I was thinking about the first time we saw some people who said they were Hungarian (I don’t think they were). They were fishermen. There used to be quite a few of them—and Yugoslavians—in Everett. We would see them; they were all over the island, on Whidbey, and wherever the Indians went, that is where they went. I think they discovered where we camped was a good place to be and a good place to fish. We would see them camping along the beaches. They were dark-haired and somewhat darker than the white people we had always seen.
The first time we saw them, my father walked up the beach and talked to whoever came in. He was talking with them, and I was standing by the canoe. I was watching, and they never said a word. Maybe they didn’t know any English, or maybe they were frightened of my father. I think one of them finally started to talk, and later we found out that they came from Yugoslavia. They were fishermen way over there, too, in the old country. Those people never ever stopped fishing. They were fishing day and night, wherever they went. Way back then, Washington State did not have any fishing regulations—it didn’t seem like it. Those people had rowboats. Later, they had quite big motorboats. They became wealthy with their fishing.
We often went to Mount Rainier on trips. We didn’t go to Mount Baker. We went up into Mount Rainier National Park, up a trail called Indian Henry’s Trail, way back then when I was in high school. We walked for miles, going up a winding trail. It was beautiful—far, far from nowhere. There were acres and acres of mountain blueberries. People called them huckleberries, too, but they are different from the lowland huckleberries. You know when a lot of people move into a place like that those wilderness things die off. Whidbey Island huckleberries are smaller; they look a little darker, and their skins are a little tougher. Mountain blueberries are bigger: as big as my thumbnail. Their taste is similar. The Indians had another name for it: swed?.
The mountain blueberries are very good to eat. If you are ever sick with the flu and have a sore throat, eat some and you will feel better. They are a real good medicine for your throat. My mother canned them. She gave me a dishful, and because I believed it would make me feel better, it did. It seemed to help my throat.
I would like to try and go back there to that Indian trail and see what is up there. We had to walk for miles. My father’s cousins went with us. They had two horses, and we took turns riding up the trail on those horses, carrying all of the pots and pans, and tents and things. We were up there for three or four days. My father was talking about how clear the air was, and I noticed it anyway, how clear that air was. Just clear sparkling mornings. You wake up early at five or six o’clock in the morning.
One day I was sitting in a natural mountain meadow. It was covered with all kinds of wildflowers. I used to try and step between them when I walked, but you really couldn’t do it. My father said, “Well, it’s no use.” You will just get slowed down so just keep walking. There were so many varieties of wildflowers. The meadow where I was sitting sloped a little and right across and down was what looked like a big canyon. Right across were big stony cliffs. They were reddish brown and yellow, and just very steep rock. Rocky cliffs. My father came to sit beside me. I was sitting there and looking across, and there was not a thing moving. I guess I looked lonely there, because my father said, “You look so all alone.” He was looking around, and he finally said, “There are mountain goats across there.” I said, “Where?” He showed me on the cliff, and I looked and looked, but I couldn’t see them. It seemed as if there was something moving. So he went back to our camp and got a pair of binoculars. He brought them to me and said fix them so that you can see. I said, “Oh! I can see the mountain goats.” My lands! They can jump on that steep cliff, and you wonder what they are standing on. They’re down in the valley, where there are trees. I said, “Could we walk over there? How long would it take us to walk?” He smiled, and he said, “Well, if we walked all day, it would probably take us about three or four days.” I said, “Oh, that far? That is quite a ways.” That is quite a forest down there too. It’s so far away. It looked like I could walk there in fifteen minutes.
I don’t know why I remembered that. He could see they were mountain goats not mountain sheep. It seems to me it was kind of deceiving, because I never saw the world like they did—like my mother and father did.
Stan Jones leading the Salmon Ceremony.
Harriette speaking at the Salmon Ceremony. Photograph by Loran Olsen.
Harriette Dover and Molly Hatch at the Salmon Ceremony. Mrs. Hatch is holding a Shelton family heirloom: a rattle carved in 1792 to commemorate the passing of their village at Possession Point by Captain Vancouver.
Two of William Shelton’s canoes, stored at the Shelton house. Photograph by Harvey Davis.
Canoes on the way to Hat Island.
1 The Salmon Ceremony, like all traditional activities, was forbidden by the federal government.
2 Everyone goes down to the beach to welcome the canoe and the young men, who bring in a king salmon that is then carried into the longhouse resting on cedar boughs and on a small platform with handles.
3 According to Elizabeth Shelton, Harriette Dover’s aunt, the Skykomish were high-class Snohomish Indians who moved from Hibołb, their village at Legion Park in Everett, to the mountains in the Skykomish River area (Tweddell 1953).
