featured history - White River Valley Museum

April 2014
a newsletter of the white river valley museum
Featured History
What’s Happening?
Things To Do
From the Back Room
Good News!
Page 1, 4
Villages, Myths and
Special Places
Page 2
Kinkade Exhibit Open
Through June 1
Page 3
Farm Happenings
Page 10
Page 11
Carpenter’s Know-How Annabelle Arrives!
FEATURED HISTORY
Puget Sound Geography,
Original Manuscript by T.T. Waterman
(Edited with Additional Material from Vi Hilbert, Jay Miller and Zalmai (Zeke) Zahir)
by
Patricia Cosgrove, Museum Director
One of the most satisfying things about working in
this area for several decades is occasionally revisiting
the intellectual passions of my past. In this instance,
we are speaking about the history of the First People
of our region, the Native or Salish peoples of Western
Washington. Recently I revisited the subjects of my
dissertation and earlier museum work when we
participated in the reprinting of T.T.Waterman’s Puget
Sound Geography, a marvelous, mysterious work once
available only to scholars in microfiche, then lost, then
available only in a marked-up many generation old
Xerox, and finally rediscovered and published by a
group of gifted linguists and scholars of Puget Sound
Native cultures.
carved totem poles, spoke one simple language and
lived a life of poverty and strain—when totem poles
are an art form of Native people to the north, in
Canada; when in reality in Washington State there
were seven different indigenous language families,
containing 25 distinct and complex languages, each
with multiple dialects; and western Washington is
known by anthropologists world-wide as one of the
few places on earth with such a rich environment
that very high cultures developed here without the
need of agriculture. How could this lack of regard
be, when just north in Canada it is hard to go far
without encountering indigenous people’s arts,
heritage and culture? This general ignorance of the
Salish people has led me to regard first-hand source
I believe that the history, society, language and arts of material with great excitement, as though I alone am
members of Salish cultures have interestingly gone
privy to a marvelous and amazing, perhaps secretive
almost unnoticed by the general population. How
discovery! One such find is the newly republished
many Seattleites think the Native people of our area Puget Sound Geography.
Continued on page 4
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Spring at the Museum
WHAT’S HAPPENING
ToatDothe Farm!
Preview- Things
Summer
Late Play Dates
Every First Thursday of the Month!
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
The first Thursday of every month come
to the museum to enjoy craft and activities and FREE
admission. No registration required. Perfect for kids
age 3 – 12.
Mary Olson Farm Summer Hours
Open every Saturday and Sunday
June 21 – August 24, noon – 5 p.m.
Admission is FREE!
Take your family on a trip back in time to the Mary
Olson Farm. Kids will love meeting our cows, chickens,
horses and goats and going on a tour of the Olson’s
farmhouse. Pack a picnic and spend the day enjoying one
of King County’s best preserved historic farms!
Sunday Farm Talks—every Sunday at 2 p.m. enjoy a
presentation, activity or lecture on a variety of subjects.
Check our website in June for a full schedule of this
summer’s topics.
photographer, Mike Hipple
Sunsets at Mary Olson Farm
July 10, 24 & August 7
Museum Mysteries Camp
Alpine Photography of
GEORGE KINKADE
on display through June 1st
April 7 – 11 9 a.m. – noon daily
Spend spring break unlocking the secrets of the
Museum! This camp is perfect for kids age 7 -12 and
includes a new mystery everyday complete with scavenger hunts, games, crafts and more!
Cost: $80 per camper.
July 26, 1 p.m.
Enjoy a bevy of teatime treats and iced tea with the Hatter
and his friends at this family friendly outdoor tea!
Cost: $12 adult / $8 child 3-12 / children 2 and under are
FREE.
Veggie Car Races
July 12, 1 – 3 p.m.
Sponsored by Georgia Kinkade and Friends,
and the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe
George L. Kinkade was a midcentury Auburn
photographer, writer, and lover of nature who travelled
across Washington State to capture images of “the sublime
mountains.” In this show, the first solo exhibit of his alpine
photography anywhere, Kinkade’s photographs are paired
with his own written words to give viewers a glimpse into the
mind of a fiercely independent man who trekked across Mt.
Rainier, the Olympics, and the Cascades in search of the rugged beauty and freedom that comes from experiencing the
wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.
The Auburn Symphony Chamber Orchestra presents
an evening series of outdoor chamber music at the
Mary Olson Farm. For more information and tickets
please visit www.auburnsymphony.org.
