Interview with Regina Glenn, Dr. John Vassall, Henry Yates, and Winfield Ezell, Jr, filmed in 2022 for the documentary project "The Evolution of Collective Wisdom."
ca. 1910. Chinook Female Profile - "Skokomish Female - type" Photo by Edward S. Curtis. Scanned from Asahel Curtis lantern slide. Original photograph appears in The North American Indian, v.8 between pp. 86-87. The permanent villages of the Chinook tribes, constructed of imposing cedar board houses, once extended from the banks of the Columbia River and the rushing waters of the Dalles all the way to the sea. They occupied a land of abundant food and lived mostly on salmon. The trading post at Astoria was established in 1811 and Fort Vancouver in 1825. The fur traders brought the twin scourges of disease and alcohol. Whole villages of Chinook were decimated.
Indians of North America--Chinook--1910-1920; Women--Indians of North America; Indians of North America--Portraits;
ca. 1914. Coming for the Bride - Qagyuhl "Wedding Party - Kwakiutl" Photograph by Edward S. Curtis. Scanned from Asahel Curtis, hand tinted lantern slide. Original photo appears in The North American Indian, v.10 Plate # 337. The Kwakiutl is a broad term used to describe the native tribes on the coast of British Columbia; the native word Qagyuhl describes the sub tribe resident at Fort Rupert. Marriage among the poor took place without ceremony, but with people of rank betrothal and marriage was ruled by customs and traditions. On the morning of the wedding day, a war canoe would be sent to the home of the bride. In the forward portion is a wooden effigy of a thunderbird. Behind the man in the bow is seated the human effigy. He wears a headdress representing the creature and a robe of eagle tail feathers and he imitates the bird by gesture and cry. They halt in front of the bride's home to sing, dance and make speeches. Hoping to raise funds for the publishing of his 40 volume North American Indian opus, Edward Curtis made a full length motion picture of the Kwakiutl way of life, "In the Land of the Headhunters." Work on the film ended in 1914 and it was considered a masterpiece. However, it was a financial disaster, only ever shown in New York City's Casino Theater and in Seattle. It gathered dust until 1924, when he sold the uncut master print and negatives to the American Museum of Natural History for $1500 and the resignation of all rights. It was later restored in 1972 and released as "In the Land of the War Canoes."
Indians of North America--Kwakiutl; Indians of North America--Canoes; Indians of North America--Rites & ceremonies;
ca. 1912. Puget Sound Baskets Photograph by Edward S. Curtis. Scanned from Asahel Curtis lantern slide. Original print appears in The North American Indian, v.9 Plate # 309. Basketry was a prominent industry of the native women. A water-tight basket was made for hauling water, cooking with hot stones and berry picking. This type of basket was tightly coiled. A more flexible, softer woven basket was used for storing and carrying personal effects. A much larger basket of a rougher weave was used as a burden basket. It was carried on the back and used primarily for transporting clams and fish.
ca. 1912. Puget Sound Camp - Skokomish. Photograph by Edward S. Curtis. Scanned from Asahel Curtis lantern slide. Original photograph published in "The North American Indian, v.9" Plate between pp. 48-49. TPL-8759
Indians of North America--Skokomish--1910-1920; Indians of North America--Shelters; Canoes;
ca. 1912. A mat shelter - Skokomish. Photograph by Edward S. Curtis. Scanned from Asahel Curtis lantern slide. Original photograph published in "The North American Indian, v.9" Plate appears between pp. 110 -111. The aboriginal name for the people occupying the region of Hood Canal on the Olympic Peninsula was the Twana. The largest community in this tribe was the Skokomish, the "Big River People." The Skokomish Reservation was created by the Point-No-Point treaty in 1855 and it encompasses almost 5,000 acres on the delta of the Skokomish River. During the winter months, the people resided in cedar plank houses. But during the other seasons, they resided in temporary, movable structures such as the one pictured, which they covered with woven mats. These structures could be moved from place to place during hunting and fishing seasons. The mats, hung on the framework of the structure, would keep out the wind and the rain. The mats were most commonly woven of cattail leaves or the inner bark of the cedar. Two women are picture outside of a structure, along with their canoe and woven baskets.
Indians of North America--Skokomish--1910-1920; Women--Indians of North America; Huts; Indians of North America--Shelters; Canoes; Baskets;
Several members of the Yamamoto family posed for a group portrait on June 7, 1931 on the front steps of Mr. Kichigiro "Kay" Yamamoto's house at 3220 54th Ave E in Fife. Mr. Yamamoto in the light colored suit wearing spectacles right behind what appear to be a bride and groom. His wife, Masae, in the second row far left. Their children in the front row from left to right: Ray, Katherine, Margaret, George and Edith. Source: Sullivan, Michael "Legacy, part 3" Tacoma History Live Blog, July 31, 2019.
Oral history interview with Tacoma resident Wanda Thompson conducted by dindria barrow on June 3, 2023. In this interview, Wanda shares her life’s journey from being born in a small rural town in Florida to being crowned Miss Hilltop, from starting her own modeling agency to working for the Department of Corrections, from being an arts commissioner to being a recognized local leader in multiple fields. Education was the key to her many successes, and she credits her family in helping her discover the love of stories, listening to them, reading them, writing them, and teaching them to others. As her mom used to say, “Everybody has a story to tell.”
These Native American girls were taking a sewing class at the Cushman Indian School on the Puyallup Reservation in June of 1918. The goal of Native American education from 1880-1920 was to assimilate the children into the dominant European culture, removing them from traditional Indian ways. One method was to remove them from their families and enroll them in government run boarding schools. By 1910, the Puyallup Indian School had become the Cushman Indian School, a large industrial boarding school, hosting over 350 students from the Northwest and Alaska. The school's focus was training the students for a place as a laborer in an industrialized America. During WWI the Red Cross entered into a partnership with schools to produce needed goods for the war torn countries. The girls in this photograph are probably sewing for the Red Cross. The boarding school closed in 1920. G39.1-163; TPL-2822
Cushman Indian School (Tacoma); Boarding schools--Puyallup Reservation; Sewing--1910-1920; Sewing machines--1910-1920;
