In 1850, the town settled on the name Olympia, at the suggestion of local resident Colonel Isaac N. Ebey, due to its view of the Olympic Mountains to the Northwest.
The area has begun to be served by a small fleet of steamboats known as the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
It also includes a section that, at least as interpreted by United States officials, requires the Native American signatories to move to one of three reservations.
Doing so will effectively force the Nisqually people to cede their prime farming and living space.
One of the leaders of the Nisqually, Chief Leschi, outraged, refuses to give up ownership of this land and instead fights for his peoples' right to their territory, sparking the beginning of the Puget sound War, which will end in the controversial execution of Leschi.