Kitsap or Ktsap (died April 18, 1860) was a war chief of the

Suquamish The Suquamish () are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American people, located in present-day Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish people. Today, most Suquamish people are enrolled in the federally recognized Suquami ...

Native American tribe. One source says that he was the most powerful chief on

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

from 1790 to 1845.

Kitsap County, Washington Kitsap County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, and its largest city is Bremerton. The county was formed out of King County and Jefferson County on ...

and the

Kitsap Peninsula The Kitsap Peninsula () lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kits ...

are named for him. He was an ancestor of Johnny Kitsap, 1908, also known as Chief Kitsap. Having been prominent before white settlement of Puget Sound began, oral history is the only basis for most of what can be said about Kitsap, and many reports offer conflicting information. He may have been one of the Indians who was welcomed aboard HMS ''Discovery'' by Captain

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...

during his exploration of Puget Sound. Some sources indicate that it was Kitsap who had

Old Man House Old Man House was the largest "bighouse" (a type of longhouse) in what is now the U.S. state of Washington, and once stood on the shore of Puget Sound. Lying at the center of the Suquamish winter village on Agate Pass, just south of the present-d ...

, Puget Sound's largest longhouse, built on

Agate Pass Agate Pass or Agate Passage is a high-current tidal strait in Puget Sound connecting Port Madison and mainland Kitsap County in the US state of Washington. It lies between Bainbridge Island and the mainland of the Kitsap Peninsula near Suquamish. ...

, though other sources debate this. Aside from being one of the best-known war chiefs of the Suquamish, at one point Kitsap was acknowledged as the head of the largest intertribal coalition which the Puget Sound had ever seen. Around 1825, The Puget Sound Indians, not normally organized above the level of individual bands, formed a confederation under Kitsap to strike against the

Cowichan Tribes Cowichan Tribes ( hur, Quw’utsun) is the band government of the Cowichan, a group of Coast Salish peoples who live in the Cowichan Valley region on Vancouver Island. With over 3,800 registered members, it is the single largest First Nations ban ...

of southeast

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

, who often raided the Puget Sound. However, Kitsap's flotilla was no match for the larger canoes of the Cowichans; after suffering heavy losses in the sea battle, the Puget Sound Indians were forced to retreat. Kitsap was one of the few survivors of this ill-fated expedition. Sources suggest that Kitsap was the brother of Schweabe, the father of

Chief Seattle Chief Seattle ( – June 7, 1866) was a Suquamish and Duwamish chief. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with "Doc" Maynard. The city of Seattle, in th ...

. Another Kitsap, a leader of the

Muckleshoot The Muckleshoot ( lut, bəqəlšuł ) are a Lushootseed language, Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe, part of the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest. They are descendants of the Duwamish and Puyallup peoples whose traditional t ...

tribe, was prominent in the Indian War of 1855–1856. Like his comrade in arms,

Chief Leschi Chief Leschi (; 1808 – February 19, 1858) was a chief of the Nisqually Indian Tribe of southern Puget Sound, Washington, primarily in the area of the Nisqually River. Following outbreaks of violence and the Yakima Wars (1855–1858), as a lead ...

, Kitsap was arrested for the part he played in the hostilities, but he was acquitted. Known to boast of his healing skills and his supposed invincibility (he claimed that no man could kill him), Kitsap of the Muckleshoot was killed shortly after returning to his tribe in 1860. Three of his tribesmen had fallen ill, and died after he administered them a red liquid as medicine; their relations killed Kitsap to avenge what they saw as willful murder.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitsap 18th-century births 1860 deaths Murdered Native American people Native American leaders 1860 murders in the United States 19th-century Native Americans People from Washington (state)