1 Forest Community Research Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative Assessment Skokomish฀Indian฀Tribe,฀Shelton,฀Washington Conducted฀by฀Lita฀Buttolph฀and฀Rebecca฀McLain Brief฀History The฀ Skokomish฀ were฀ originally฀ one฀ of฀ at฀ least฀ nine฀ separate฀ Twana฀ communities฀ that฀ lived฀ along฀ Hood฀Canal฀on฀the฀eastern฀side฀of฀the฀Olympic฀Pen- insula.฀The฀Skokomish฀(meaning฀“people฀of฀the฀river”)฀ lived฀ along฀ the฀ Skokomish฀ River฀ and฀ its฀ north฀ fork.฀ They฀ were฀ united฀ with฀ other฀ bands฀ in฀ the฀ area฀ by฀ the฀Twana฀language,฀a฀common฀territory,฀and฀a฀simi- lar฀ culture.฀The฀Twana฀ territory฀ included฀ portions฀ of฀ what฀ are฀ now฀ Jefferson,฀ Mason,฀ and฀ Kitsap฀ Counties฀ in฀Washington฀state.฀ White฀settlement฀in฀the฀area฀began฀in฀the฀1800s,฀ and฀in฀1853,฀Washington฀became฀a฀United฀States฀ter- ritory.฀The฀governor฀of฀the฀new฀territory,฀Isaac฀Stevens,฀ began฀to฀negotiate฀treaties฀for฀Indian฀land฀and฀rights. 1 ฀ In฀ 1855,฀ the฀ Skokomish฀ reluctantly฀ signed฀ the฀Trea- ty฀ of฀ Point-No-Point฀ with฀ the฀ U.S.฀ Government,฀ along฀ with฀ the฀ S’Klallam,฀Tooanhooch,฀ and฀ Chema- kum฀ Tribes.฀ The฀ Treaty฀ ceded฀ all฀ rights฀ and฀ title฀ of฀ tribal฀ lands฀ to฀ the฀ U.S.฀ government฀ in฀ exchange฀ for฀ $53,383,฀ reservation฀ land,฀ and฀ the฀ right฀ to฀ continue฀ ishing,฀ hunting,฀ and฀ gathering฀ on฀ traditional฀ lands฀ (Shelton-Mason฀County฀Journal฀1976).฀A฀3,840-acre฀ reservation฀ (later฀ increased฀ by฀ 1,373฀ acres฀ in฀ 1874)฀ was฀ established฀ on฀ Hood฀ Canal฀ at฀ the฀ mouth฀ of฀ the฀ Skokomish฀River,฀about฀20฀miles฀north฀of฀the฀city฀of฀ Background฀Context 1. ฀ Under฀constitutional฀law,฀native฀peoples฀were฀granted฀legal฀status฀to฀their฀land฀under฀“prior฀occupancy.”฀The฀Oregon฀Territorial฀Act฀of฀1848฀guaran- teed฀property฀rights฀to฀Indians฀unless฀extinguished฀by฀treaty฀with฀the฀U.S.฀As฀land฀increasingly฀became฀a฀commodity,฀pressure฀to฀open฀up฀land฀to฀white฀ settlers฀increased.฀Congress฀thus฀authorized฀the฀negotiation฀of฀treaties฀with฀native฀people฀in฀an฀effort฀to฀extinguish฀their฀claims฀to฀land. NEAI฀Projects* Year Applicant Project Funding฀Source** Amount 1995 Skokomish฀Indian฀Tribe Scabob฀Creek฀Restoration Jobs-in-the-Woods฀(JITW) $417,877 1995 Bioengineering฀(JITW) BIA 97,008 1995 Skokomish฀River฀(JITW) BIA 46,513 1996 US฀Hwy฀101฀Retail฀Corridor CTED/WDN 23,137 1997 Jobs-in-the-Woods BIA 197,617 1997 Land฀Acquisition฀and฀Reservation Strategic฀Development฀Plan฀ USFS-RCA 15,000 1998 Skokomish฀Farm฀Market฀(Land฀ purchase฀and฀remodel) RDA-RBEG 124,250 1999 Skokomish-Nalley฀Slough฀(JITW) BIA 191,735 1999 Skokomish฀Sewage฀Treatment฀ Plant฀(Hydrogeological฀Study) USFS-RCA 6,560 2000 Skokomish฀Farm฀Market฀(Cost฀ Overruns) USFS-RCA 49,874 *฀Project฀funding฀relects฀initial฀loan฀and฀grant฀totals.฀Final฀funding฀amounts฀may฀be฀different.฀ **฀Key฀to฀Funding฀Sources:฀BIA฀=฀Bureau฀of฀Indian฀Affairs,฀RCA=Rural฀Community฀Assistance฀Program;฀USFS=U.S.฀Forest฀Service,฀CTED/ WDN฀=฀Community,฀Trade,฀and฀Economic฀Development/Washington฀Development฀Network.