Mad Hatter’s Sweet Tea
Art and Nature Slideshow
May 15, 6 p.m.
Join local photographer Steve LePenske as he explores
the elements of art and design through a slideshow
of his stunning photographs of Washington State and
beyond.
Lecture included with regular admission or Museum
membership.
To register for programs visit wrvmuseum.org, or call
Rachael Burrum at (253) 288-7439.
Gentlemen start your turnips! Stop by the Farm and
try your hand at making a race car using just vegetables,
and then send it zooming (or puttering) down our race
track! FREE, no registration required.
Living History Camp
August 11 – 15
Noon – 9 a.m. daily
Kids age 7-12 will explore the daily activities of farm life in
the early 20th century while caring for farm animals, working in the garden, preparing farm fresh food and playing
historic games.
Cost: $80 per camper
3
FEATURED HISTORY
Puget Sound Geography,
Original Manuscript by T.T. Waterman
(Edited with Additional Material from Vi Hilbert, Jay Miller and Zalmai (Zeke) Zahir
Continued from page1
by
Patricia Cosgrove, Museum Director
Its author, Thomas Talbot Waterman held a degree in
Anthropology, having studied with the great Franz Boaz at
Columbia University, and had an enthusiasm for gathering
very specific information recording place names. During
his time teaching at the University of Washington he and
his students gathered data on place names and broadened
their search to include the distribution of winter houses
and canoes, and shamanic practices. Much of his work remained
in manuscript form and was never
published during his lifetime, as is
the case with Puget Sound Geography. Now one might wonder,
why care about place names and
geography of this region. In the
words of one of the editors, Zeke
Zahir:
many believe is today the only fluent speaker of Lushootseed) and anthropologist Jay Miller (perhaps the foremostethnographer of Native cultures in the Puget Sound area)
to take Waterman’s manuscript, compare his spelling of
Lushootseed words to the International Phonetic Alphabet
used today, and clearly translate and map the over 1000
sites he recorded.
Waterman, like early anthropologist and Auburn
resident Ar thur Ballard,
interviewed tribal elders
in the first few decades
of the 1900s. The informants (as he calls them)
from our region included
Anne Seattle and her
husband John Seattle,
Anne, Betsy Whatcom,
“With over one thousand
Big John and his wife
place names containing
Nancy (he is honored
descriptions of the geogwith a por trait sculpture
raphy, history and culture,
in the Museum’s lobby,)
this manuscript gives the
Big Tom, Bob James, Charbest indigenous view of
lie Whatcom, Jim Abt, Joe
the land held by the First
Bill, Jerry Dominick, “King
People of Puget Sound. T.
George,” Lucy Eells and
T.T. Waterman, university professor, anthropologist, friend to many
T. Waterman’s manuscript
Native elders, and author of Puget Sound Geography.
Samson Eells, Old Mary,
is highly respected and
Mary
wife
of
Snohomish
Joe,
Stuck Jack and his wife
studied by native and nonand Henry Sicade. As Waterman notes: “The question
native historians, anthropologists, educators and
of what an Indian’s name is, is sometimes troublesome.
linguists. It has been used to recover family names,
They had no patronymic [naming based upon the
study tribal history and culture, and to locate tradifather] in the old days. At the present time, an Indian
tional fishing, hunting, gathering, and village sites. It
occasionally is known by several nicknames. I have
is unmatched in information on geography by any
therefore listed my various informants under their full
other document for the Puget Sound region.”
names, where they have them, even if this puts their
‘Christian’ name first. That is obviously the only way to
In the 1990s the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe provided a
grant that enabled Upper Skagit elder, native Lushoottreat a name, for example, like ‘Eagle Harbor Joe.’ The
seed speaker and University of Washington professor, Vi
‘Christian’ name is what really identifies the person in
Hilbert to work with her long time student Zeke (who
most cases.”
Puget Sound Geography consists of three elements organized by locale:
• charts of Waterman’s place names compared to the interpretation spelled in modern Lushootseed
• site descriptions Waterman’s informants provided, and
• maps that identify the locations of each place name.
