Lummi Indian Nation

According to one account, the word "Lummi" is a shortened version of

"Nuglummi," which is roughly equivalent to "people," as the Lummi

summarized themselves. The Lummi constitute the principal tribe of

better than 20 small Salishan-speaking groups who originally inhabited

the lower shores, islands and eastern back country of today's Puget

Sound area in Washington.

The Lummi Reservation comprises a five-mile long peninsula located in

western Whatcom County, seven miles northwest of Bellingham, Washington,

and 95 miles north of Seattle.

A brief history

The original Lummi spoke the Songish dialect of the Salish language, a

cultural feature that persists to the present. Their ancient villages

bore the evocative names Hutatchl, Lemaltcha, Statshum and Tomwhiksen.

For 12,000 years, the Lummi subsisted near the sea and in mountain

areas. They returned seasonally to their longhouses situated at

scattered locales on the present reservation and the San Juan Islands.

Their protein-rich diet consisted principally of salmon, followed by

trout, shellfish, elk, deer, other wildlife, starchy camas bulbs and

sun-dried berries.

The Lummi social structure was family centered and village oriented, marked by complex interrelationships. Leaders earned their

status by their wits and demonstrated ability. The Lummi were

accomplished artisans in the crafting of boats, seine nets, houses and

numerous other artifacts, and they were part a sophisticated regional

political network.

The Lummi didn't begin to experience foreign national influences until

about 1800. Then the Lummi Nation traded for half a century with

Russians, Spaniards, Japanese and Englishmen prior to contact with

traders from the United States. By 1850, the Americans took up where the

others left off. Like their predecessors, the United States traders

didn't desire what the Lummi economy produced; rather, they aggressively

wanted their raw materials and land. By the mid-19th century, the Lummi

people began to experience the demise of their vibrant social and

political structures.

Also around 1850, the Lummi were converted to Christianity through the

efforts of the Roman Catholic Casimir Chirouse and later Oblate fathers.

A mission was established on what would be their reservation.

In 1855, the Lummi Nation signed the Treaty of Point Elliot with

the U.S., which called for the natives to relinquish much of their

homeland in western Washington Territory. In return they were assigned

land reserved for them that initially consisted of 15,000 acres. The

reservation also was intended for the Nooksack, Samish and other

local natives, but was primarily inhabited by the Lummi. By 1909, the

Indians on the Lummi reservation, including several smaller bands,

numbered altogether only about 435 souls, a decrease by half in four

decades.

In 1948 the Lummi Nation adopted a tribal constitution, amended and

ratified in 1970, which created the present government structure: a

tribal business council.

That year, the council filed a claim with the Indian Claims Commission

for additional money from the United States, arguing that the amount

granted to them in the 1855 treaty was too low. The commission argued

that $52,067 was a fair market value in 1859 and would not allow an

additional amount, so the tribe appealed. In 1972 the U.S. Court of

Claims ruled that the commission had placed the bare minimum fair market

value on the land in 1859. The court reversed that decision and set a

fair value of $90,634.13. On Oct. 22, 1972, the tribe was awarded the

difference in the amount of $57,000.

For thousands of years, the Lummi and other tribes had fished without

adversely affecting the salmon runs. Beginning with the white man's

arrival, however, the salmon population went into sharp decline.

Overfishing, the compromise of salmon streams by logging practices,

farming, and the proliferation of cities, were to blame. In addition,

dams intersected large sections of rivers where salmon once

propagated.

The Lummi and 19 other treaty tribes also suffered under a century of

policy and practice by the dominant society that excluded them from the

commercial salmon fishery of western Washington. However, in 1974, U.S.

Federal District Court judge George Boldt handed down a decision that

defined Indian fishing rights and guaranteed treaty Indians 50 percent

of the allowable salmon harvest.

Fishing would continue to be the principal means of livelihood for most

of the Lummi. The tribe faced the salmon decline by forming a galvanized

front that now plays a salient role in maintaining the region's fish

stocks and responsibly managing the threatened salmon resource. Part of

that effort is represented by their reservation salmon hatchery.

The Lummi Tribe today

The Lummi constitute a federally recognized Indian tribe of

approximately 3,400 members operating under a constitution and bylaws

approved by the Secretary of the Interior on April 10, 1970.

The Lummi Reservation today consists of approximately 12,000 acres under

Indian control. It is governed by an 11-member unit, the Lummi Indian

Business Council. All tribal members over the age of 18 are members of a

democratically spirited general council that meets at least once a year

to elect a third of the business council. The business council appoints

members to serve on committees that oversee tribal enterprises on the

general council's behalf.

A representative sample of enterprises includes:

Silver Reef

Casino

Fisherman’s Cove Complex grocery store and marina

Texaco station and A&W Drive-In

Lummi Indian Seafood Company

Lummi Head Start

Lummi K-12 School

Northwest Indian College, a two-year institution.*

The tribe maintains a main administration office that oversees a dozen

tribal services, and an Overall Economic Development Plan (OEDP) office

that is reponsible for an annually updated economic development plan. In

addition, a records and archives department preserves important tribal

historical and business documents.

Tribal health and preventive programs include 1) general comprehensive

medical and dental services, 2) Women, Infants and Children (WIC), 3)

family planning, 4) community health outreach (CHR) and 5) health

education. They also include mental health, nutritional and

environmental health programs. Two psychiatrists and a pediatric dentist

serve as consultants. The Lummi Nation also operates a walk-in direct

care facility.

In their own words:

"We are Lummi. We are Coast Salish people with a rich

history, culture and traditions. We are fishers, hunters, gatherers and

harvesters of nature's abundance. We envision our homeland as a place

where we enjoy an abundant, safe, and healthy life in mind, body,

society, environment, space, time and spirituality; where all are

encouraged to succeed and none are left behind."

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*In addition, two companies are privately owned by Lummi members:

Fish Point Seafoods

Smoked Fish Processing.

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