The term Cowlitz people covers two culturally and linguistically distinct

indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and prac ...

; the Lower Cowlitz or Cowlitz proper, and the Upper Cowlitz / Cowlitz Klickitat or Taitnapam. Lower Cowlitz refers to a southwestern

Coast Salish The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coa ...

people, which today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes:

Cowlitz Indian Tribe The Cowlitz Indian Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Cowlitz people. They are a tribe of Southwestern Coast Salish and Sahaptan indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest located in Washington. Other Cowlitz people are enrolled in the ...

Quinault Indian Nation The Quinault Indian Nation ( or ; QIN), formerly known as the Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Quinault, Queets, Quileute, Hoh, Chehalis, Chinook, and Cowlitz peoples.Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation. The Upper Cowlitz or Taitnapam, is a Northwest Sahaptin speaking people, part of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their traditional homelands are in western

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 o ...

state in the

United States 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Cowlitz tribal groups or bands

There is an ongoing dispute over the Cowlitz people, their history, territory, ancestry, ethnicity, and language; which is important for land claims and treaty negotiations with the U.S. government by Cowlitz descendants. Some scholars believe that they were originally divided into four multi-linguistic tribal bands and generally spoke two different dialects of Salish; the common language of Western Washington and British Columbia native peoples, and one Sahaptin dialect. However, not every band understood the specific dialect of another, and they bridged the language barrier with an intertribal trade language called Chinook Jargon. Today, the majority is of the opinion that the tribal term "Cowlitz" is a regional collective designation applied by the Europeans to ethnically and linguistic different groups or bands of Indian peoples of the entire Cowlitz River Basin. These are the four (or two) Cowlitz tribal groups or bands: * the Lower Cowlitz or Cowlitz proper ("The People Who Seek Their Medicine Spirit", occupied 30 villages along the Lower Cowlitz River, other villages along the Toutle River; today the majority are enrolled within the

, some are part of

Quinault Indian Nation The Quinault Indian Nation ( or ; QIN), formerly known as the Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Quinault, Queets, Quileute, Hoh, Chehalis, Chinook, and Cowlitz peoples.Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation) * the Upper Cowlitz, sometimes called Stick Indians, today identified as Sahaptin-speaking Taidnapam (″People of the Tieton River″, occupied and controlled fourteen villages along the Upper Cowlitz River (shch'il) above Morton and Mossyrock, other villages along the Cispus River (shíshpash), and the

Tilton River The Tilton River is a tributary of the Cowlitz River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Named for territorial surveyor James Tilton, it flows for about , entirely within Lewis County. Course The Tilton River originates in the Cascade Range just ...

(lalálx) and had frequent contact with their Upper and Lower Yakama and Klickitat kin who lived on the east side of 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, ...

and spoke

Sahaptin The Sahaptin are a number of Native American tribes who speak dialects of the Sahaptin language. The Sahaptin tribes inhabited territory along the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Sahaptin-s ...

. They apparently intermarried with Salish-speaking Lower Cowlitz communities downriver and traveled freely as far as the mouth of the Cowlitz River but were not originally Salish-speaking people. Their own name ''Taitnapam'' indicates that they originally came from east of the Cascades - along the Tieton River (in Yakama: Táitin) hence territory of the ''Nahchísh-ħlama'', a Yakama/Lower Yakama band along the

Naches River The Naches River is a tributary of the Yakima River in central Washington in the United States. Beginning as the Little Naches River, it is about 75 miles (121 km) long. After the confluence of the Little Naches and Bumping River the name b ...

and had strong linguistic and family ties to that band and the Klikatat / Klickitat; today as ''Yakima Cowlitz'' or ''Cowlitz Klickitat Band'' part of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation).The other version is: Intermarriage among the tribes was common. Yakama and Klickitat tribes on the eastern side of the Cascades spoke Sahaptin. Over time a new dialect of Sahaptin came into common use by the Upper Cowlitz tribe called Taidnapum — which eventually came into wide use by the Lewis River Cowlitz as well. * the Lewis River Cowlitz, sometimes called Lewis River Chinook, today considered to be regional group of Taidnapam (lived along Upper Lewis River and uppermost