It should be noted that the Native people of our region
usually lived a lifetime in one locale in which they and
their family had very deep roots. Within that area, they
returned seasonally to sites where their family had rights
to gather roots or berries, procure basketry materials,
hunt or fish. Each winter these bands of extended family
members would come back together in their cedar long
houses, which were often located near waterways for
ease of transportation. Waterman’s informants described eight winter villages in the region between south
Kent to north Sumner. From north to south they are:
“StEq3, ‘log jam.’ At a spot on the Duwamish a
great jam of logs extended across the river. People
had to haul their canoes around it. It stayed there so
long that grass and bushes grew on it. The headman
in the village was Wapa’wati. The ‘character’ known as
Chief Seattle was born at this place. The people here
were wealthy and very ‘superior.’ They treated their
neighbors of the village of Tcu’t3ap-altu in a rather
high handed way. When they had a feast, for example,
they would not take the trouble to send an invitation.
They just turned a canoe over, and pounded on it.
‘The people from the other village,’ my informants say
‘would hear that pounding, and come without being
otherwise invited.’ I am told that there were two trails
along the river between the two villages. The upper
one was used by the StEq3 people only, the lower
by their neighbors. People from this vicinity went in
the summer time to the vicinity of Three Tree point
to camp. This summering place is on the shore of the
Sound across a range of hills.”
“Tcu’t3ap-altu, ‘flea’s house.’ A place just upstream
from the last. A myth recounts that Elk’s daughter came
to this place and was married to Flea who lived here.
Fleas were big [huge] at that time. She found out they in
tended to kill her. The Flea people burned bones instead
of wood in the fire, trying to smother her in this smoke.
When she realized her danger, ‘She came to herself,’ the
Indians say, ‘and found out that she was a great person.’
She inhaled the smoke. It did no harm! Then she clubbed
all the Fleas and killed them. She scattered their blood all
about. That blood came to life and that is why fleas are
now small. If they were as large now as they formerly
were, their bites ‘would give blood poison’ and kill us.”
Joe Bill (“Big Joe”) and his wife Lucy and friend in carriage. Waterman identifies this
informant as: This man’s native name is Le’lkaibEL. His father was KwaioLE’bkot,
his mother a woman from Renton named Xeba’1x, sister of a man named Sa’yayil.
WRVM PO-00443
“Yila’l-qo or Ila’l-qo, probably ‘striped water.’ This
was a populous village. It stood on the point of land
included between Green River and White River, where
they come together, Ila’l3qu. There was a large village
here in the days when the White river was running. The
large river that resulted from the confluence of these
two streams was for a mile below the forks, was muddy
on one side, clear and green on the other. I think the
name is a reference to that fact. When White river is
clear, it is of a blue color, but it is usually charged with
sediment. Green River is never blue, but always keeps
its greenish tinge. White River is now a dry channel, the
waters having been diverted. The following ‘old men’ or
headmen were identified with the village at this spot.”
www.wrvmuseum
.org •.253-288-7433
www.wrvmuseum
org • 253-288-7433
5
Map showing the place names recorded by Waterman, from Black Diamond to south-east Auburn.
“Tuja’tebEc, a warrior and shaman. Yibo’tobot, a great fisherman. Kiya’lopkEt, a prominent inhabitant.
One of my own informants ‘Big John’ came from here. His grandfather, I’lsEb, was a person of great
importance in the previous generation.”
“SkqE’bEd, ‘to make something warm, to hover, shelter.’ An old site east of Soos Creek
on Green River.”
“Tca’kwab, not translated. A place on a cut off in Green river. An Indian named Sxo’lt1d lived
here. Another chap who lived at this village was taken as a slave in his boyhood and carried east
of the mountains. When he came back he preached a new religion, apparently derived from some
Christian contact.”
“Stca’kwc1d, ‘where a trail descends.’ Located on a flat where a trail descended from Muckleshoot flat to the Green River. A man named CuxtsE’lt1d was leader here.”
“Tsqwtsq’bats, ‘where a certain root grows (not identified),’ an old and important settlement
on upper Green River.”
Ordinary People, Extraordinary History
6
Map from showing the place names recorded by Waterman in the Auburn to Kent area.
“Dexk, not translated. This site is near the house where Indian Dan is living now on White River.
There is a fine spring here.”
“Sqw3E’lEts, ‘huckleberry bush.’ A village at the mouth of Boise Creek.”
“StEx, ‘pushing through.’ Located on Stuck river north of the present town of Sumner. The myth
which gave rise to this curious name is recounted below, under ‘Indian names of streams.’ Two ‘headmen’ here were Wa’losxoi and Kwiya’lx. A man named T3a’tiqEb was said by one of my informants to
have kept more than a thousand dogs. The soldiers killed them at the time of the Indian war (1857).