4 Shaman.
5 Spiritual ability or power.
6 Loran Olsen, a music professor (now emeritus) at Washington State University.
7 Counterclockwise.
8 The altar is called a “prayer table” and is always placed on the east wall of the room or the church.
9 The garment also has a medium blue appliqué of a cross stitched on the chest area.
10 They also have churches in British Columbia, eastern Washington, and eastern Oregon.
11 And by stamping their feet.
12 The boards are “run” in pairs. For more on the medicine boards, see Haeberlin and Gunther 1930; Wike 1951.
13 In class Mrs. Dover told us that her mother was hospitalized and had several intravenous lines; she removed them and took her mother home to die. After her mother died, she bathed her in water that contained flower petals.
14 Morris Dan, Swinomish Tribe in La Conner.
15 A renowned healer and spiritualist from the Lummi Tribe who is now deceased.
16 Francey Sheldon and Herman Williams.
17 Also referred to now as the Səyəwən religion.
18 The hunter is Changer or Dukwibəł.
Appendix
THE TULALIP INDIAN SCHOOL SCHEDULE
The daily program of the school [as written by Dr. Buchanan]:
The school bell will be rung and the school whistle will be blown at the periods indicated below. The whistle will not be blown on Sundays.
The kitchen clock will indicate standard school time for all herein designated periods. The engineer will see that said kitchen clock is properly regulated and kept so daily.
The following shall be the daily program, unless directed otherwise, for each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday:
4:30 A.M.
Night watchman makes kitchen fires and fills wood boxes at kitchen of mess, hospital and school.
5:00 A.M.
Kitchen detail reports at kitchen for duty.
5:30 A.M.
Rising bell. Reveille.
6:00 A.M.
Military drill and getting-up exercises.
6:25 A.M.
Morning roll call; line-up; line inspection by matron and disciplinarian. Absentees reported to office.
6:30 A.M.
Breakfast bell. Breakfast. Mess dining room opens.
7:00 A.M.
Care of rooms, etc.
7:15 A.M.
Sick call. Bugle. All sick report for treatment. Warning whistle: two blasts.
7:30 A.M.
Work whistle. Work begins. Mess dining room closes.
7:30 A.M. to 8:00 A.M. Free play.
8:15 A.M.
> First school bell.
8:30 A.M.
School begins. No work other than regular school work in school during school hours.
9:45 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. Calisthenics and breathing exercises; outdoors in good weather; indoors with open windows in bad weather.
11:30 A.M.
Warning whistle: two blasts.
11:35 A.M.
Whistle: one blast. School dismissed. Work details dismissed.
11:40 A.M.
Police grounds for five minutes, all pupils assist.
11:55 A.M.
Mid-day roll call; line-up; line inspection by matrons and disciplinarian. Report absentees.
12:00 P.M.
Dinner bell. Mess dining room opens.
12:45 P.M.
Warning whistle: two blasts.
1:00 P.M.
Whistle: one blast. School begins. Work begins. Mess dining room closed.
2:45 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. Calisthenics and breathing exercises; outdoors in good weather; indoors with open windows in bad weather.
4:00 P.M.
Afternoon session of school closes. School dismissed.
5:00 P.M.
Warning whistle: two blasts.
5:05 P.M.
Whistle: one blast. Work ceases.
5:25 P.M.
Roll call; line-up; line inspection.
5:30 P.M.
Supper. Supper bell. Mess dining room opens.
6:30 p.m
Mess dining room closes.
6:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Group Athletics.
7:30 P.M.
Free play.
7:30 P.M.
Evening hour begins (see Evening Hour Program). Evening line-up and roll call. Small pupils retire.
8:30 P.M.
Evening Hour ends. Retreat.
8:45 P.M.
Tattoo. Large pupils retire. Roll call in dormitories.
9:00 P.M.
Taps. Lights out. Good night. Silence.
Saturdays
4:30 A.M. to 7:30 A.M. Same as on other days. Whistle, bell and bugles as usual.
7:30 A.M. to 11:35 A.M. Whistle, bells and bugles as usual. Janitors on duty at school house, to otherwise work on double details. Ground and entire plant thoroughly policed and cleaned
11:35 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. As usual. Inspection, after which half-holiday for pupils.
4:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. As usual.
7:30 P.M. to 10: P.M. (1) Social. (2) School City. (3) Literary Society. (4) Community Meeting. (5) Open.
Sundays
4:30 A.M. to 7:30 A.M. As usual. Bells and bugles as usual.