Nisqually River The Nisqually River is a river in west central Washington in the United States, approximately long. It drains part of the Cascade Range southeast of Tacoma, including the southern slope of Mount Rainier, and empties into the southern end of Pu ...

as neighbors to their Sahaptin kin the Mishalpam (Mical-ɫa’ma) (″ Eatonville people″, lit. ″Mashel River people″) and Klickitat; today as ''Lewis River Klickitat Band'' part of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation) * the Mountain Cowlitz or Kwalhiokwa Cowlitz (lived between the Upper Chehalis River in the north and in the

Willapa Hills The Willapa Hills is a geologic, physiographic, and geographic region in southwest Washington. When described as a physiographical province, the Willapa Hills are bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Columbia River to the south, the Ol ...

to the south, intermarried with Salish-speaking Upper Chehalis (Kwaiailk) and the now extinct Northern Athapaskan-speaking Willapa (Kwalhioqua); today part of the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation)

Language

Comparably with the dispute over who the ''original'' Cowlitz people were, there is debate over the ''original''

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

of the Cowlitz tribes. The commonly called

Cowlitz language The Cowlitz language is a member of the Tsamosan branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages. Cowlitz people The Cowlitz people were originally two distinct tribes: the Lower Cowlitz and the Upper Cowlitz. Only the Lower Cowlitz spok ...

or ''Sƛ̕púlmš'' is placed closer to the

Upper Chehalis language Upper Chehalis (''Q̉ʷay̓áyiłq̉'') is a member of the Tsamosan (Olympic) branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages. Thompson's 1979 classification lists Upper Chehalis as more closely related to the Cowlitz language than it i ...

, closer than Lower Chehalis itself is placed to Upper Chehalis, and belongs to the Tsamosan (Olympic) branch of the Coast Salish family of the

Salishan languages 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 a ...

, and was spoken by the ''Lower Cowlitz / Cowlitz proper''. There is a dispute over the original language of the ''Upper Cowlitz'' and ''Lewis River Cowlitz'' bands. The question concerns whether they had adopted the

Sahaptin language Sahaptin or Shahaptin, endonym Ichishkin, is one of the two-language Sahaptian branch of the Plateau Penutian family spoken in a section of the northwestern plateau along the Columbia River and its tributaries in southern Washington, northern ...

from east of the

Cascade Mountains 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, a ...

, ceased to use their original,

heritage language A heritage language is a minority language (either immigrant or indigenous) learned by its speakers at home as children, and difficult to be fully developed because of insufficient input from the social environment. The speakers grow up with a ...

, and developed a separate ''Taitnapam / Upper Cowlitz / Lewis River dialect'' of Sahaptin, or whether they were Sahaptin-speaking people from east of the Cascade Range who came to occupy the Upper Cowlitz River Basin by conquest and intermarriage.

Modeste Demers Modeste Demers (11 October 1809 – 28 July 1871) was a Roman Catholic Bishop and missionary in the Oregon Country. A native of Quebec, he traveled overland to the Pacific Northwest and preached in the Willamette Valley and later in what would beco ...

reported that the Cowlitz peoples were fluent in Chinook Jargon.

Government

The

was federally recognized on February 14, 2000, and their acknowledgement was reaffirmed in 2002. They are now recognized officially by the

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fed ...

and have an establishing federally recognized tribal lands (on a

reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...

) in

Ridgefield, Washington Ridgefield is a city in northern Clark County, Washington, Clark County, Washington (state), Washington. The population was 10,319 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 4,763 in 2010 United States census, 2010, making ...

. The tribal offices are in

Longview, Washington Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 37,818 at the time of the 2 ...

. The Cowlitz political system evolved:

from a strong system of chiefs to an elective presidential system in the early 20th century; and a constitutional elective Tribal Council system after 1950. Chief How-How (c. 1815), Chief Kiscox (c. 1850), Chief Umtux (c. 1850), Chief Scanewa (c. 1855), Chief Richard Scanewa (c. 1860), and Chief Antoine Stockum
twin Stokum Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
(1878) led the Cowlitz in the 19th century. Twentieth-century figures include Chief Baptiste Kiona (1912), President Dan Plamondon (1921), President John Ike Kinswa (1922), Chairman John B. Sareault (c. 1925), Chairman Jas. E. Sareault (c. 1930), Chairman Manual L. Forrest (1950), Chairman Joseph Cloquet (1959), Chairman Clifford Wilson (1961), Chairman Roy Wilson (1974), Chairman John Barnett, Chairman Bill Iyall (1993), Chairman Phil Harju (2020), Chairman David Barnett (2021), and Chairman Patty Kinswa-Gaiser (2022).

