On this day 170 years ago, Jan. 22, 1855: Leaders of 22 indigenous tribes and bands from the Puget Sound region signed a treaty with the U.S. government that permanently altered history’s course.
In the Treaty of Point Elliott, local tribal leaders agreed to relinquish millions of acres of land and relocate to pre-designated areas of the state reserved for their tribes to operate as sovereign nations in exchange for, among other things, permanent and enforceable rights to fish, hunt and gather on the land, and the exclusion of whites from using the land areas reserved for their tribes.
It was signed in Mukilteo, also known as Point Elliott, between Washington Territory governor Isaac Stevens and tribal representatives. Locally, the treaty established the sovereign area which is today the Tulalip Tribes reservation.
It was the second of a series of 10 treaties signed around the Pacific Northwest. All of the treaties read like form letter agreements between tribes and the government to relinquish land in trade for fishing, hunting and gathering rights, some remuneration, and a promise of peace.
