Tribal History
For thousands of years before European exploration charted the waters of Puget Sound, several large communities of native people inhabited this area.
Tribe names like Suquamish, S'Klallam, Chemakum, Skokomish and Toanhooch were considered wealthy due to the abundance of food and other resources that coastal waters and forests provided.
On the shores of Agate Pass in Suquamish is a small site called Old Man House Park. If you want to trace the history of Kitsap Peninsula, this is an excellent place to begin your journey. While the need to hunt and gather spread the Suquamish people through the region, archeological evidence indicates that for nearly 2,000 years, several tribes gathered at this spot for trade, ceremonies and celebration.
Old Man House once stood on this beach. The giant 900' x 60' longhouse was ancestral home to the Suquamish people. As you stand overlooking the site, imagine children running and playing on the beach while men in dugout canoes are spearing fish for barter and food. Women are working on the beach, some harvesting clams and other shellfish with sticks while others weave intricate baskets, mats and clothing from softened cedar bark.
Among the children playing there on the beach is a young man destined to become a great chief. He is learning lessons from elders who have learned these same traditions from their elders for thousands of years.
Yet, in his lifetime, he will witness the arrival of Captain George Vancouver's ship Discovery in 1792. He will become friends with a man from Olympia - one Doc Maynard - and will convince him of the opportunities to be found further north in a small city across the bay from his ancestral home. Then, in 1854, he will be a key participant in a treaty which he sadly realizes will mark the end of his culture as he knows it.
Just a few miles from this site -- at St. Peter's Mission -- is the great Chief's gravesite. It sits on a hillside overlooking Puget Sound and the city which now bears his name -- Seattle.
From Chief Sealth's grave, you can follow signs to the Suquamish Museum. This internationally acclaimed museum has been rated by the Smithsonian Institute as the best historical museum of Native American in the Pacific Northwest.
More History: Early Settlement Mosquito Fleet Naval Influence
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