The Chelan (pronounced sha-lan) are an
Interior Salish
The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan languages, Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish languages, Coast Salish. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches. The first S ...
people speaking the
Wenatchi
The Wenatchi people or Šnp̍əšqʷáw̉šəxʷi / Np̓əšqʷáw̓səxʷ ("People in the between") are Native Americans who originally lived near the confluence of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Central Washington state. They spoke Interi ...
dialect, though separate from that tribe. The name derives from the traditional Wenatchi name Tsi-Laan meaning "deep water".
The Chelan were historically located at the outlet of
Lake Chelan
Lake Chelan ( ) is a narrow, long lake in Chelan County, north-central Washington state, U.S. Before 1927, it was the largest natural lake in the state by any measure. Upon the completion of Lake Chelan Dam in 1927, the elevation of the lake was ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, where they spent the winter months. The Chelan Native Americans are thought to have splintered off from the Wenatchi tribe.
Territory
Lake Chelan is long and .75 to 2.1 miles wide, and is the third-deepest freshwater lake in the United States and the ninth-deepest in the world with a maximum depth of . Fed by streams from the
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
, the lake flows into the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
from the
Chelan River
The Chelan River is a tributary of the Columbia River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Just long, it is the shortest river in Washington. Lake Chelan Dam is located at the river's source: the outlet of Lake Chelan. Nearly the entire river's flow ...
.
During the salmon runs, they fished the outlet where the lake meets the river and also moved down to the Wenatshapam Fishery on the Columbia River to fish and trade with other tribes.
The Chelan tribe also had several permanent villages in the lower Chelan valley. One at Willow Point, near Manson, had up to 500 occupants. Another on Wapato Point was home to about 100 people. Many groups lived from Field's Point to the First Creek drain into the lake (now a WA State Park), the Watson's Resort, Granite Falls, Sunnybank drainage, Minneapolis Beach, Laferties Landing or Resort, and the area referred to as Lakeside. They were frequently on the move, traveling in and out of the mountains with the seasons, collecting plants, fishing small streams, and hunting game.
The watery highway of Lake Chelan provided a relatively easy transportation route from the Columbia River deep into the Cascades. Occasionally, to trade with or visit coastal relatives, the Chelans would canoe up to the head of the lake where they knew of a route that followed a swift stream between high peaks.
Crossing between the glaciers and cliffs on the crest of the mountains, they descended through the tall forests to the land of the
Skagit tribes The Skagit ( ) (″People Who Hide″ or ″People Who Run and Hide Upriver he Skagit River) are either of two tribes of the Lushootseed Native American people living in the state of Washington, the Upper Skagit and the Lower Skagit.
They speak ...
. The Chelan Indians often traded mountain goat wool for dried clams and salmon, or for seashells, which they used for future trade or ornamentation.
Their traditional allies were the kindred Wenatchi, Sinkiuse-Columbia, and Entiat.
Their traditional enemies were
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions:
* Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming
* Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho
* Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah
* Goshute: western Utah, easter ...
,
Kwalhioqua (also known as
Willapa who lived in the hills north of the lower Columbia River), the
Blackfoot Confederacy
The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...
, and
Nez Perce
The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...
at times, at others they were allies.
Territorial boundaries shifted frequently in the Plateau Region, as tribes competed for the best hunting grounds. After the arrival of the horse, Plateau tribes faced more competition from the Plains Indians and Indians from the Great Basin. Intertribal war in the area faded out as alliances were made to fight their common enemies.
By the 1860s,
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemics had virtually ended tribal warfare, due to the drastic decrease in population. From 1840 onward, the US government tried to move all Indians to reservations. The resulting wars between the 1840s to the 1870s were the final push to tame the West.
Ethnography (the description of the customs of individual peoples and cultures)
The Chelan Indian tribe are members of the ''
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is the federally recognized tribe that controls the Colville Indian Reservation, which is located in northeastern Washington, United States. It is the government for its people.
The Confederate Tr ...
'', which is recognized by the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
as an
American Indian Tribe
In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, tribal nation, or similar concept is any extant or historical clan, Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, Tribe (Native American), band, nation, ...
. It is located on the
Colville Indian Reservation
The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the northwest United States, in north central Washington, inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which is federally recognized.
Established in ...
in eastern
Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
. The Confederated Tribes have over 9,000 descendants from 12
aboriginal tribes. In addition to the Chelan, the tribes are known, in English, as the
Colville, the
Nespelem, the
Sanpoil
The Sanpoil (or ''San Poil'') are a Native American people of the U.S. state of Washington. They are one of the Salish peoples and are one of the twelve members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.
The name Sanpoil comes from ...
, the
Sinixt
The Sinixt"Sinixt Nation…" (also known as the Sin-Aikst or Sin Aikst,Reyes 2002, ''passim.'' "Senjextee", "Arrow Lakes Band", or — less commonly in recent decades — simply as "The Lakes") are a First Nations People. The Sinixt are ...
(''Arrow Lakes people''), the
Palus
Palus may refer to:
* Palus, Maharashtra, a place in India
* 24194 Paľuš, a main belt asteroid, named for Pavel Paľuš (born 1936), Slovak astronomer
* Palus tribe, or Palouse people
* ''Palus'', a grade of gladiator
See also
* Palu (dis ...
, the
Wenatchi
The Wenatchi people or Šnp̍əšqʷáw̉šəxʷi / Np̓əšqʷáw̓səxʷ ("People in the between") are Native Americans who originally lived near the confluence of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Central Washington state. They spoke Interi ...
, the
Entiat, the
Methow, the
Southern Okanagan (Sinkaietk), the
Sinkiuse-Columbia
The Sinkiuse-Columbia are a Native American tribe so-called because of their former prominent association with the Columbia River. They belong to the inland division of the Salishan group, with their nearest relatives being the Wenatchis and Me ...
(''Moses-Columbia''), the
Nez Perce of Chief Joseph's band, and the Wapato's.
The Chelan speak English. The native language of the tribe is a
Salishan language
The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana). They are characterised by ag ...
made up of several different dialects among the tribes.
Chelan legends
''Creation of the first Indians''
References
Further reading
* Hackenmiller, Tom. ''Wapato Heritage: The History of the Chelan and Entiat Indians''. Manson, WA (P.O. Box 355, Manson 98831): Point Pub, 1995.
External links
Chelan tribe members in seven B&W photos
{{authority control
Native American tribes in Washington (state)
Interior Salish