History of Seattle Before White Settlement

History of Seattle before white settlement

Prior to white settlement, thirteen prominent villages existed in what is now the city of Seattle. The people living near Elliott Bay, and along the Duwamish, Black and Cedar Rivers were collectively known as the doo-AHBSH, or People of the Doo ("Inside"). Four prominent villages existed near what is now Elliott Bay and the (then-estuarial) lower Duwamish River. Before civil engineers rechanneled the Duwamish, the area had extensive tidelands, and had an abundance of seafoods.

The people living around Lake Washington were collectively known as hah-choo-AHBSH or hah-chu-AHBSH or Xacuabš, People of HAH-choo or Xachu, "People of a Large Lake" or "Lake People". When major European contact began, these people considered themselves related but distinct from the Dkhw'Duw'Absh. The lake drained by the Black River in what is now Renton. The Black River joined the Cedar and White (now Green) rivers to become the Duwamish River and empty into what is now referred to as southeast Elliott Bay. As European contact continued and increased, the hah-choo-AHBSH (Xacuabš) and doo-AHBSH, (Dkhw'Duw'Absh) became identified as the people represented by the Duwamish tribe. The people are Coast Salish, and (Skagit-Nisqually) Lushootseed by language.

Prairie or tall grassland areas (anthropogenic grasslands) grew in what is now Belltown, South Lake Union, Brooklyn in the University District (map ), along what is now Sand Point Way NE (map ), Brighton–Seward Park, Georgetown, and likely Alki, among others. The Liq'tid (LEEK-teed) or Licton Springs area was used as a spiritual health spa. Cranberries were harvested from the Slo'q `qed (SLOQ-qed, bald head) 85 acre (34 hectare) marsh and bog at what is now the North Seattle Community College garage, Interstate 5 interchange, and Northgate Mall of Northgate, the headwaters of the south fork of Thornton Creek. Open areas for game habitat were maintained by selective burning every few years, another application of anthropogenic grasslands.