7:30 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. Domestic duties, etc., followed by preparation for church.
11:15 A.M.
Mass. Military drill in foot movements in open (weather permitting), under disciplinarian, for boys and girls when there is no Mass. Laundress and disciplinarian conduct pupils to and from church, remaining as monitor in the interim.
11:15 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. As usual. Band concert, conditions permitting.
2:00 P.M.
Sunday assembly. On Sundays when there is mass, one matron conducts to pupils to and from Assembly Hall, remaining as monitor in the interim.
4:30 P.M.
Dress Parade, conditions permitting.
5:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. As usual.
7:20 P.M.
General school assembly for large pupils and all employees. Plans for the week or future announcements, assignments, general notices, etc., promulgated at this meeting.
Bells
5:30 A.M.
Rising bell.
6:30 A.M.
Breakfast bell.
8:15 A.M.
First school bell.
8:30 A.M.
Second school bell.
12:00 P.M.
Dinner bell.
12:45 P.M.
First school bell.
1:00 P.M.
Second school bell.
4:00 P.M.
School dismissal.
5:30 P.M.
Supper bell.
9:00 P.M.
Silence bell.
The night watchman will ring the rising bell at 5:30 A.M. and the silence bell at 9 P.M. The school cook will ring all other bells. The chief matron will see that all bells are promptly and properly rung as scheduled above and that all notices indicated or directed by such said signals are observed with exactitude and promptitude.
Whistles
7:15 A.M.
Warning whistle: two blasts.
7:30 A.M.
Work whistle (work begins): one blast.
11:30 A.M.
Warning whistle: two blasts.
11:35 A.M.
Work whistle (work ceases): one blast.
12:45 A.M.
Warning whistle: two blasts.
1:00 P.M.
Work whistle: one blast.
5:00 P.M.
Warning whistle: two blasts.
5:05 P.M.
Work whistle (work ceases): one blast.
The engineer will see that the above whistle signals are given as scheduled, the time being indicated by the kitchen clock. He will see that there is no trifling with such signals and that they are properly, promptly and practically given as scheduled.
Bugle Calls
Blow each call twice:
5:30 A.M.
Reveille.
6:00 A.M.
Drill.
6:20 A.M.
Recall.
6:25 A.M.
First call.
6:26 A.M.
Assembly. Roll call.
6:27 A.M.
Mess call.
7:15 A.M.
Sick call.
11:55 A.M.
First call
11:56 A.M.
Assembly. Roll call.
11:57 A.M.
Mess call.
5:25 P.M.
First call.
5:26 P.M.
Assembly. Roll call.
5:27 P.M.
Mess call.
7:15 P.M.
First call for Evening Hour, Social, Chapel, etc.
7:20 P.M.
Assembly for Evening Hour, Social, Chapel, etc.
8:30 P.M.
Retreat.
8:45 P.M.
Tattoo.
9:00 P.M.
Taps.
The disciplinarian will see that the above bugle calls are given as scheduled; that there will be no promiscuous use of bugle; that legitimate bugle practice be carried on with muted bugle.
The disciplinarian and [?] will train and instruct two battalion buglers in all the calls, etc., on the bugle and assign the various calls among them and see that all such calls are properly, promptly and correctly blown at the periods designated above. Embellishments and oddities are not permissible in established bugle calls. All calls must be blown precisely on time and each call shall be blown twice, the second following the first after a brief interval of a few seconds’ length. Calls are to be blown in the manner and at the time specified. Promiscuous calls should be prohibited and legitimate bugle practice should be with muted instrument.
LINE-UP, LINE INSPECTION, AND ROLL CALL
Frequent roll calls, at opportune times, have a salutary morale effect. Those required and scheduled herein, therefore, should be observed as scheduled and detailed. At the periods indicated and designated in the heading of this paragraph, the pupils shall be lined up in their respective playrooms for line-up, line inspection and roll call by the company officers under the direct personal supervision of the matrons and disciplinarians. Admit no untidy, unkept or unclean child to the dining room or classroom. Report all unaccounted-for absentees from roll call to the office at once. A complete written record.
1915
1916
Lecture and entertainment courses are arranged all through the year as opportunity occurs. The course of the year was especially rich, interesting and instructive. A course of ten lectures on First Aid to
the injured, illustrated with demonstrations and with lenter slides, will be given in the last quarter of the school year.
Bibliography
Bancroft, H. H. Native Races of the Pacific States. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft and Company, 1882.
———. The Northwest Coast. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft and Company, 1884.
Clark, Norman. Milltown. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1970.
Tulalip, From My Heart Page 40