The Nisqually Indian Tribe of the Nisqually Reservation is a

federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

Nisqually people 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 Nisqual ...

. They are a

Coast Salish people 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 Coast ...

indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest The 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 practices, such as the centrality of sal ...

. Their tribe is located in

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 ...

. Some of the people of Nisqually descent are enrolled in the

Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Upper and Lower Chehalis, Klallam, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, and Quinault peoples. They are one of the Northern Straits branch Central Coast Salish peoples of i ...

but neither tribe allows a Nisqually to be enrolled in both tribes at the same time.

Reservation

The Nisqually Reservation is 1,000-acres large and located in

Thurston County, Washington Thurston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 294,793. The county seat and largest city is Olympia, Washingto ...

, 15 miles east of

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

. All of the current reservation land was acquired by the tribe in the last 25 years. The reservation was established by the

Treaty of Medicine Creek The Treaty of Medicine Creek was an 1854 treaty between the United States, and nine tribes and bands of Indians, occupying the lands lying around the head of Puget Sound, Washington, and the adjacent inlets. The tribes listed on the Treaty of Medic ...

of 1854. Originally 5,105 acres, the reservation was mostly east of the

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 ...

Pierce County, Washington Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 921,130, up from 795,225 in 2010, making it the second-most populous county in Washington, behind King County, and the 60th-most populous ...

. The tribal lands were broken into individual allotments in 1884. In 1917, Pierce County, through the process of condemnation proceedings (eminent domain), took 3,370 acres (14 km²) for the Fort Lewis Military Reserve.

Government

The Nisqually Indian Tribe is headquartered in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

. They ratified their constitution and bylaws on 9 September 1946. These were amended on 28 October 1994. The tribe is governed by a seven-member, democratically elected General Council. The current tribal administration is as follows: * Chairperson: Farron McCloud * Vice-Chairperson: William Frank III * Secretary: Sheila McCloud * Treasurer: Stephanie Scott * Member:Brian McCloud * Member: Antonette Squally * Member: Vacant .

Language

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

is commonly spoken on by the tribe. Their traditional language is the

Nisqually language Lushootseed (txʷəlšucid, dxʷləšúcid), also Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish or Skagit-Nisqually, is a language made up of a dialect continuum of several Salish tribes of modern-day Washington state. Lushootseed is one of the Coast Salish ...

, which is a

Southern Puget Sound Salish language Lushootseed (txʷəlšucid, dxʷləšúcid), also Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish or Skagit-Nisqually, is a language made up of a dialect continuum of several Salish tribes of modern-day Washington state. Lushootseed is one of the Coast Salish ...

Economic development

The Nisqually Indian Tribe owns and operates

Red Wind Casino Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

, Blue Camas Buffet, Squalli-Absch Grille, The Medicine Creek Deli, and Pealo's Landing."Red Wind Casino."
''500 Nations.'' Retrieved 20 Sept 2013.

Notable tribal members

* Billy Frank Jr. (b. 1931), Indigenous rights and environmentalist activist

Notes

References

* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .

External links

Nisqually Indian Tribe
official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nisqually Indian Tribe Of The Nisqually Reservation Coast Salish governments Native American tribes in Washington (state) Federally recognized tribes in the United States Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast