PORT HADLOCK –Nancy McDaniel’s great-great-grandmother, Klastitute, married a prominent white Port Townsend hotel owner, William Bishop, and her children were called “half-breeds.”
McDaniel, the Snohomish tribal chairwoman, regards that as a sad part of her roots and a declining point of Snohomish tribal culture.
After signing the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855, the Snohomish people never received their reservation, instead scattering around Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest.
Today, 150 years after her tribal ancestors began leaving the Snohomish River area as they were replaced by white settlers, McDaniel and other tribal members are trying to revive that culture.
“You just have to be committed to it,” said McDaniel, author of 2004 book The Snohomish Tribe of Indians: Our Heritage, Our People.
“You can’t help but pursuing it and looking at where it all started.”
In a bid to educate North Olympic Peninsula residents about the Snohomish, McDaniel travels the area to conduct presentations on the history of her tribe.
She spoke before Port Ludlow Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, introducing business leaders to her tribe’s culture.
Landless nation
With about 1,740 enrolled members, 70 percent of whom live in various parts of Washington, the Snohomish still haven’t received federal recognition as a tribe.
As a landless nation, Snohomish found themselves competing with other tribes for federal recognition, which means federal grants and special rights to fishing — and operating casinos.
“We can’t have a casino because we’re not federally recognized,” McDaniel told the chamber.
“That’s an issue that is reserved for federally recognized tribes.”
After closing their longtime Edmonds office earlier this year, tribal leaders are considering other options such as a possible Port Hadlock location.