The current Cowlitz Tribe General Council Chair is Patty Kinswa-Gaiser.

Culture

The Cowlitz tribe was unique among other tribes of Western Washington and Oregon in that they did not typically have access to saltwater or the coast and 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 ...

's resources were of little use to the tribe. Salmon was important to their diet, but not as much as compared to other tribes; as they were accomplished hunters who relied on harvesting roots as diet supplements, and utilizing horses for multiple purposes. The Cowlitz tribe completed a yearly cycle where they inhabited locations during certain seasons and harvested seasonal crops, in preparation for cold winter months. The season started in spring, when the Cowlitzes left their cedar houses along the river and streams by traveling via canoe and horseback to harvest camas bulbs, roots, barks, and grasses to make mats, fishnets, and basketry. Followed by the arrival of summer, where they would move into the higher country to pick and harvest seasonal berries. Lastly, followed by the return to fall, where the Cowlitzes would return to their cedar homes along the river to harvest Salmon, for the upcoming season. Generally, hunting and fishing were practiced all year round, but only roots and fruits had to be harvested seasonally. The

Cowlitz Cowlitz may refer to: People * Cowlitz people, an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Cowlitz language, member of the Tsamosan branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages * Cowlitz Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe o ...

, like the Chinookian tribes, practiced the custom of flattening the head; signifying the mark of freedom and an intellect similar to that of round-head Indian tribes. Indian Mothers typically practice head flattening on newborn infants until they reach eight to twelve months old; when the head has lost its original shape. The process is completed by placing a child onto a wooden board, usually covered with moss or loose fibers of cedar bark, then placing a pad between a piece of smooth bark, strapped on through the holes with leather bands, creating great pressure on the forehead. The result creates a wedge in between the skull, with the front of the skull flat and the skull risen at the crown. These practices were not seen as harmful to the mothers and their children; in fact, some children would cry until they were placed back into the head flattening device. The Cowlitz produced fully imbricated, coiled baskets with strong geometric designs. These were made of bear grass, cedar root, horsetail root, and cedar bark and were used to gather berries and fruits. The pigments were made from very bright fruits and vegetables like beets or blackberries. Such baskets were often repaired and kept through many generations. Today, the Cowlitz continue to practice their culture.

History

The Cowlitz tribe was historically based along the

and Lewis Rivers, as well as having a strong presence at

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of ...

. The first white man known to have contacted the Cowlitz was

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...

Simon Plamondon of Quebec. Plamondon was hired as a fur trapper for

Fort Astoria Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the ''Tonquin (1807 ship), Tonquin'', while another party traveled overl ...

at the age of sixteen. In 1818 while making his first trip up the Cowlitz, Simon was captured by Chief Scanewea, of the Lower

. He was then asked to stay with Scanewa's tribe and to prove his loyalties through the exchange of goods for furs. Once he had gained the trust of the tribe, he was rewarded with the marriage of Chief Scanewea's daughter, Thas-e-muth. When Chief Scanewea passed, Plamondon inherited most of his land and settled down with his wife on the Cowlitz Prairie where they bore four children: Sophie, Simon, Jr., Theresa, and Marianne. It is rumored that Plamondon was married many different times and very young; fathering nearly 100 descendants. Plamondon was employed with the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

until 1837 and in 1838 oversaw the building of

Cowlitz Farm Fort Cowlitz or Cowlitz Farm was an agricultural operation by the British Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC), a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). It was located on the Cowlitz plains, adjacent to the west bank of the Cowlitz River a ...

under the

Puget Sound Agricultural Company The Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC), with common variations of the name including Puget Sound or Puget's Sound, was a subsidiary joint stock company formed in 1840 by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Its stations operated within the Pacific N ...