Another informant told me of Wopona’uya here ‘who had twenty dogs.’ This last is a more reasonable story. One cannot help wondering if he kept them for shearing, for it is a fact that dog wool was
formerly woven into blankets by these people. These dogs are said to have been fed on salmon. [The
fur of these woolly dogs was much prized for woven blankets and clothing belonging to the wealthy.]”
www.wrvmuseum.org
• 253-288-7433
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Of particular interest to me is a site
which is located at the entry to the Mary
Olson Farm:
“bst1k3ai’yu, ‘wolf.’ Named for
a rock midway on the hillside east
of the river. There was once a rock
on the hillside there in the form
of a crouching wolf. The wolves
heard that Xade (the Transformer)
was coming and ran away. The last
one was lingering, or watching, and
‘hollering’ across the river. He was
turned to stone. That stone is now
blasted to clear the way for the
road. It rolled downhill in pieces.”
Waterman worked with some knowledgeable elders who were husband and wife, as with Big John and his wife Nancy. Here Muckleshoot tribal member ”Big John”
(Sukwa’leskt) is holding a dip net he made. Big John was also a leading teacher of Arthur Ballard. WRVM # PO-00438.
As you may note, some of these descriptions say, ‘not
translated’ and ‘probably’ if the trio of linguists were unable
to, with certainty, identify the meaning from Waterman’s
early orthography. In my way of thinking, when a scholar
says they do not know it really means they know a lot and
that they are in wonder with the amount there is to learn.
Bravo, I say!
for geographical features. Translations of these place
names include: Horsetail Rush; Marshes; A Long Object
in the Middle Which is Buried; Arrangement for Pulling Something; Strawberries; Backwater; Swamp, Muddy
Place; Place of the Fish Weir; Where a Trail Goes Over
a Point and Down the Other Side; Snails Sliding Place;
To Make Something Warm; Where Dog Salmon Spawns;
Upper Lip of Creek; Where Horsetail Ferns Abound;
In this same region, from south Kent to north Sumner,
Face Paint; Mouth of the Stream Which Splits Off; Fence
Waterman’s informants described over 30 named sites.
or Weir; Cedar Bark; White Clay; Ear; Edge of Water;
These site names are derived from a wide range of exact- Salal Berry Place; Where There are Swans; Dark; Horned
ing identifiers: myths that occurred at that spot; qualities of Snake; To Expel Flatus; High Place; White Cliff; Where
the river at a location; plants that are plentiful there; activi- There is a Certain Edible Plant; Bubbling Up; A Ball; Wolf;
ties that happen at that site; for the fish caught there; or
and Water Lilies.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary History
8
At the Mary Olson Farm there is such a
hillside. One of these days I hope to see
a work of art there, beside of the Wagon
Road that leads up from the large entry
gate and proceeds over the hillside to
the north meadow of the Farm. Would
it not be wonderful to encounter an artist’s depiction of a crouching wolf along
that forested path, just waiting to invite
you to learn about the place, its multiple
layers of history and of the past that
would have been lost but for an anthropologist named Waterman and the
generous Native elders who shared their
world with him?
We are thankful to Zeke Zahir for allowing us to reprint this work. T. T. Waterman’s Puget Sound Geography is available
at the Museum shop for $34.95. It is a
simple spiral bound reproduction, 376
two sided pages chocked full of maps,
mysteries and identity for this area we
call home. If dropping by is not possible, contact Julie at (253) 288-7445 or
[email protected] and we will mail it
to you for an additional $5.
Among Waterman’s informants or teachers was Nancy John (wife of Big John).
Here she is wearing a Plateau style basketry hat and is demonstrating how to wear a
traditional backpack with a handmade tumpline.
WRVM # PO-00445.
www.wrvmuseum.org
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Good News!
FROM THE BACK ROOM
By Hilary Pittenger,
Curator of Collections
lle
e
b
a
n
An
s!
Arrive
New Additions to the Collection
Over the past months, the Museum has received several new additions to its collection. Among these is a set of the first four volumes of
Audel’s Carpenters and Builders Guide book set, donated in two parts
by Scott Gibbons and Linda Ball.
