The Port Madison Native Reservation is an Indigenous Reservation in the U.S. state of Washington belonging to the Suquamish Tribe, a federally recognized indigenous nation and signatory to the

Treaty of Point Elliott The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as Treaty of Point Elliot (with one ''t'') / Point Elliott Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes ...

of 1855.

Location

The reservation is located in northern Kitsap County, Washington and consists of 7,657 acres, of which 1,475 acres are owned by the Suquamish Tribe, 2,601 acres are owned by individual citizens of the Suquamish Tribe, and 3,581 acres are owned by non-Indigenous. The reservation is divided into two separate parcels by the geographic feature Miller Bay. The towns of

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 Suqu ...

and

Indianola Indianola may refer to: Places in the United States * Indianola, California (disambiguation) ** Indianola (Eureka), California * Indianola, Florida * Indianola, Georgia * Indianola, Illinois * Indianola, Iowa * Indianola, Kansas, a former settleme ...

both lie within the bounds of the reservation. A resident population of 6,536 persons was counted in the 2000 census.

History

The reservation was authorized by the

Point Elliott Treaty The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as Treaty of Point Elliot (with one ''t'') / Point Elliott Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes ...

of January 22, 1855, for the

Suquamish people 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 ...

, and was established by an executive order issued October 21, 1864. Other Coast Salish peoples, including the Duwamish and Sammamish, also moved to the reservation. When the land was reserved by the Point Elliott Treaty, all land was held by Tribal members and designated for their sole use. However, a series of procedures designed to accommodate non-Indigenous land acquisition created a situation where the reservation is widely interspersed with non-Tribal ownership. Successful economic development since the early 1990s has given the Suquamish Tribe government the ability to reacquire land lost during the allotment era, and "the Tribe and Tribal members now own more than half of the land on the reservation for the first time in recent history," Suquamish Tribe communications director April Leigh said in a story in the North Kitsap Herald. Recent major acquisitions include White Horse Golf Club in 2010, placed into trust in March 2014; and 200 acres known as the Place of the Bear, in the Cowling Creek watershed, in November 2014.

Important sites

Completion of the

Suquamish Museum The Suquamish Museum preserves and displays relics and records related to the Suquamish Tribe, including artifacts from the Old Man House and the Baba'kwob site. It is located on the Port Madison Indian Reservation in Washington state and was foun ...

in 2012 helped solidify Suquamish Village as a walkable cultural district which includes the grave of Chief Si'ahl, or Seattle, at the Suquamish Cemetery; Old Man House Park, the former site of Old Man House, the largest winter longhouse in the Salish Sea; the Suquamish Veterans Memorial, with honor poles depicting Chief Kitsap and Chief Seattle; and the House of Awakened Culture, overlooking Port Madison. On Suquamish Way and Highway 305, near the

Agate Pass Bridge The Agate Pass Bridge is a structural steel truss cantilever bridge spanning Agate Pass, connecting Bainbridge Island to the Kitsap Peninsula. It was built in 1950, and it replaced a car ferry service which dated from the 1920s. The bridge provid ...

, is the Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort, an events and entertainment destination, with 15,000 square feet of meeting space, a hotel with 183 rooms overlooking Agate Pass, and a showcase of Coast Salish art.

Notes

References

Port Madison Reservation, Washington
United States Census Bureau

External links

Suquamish Tribe of the Port Madison Indian Reservation
official website {{authority control Geography of Kitsap County, Washington Native American governments in Washington (state) Coast Salish governments American Indian reservations in Washington (state) Federally recognized tribes in the United States