, the Hudson's Bay Company agricultural subsidiary. The first European who attempted to convert the Cowlitz to Christianity was Herbert Beaver, an Anglican, who settled with his wife at Fort Vancouver in 1836. The couple set their sights on the Cowlitz tribe, only 50 miles southeast of Fort Vancouver, but growing tensions with

John McLoughlin John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver fr ...

, the head at Fort Vancouver, prevented the couple from having any influence over the tribe; implementing their practices was with great difficulty. When the intermittent fever broke out, Beaver was responsible for vaccinating nearly 120 Lewis River Cowlitzes. After conflicts arose with McLoughlin, Beaver and his wife headed home to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1838, to continue on their work. Later that same year in December 1838, Catholic missionaries began to visit the Cowlitz tribe, including François N. Blanchet, a Roman Catholic Priest, who arrived near

Toledo, Washington Toledo is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 631 at the 2020 census. History Toledo was officially incorporated on October 10, 1892. Toledo was named by Celeste Rochon after a pioneer side wheel paddle steamer ...

, and established

St. Francis Xavier Mission The mission of St. Francis Xavier was a seventeenth-century Jesuit mission located on the rapids of the Fox River near De Pere, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1671 by Claude Allouez to proselytize the native peoples of the western Great Lakes. In ...

. A once optimistic priest, became discouraged when the Cowlitz tribe did not fully immerse themselves into

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and instead held onto sediments of Native spirituality. As a response, a replacement, Father

, continued with Catholic teachings and baptizing, but he continued to remain just as pessimistic as his past predecessor did. After the priest left, the Cowlitz reportedly told the French-Canadian farmers, "We want to do something for them, we will work, make fences, and whatever they wish us to do." With the arrival of American settlers and conflicts arising over land claims, the 1846

Oregon Treaty The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to ...

gave the US government power back over once owned British lands of the Hudson's Bay Company. With British influence and French-Canadian fur trappers out of the picture, newly appointed Washington governor

Isaac Stevens Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857, and later as its delegate to the United States House of Represen ...

drafted four main treaty negotiations: Point Elliot,

Point No Point Point No Point is an outcropping of land on the northeast point of the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington (U.S. state), Washington, the United States. It was the location of the signing of the Point No Point Treaty and is the site of the Point No Poi ...

Neah Bay Neah Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Makah Reservation in Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 865 at the 2010 census. It is across the Canada–US border from British Columbia. Originally called "Scarboro ...

, and Medicine Creek. The Chehalis River Treaty, which included the Cowlitz tribe, was the last negotiation for Stevens; his refusal to listen to the tribe leader's negotiations and concerns led to the document never being signed. The fever struck the tribe during this time, and Stevens's assistant George Gibbs had determined that "the Cowlitz, a once numerous and powerful tribe, are now insignificant and fast disappearing." As a consequence, this led to the Indian Wars of 1855–1856, in which the U.S. Army was called to settle disputes with Indian tribes. The Cowlitz tribe remained neutral because of the government's promise of reservation lands if they remained peaceful, but after returning home, they found their land destroyed and property stolen. In 1924 the Cowlitz sent Frank Iyall as a delegate to congress for the American Indian Citizenship Act. He also served as delegate for the recognition of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe which received approval from congress but a veto from President Calvin Coolidge. In the 1960's Dale M. Kinkade conducted interviews and audio recordings with Emma Mesplie and Lucy Foster for the Cowlitz Language which went on to be much of the basis for the Lower Cowlitz dictionary the Cowlitz Indian Tribe uses today. The Cowlitz tribe did not receive federal recognition until 2000.

Notable Cowlitz people

* David Barnett *

John Barnett John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

* Tanna Engdahl * Rosalie Fish * Debora Iyall * Bill Iyall * Mike Iyall * T.A. Peterman *

Elissa Washuta Elissa Washuta is a Native American author from the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Cowlitz people of Washington (state), Washington State. She has written two memoirs about her young adulthood, ''Starvation Mode: a Memoir of Food, Consumption and Control'' ...

* Roy Wilson

Notes

External links

Cowlitz Indian Tribe
official website * United States
Cowlitz Indian Tribe Distribution of Judgement Funds Act
Report (to Accompany H.R. 2489) (Including Cost Estimate of the Congressional Budget Office). Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 2003. {{authority control Coast Salish Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast Native American tribes in Washington (state)