Audel’s reference book set was a standard reference used by homebuilders, carpenters, and craftsmen in the mid-20th century. The books
were first published in 1923, and continued to be reprinted through
the 1950s. The Museum’s set is from the 1943 reprint. The name of
the series comes from the publisher of the books, Theodore Audel,
which was the pen name of Nehemiah Hawkins, a Rhode Island publisher and inventor who published many technical books on the topics
of carpentry, electricity, steam power, and other mechanical trades.
Illustration from Volume 4, Chapter 50:
Doors, showing the parts of a rim lock.
The books form a four volume set filled with information on the
tools, techniques, and materials used in the construction of buildings.
In the era before power tools and plywood, raising a building took
a great deal of knowledge about how to estimate the strength of a
piece of timber or how to calculate the area of a foundation without
a calculator, and these small, clearly written handbooks would have
been an invaluable resource for any construction office or worksite.
Each volume is filled with detailed, useful illustrations and even a little
bit of humor.
Illustration from Volume 2, Chapter 31:
Architectural Drawing, showing the
details of three types of Greek- and
Roman-style columns.
Six day old Annabelle, a
Holstein/Jersey cross arrived
to the Mary Olson Farm
in mid December to begin
training for her life’s work:
greeting children.
Illustration from Volume 4, Chapter 57-A:
Termite Protection, showing how
metal shields could be used to protect
buildings from termite infestation.
If you hurry, you can go on
line and see a slide show
about her escapades and
training, and help us raise
funds for her care. We
think Annabelle has a lot of
potential, and Libby the other
resident Jersey agrees!
Illustration from Volume 1, Chapter 2:
Nails, showing how not to drive a nail.
To view her slide show, go to:
www.razoo.com and search
under Raising Annabelle. We
only have through the end
of April to make our goal, so
consider helping out today!
Carpentry in the early 20th century was a very different business
than it is today, and builders had different goals for the longevity of
their buildings. This attitude is clearly laid out at the beginning of each
volume of the book set with a quote from the Victorian writer John
Ruskin: “When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be
for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as
our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on
stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred
because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they
look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, “See! This our
father did for us.”
The books have been added to the Museum’s Research Library Collection, where they will be available for patrons and staff members
to use. They will be especially useful for researching period repair
methods for historical buildings (including some of the buildings at the
Mary Olson Farm), and for identifying carpenter’s tools.
10
Illustration from Volume 1, Chapter 11:
Toothed Cutting Tools, showing a small selection of the
many types of saws available to the mid-century carpenter.
www.wrvmuseum.org
• 253-288-7433
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White River Valley Historical Society
918 H Street SE
Auburn, WA 98002
253.288.7433
NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
AUBURN, WA
PERMIT NO. 193
Address service requested
2014
Board Members
Pat Cavanaugh
 President
Kim Perry
Vice President
Jamie Bothell
Treasurer
Ronnie Beyersdorf
Past President, Secretary
Megan Evans
Past President
Want to receive our monthly E-newsletter?
Send your email address to Erin Hash at [email protected].
Scott Gibbons
Bill Greene
Gerry Honeysett
Rhonda Larson
Doug Lein
Joan Mason
Rosella Moseby
Michele Oosterink
William Sundqvist
Toya Turner
Mike Weibel
Museum Staff
Patricia Cosgrove
Director
New Auburn History Book!
Julie Sand
Bookkeeper and
Administrative Assistant
Erin Hash
Education Assistant
Rachael Burrum
Curator of Education
Hilary Pittenger
Curator of Collections
Janet Wells
Volunteer and Facilities
Coordinator
White River Journal
is a quarterly
publication of the
White River Valley Museum,
which is
supported in
large part by
City of Auburn.
Our own Curator of Collections, Hilary Pittenger
is the author of a new book on Auburn!
It is part of the Images of America Series produced
by Arcadia Publishing. This edition, Auburn is over
200 pages long and is fully illustrated sharing the
diverse cultures and histories from 1850s Native
cultures to immigrants arriving from Europe and
Japan, up into the 21st Century. It is a beautiful
soft cover publication, available for $21.99 at the
Museum.
White River Journal is edited by Patricia Cosgrove, designed by Jan Hoy Design
White River Valley Museum | 918 H Street SE | Auburn, WA, 98002 | Tel. 253.288.7433 | Fax 253.931.3098 | wrvmuseum.org
Museum Open: Noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, 6 to 8 p.m. first Thursday and by appointment for group tours and research.
Admission: $2 for children and seniors, $5 for adults. Museum members free. First Thursday and third Sunday free.
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Support