The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1900-01-05
Origin Of the Puget Sound Indian,
by Myron Eells in Saturday Mail. |

The origin OF the Puget Sound In
dams, as all other American Indians,
is involved in mystery. The best that
the person who knows the most in re-
gard to this subject can do is to
theorlze, reason and guess with more
or less degree of certainty. There are
three distinct classes of persons, whose
opinion in regard to this subject are
entitled to consideration first, the In
dams themselves; second, those whites
who believe the Indians to have been
created in America; third, those who
believe them to have come from the
Eastern continent.
First-The Indians-before they
were taught different by the whites
the Puget Sound Indians, believed
that they were in the main created
here, where they now are. The same
general belief exists among all the In-
dians in America, as far as know, ex
cepting that some OF the tribes have
occasional traditions of migrations by
their ancestors, which were generally
from the Northwest, as, for example,
the Delawares and Iroquois. But as
far as l know, the Puget Sound In
dlans have no such traditions. The
only migration of which they speak is
one by the Chemakum tribe; that they
once belonged to the Qnilahutes, west
of the Olympic mountains, but that
on account of great tide which SUBJ
merged nearly all the land except the
top of the highest mountain, they got
into their canoes and drifted away,
and when the tide receded they found
themselves in the region about Port
Townsend and Port Gamble, where
they settled, the Chemakum valley
near Port Townsend being named after
them. The tribe, as a tribe, is now
extinct, although few individuals re-
main among the whites and Clallams.
There is the same traditions among
the Chemakums and Quillahutes. The
Makahs of Neah Bay state that at the
same time some of that tribe drifted
to the north, where they have been
since known as the Makahs, In Classet.
The Makah legend of creation is that
animals were first made, and from the
union of some of these with a star
which fell from heaven, came the first
men, and from them sprung the
Nittinat, Clyoquot and Makah tribes.
Among the tribes of British Columbia,
the raven figures largely as the creator
in the myths of creation, while among
those Of Eastern Washington it was
the coyote The Clallams and the
Inequalities are said to have more of
the raven than the coyote in their
legends, but there is only very little
even Of this, and / have never been
able to find any of either among the
Skokomish Indians.
But as Indians have not much real
knowledge OF any history back more
than generation or two, we receive
our real light on the subject by asking
theme Schoolcraft has we'll said the
Indians know but little in regard to
the past except on three points; they
have tradition about creation, then
| all is blank until the deluge, then
nearly all blank until now.
Second-A class of American schol-
ars agrees with the Indians on this
subject. They do not, perhaps, be-
lieye that the Indians were created
where they were when America was
discovered, bat that they we're created
in America Chat is, if they we're Great
ed at all, those who believe in evolu-
tion believing that they were evolved }
Among these are Hon. J. G.. Swan,
Mott and Gliddon, and Morton.
Some of these, however, claim that
this is not contrary to the Bible idea
| Of the unity of the race, but go SO far
as to claim that the garden of Eden,
the birthplace of the human race, was
| in America. and that it was the an
cestors Of those who live in the East
ern continent who emigrated.
Third-The third class believe that
the ancestors of the Indians came
from the Eastern continent. Some
hold To the idea that they came across
Behring Strait. and slowly emlgrated
southwark Others think they came
from Europe by way Of Iceland and