North Cascades An Ethnographic Overview and Assessment of North Cascades National Park Service Complex

This ethnographic overview and assessment is an evaluation of the current data base on the ethnography and ethnohistory of Native American tribes that have a historical association with the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. The National Park Service manages lands and resources in the National Park system in accordance with federal guidelines which require Native American uses be taken into consideration for purposes of planning, management and interpretation. In order to effectively implement park management, information concerning traditional and contemporary uses of park lands by associated Native American groups must be available. This research project evaluates the available information and makes suggestions for further research activities.

It was found that there is a wealth of ethnographic and ethnohistoric information but it does not provide the type of site-specific data needed to make sound management decisions nor to evaluate properties under National Register criteria. While the data does indicate that North Cascades National Park lands lie within the traditional use areas of seven contemporary Native American groups and that the traditional activities included hunting, fishing, gathering, religious use and transmontane travel, the data base lacks the type of specific information on these activities needed to make sound management decisions. The ethnographic and ethnohistoric data each consists of three main types.

The early ethnography from the 1890s to roughly 1950 primarily consists of descriptive data organized into broad cultural categories. The data collection of this era of the anthropology of Native North America was driven by the need to gather information for museum interpretation and comparative studies. Little attention was given to particular areas of resource use other then to identify general territories and locate village sites.

During the 1950s anthropologists were employed to gather ethnohistorical data to use as evidence for tribal claims brought before the Indian Claims Commission. Several studies were conducted of groups associated with the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. These studies identified some village sites and general use areas but were lacking in other site-specific information. Those specific sites identified are discussed in the section on park-associated tribes. The Indian Claims Commission studies often relied on available ethnographic data supplemented with historical documents. Some of the data presented to the Indian Claims Commission was later published (e.g. Collins 1974). The complete Indian Claims Commission file for each of the park-associated tribe in the United States was reviewed for this study.

More recently site-specific research has been pursued by researchers working on behalf of federal agencies or Native American tribes. This project-driven research has thus far been narrowly focussed. It is the nature of this type of research to focus on specific needs, such as ground disturbance, and therefore these studies tend to be limited in coverage.

Similarly the ethnohistorical data is limited in its usefulness. The early data from fur traders and explorers only offers passing glimpses into the lives of Native Americans who often provided the expertise needed to guide the non-Native expeditions through the North Cascades areas. Subsequent historical data primarily comes from early Euroamerican settlers who likewise made little notice of Native people. The third type of historical data are the amateurish syntheses which add nothing to the existing data base.

In my opinion the data base is inadequate for National Park Service management needs. The data base is primarily focussed on the cultures of the mid to late 1800s. Present-day management requires background on contemporary Native American needs. This problem is identified as a major gap in the data base. Therefore a research design is suggested to provide the mechanism whereby data can be gathered to systematically fill the gaps in the existing data base in accordance with treaty-assured rights, federal trust responsibilities and federal mandates. A review of treaties, laws and judicial actions illustrate that Native American rights to lands and resources within National parks are protected by a wide variety of acts and decisions. These include rights to natural and cultural resources.

Building on the earlier work of Smith, Ethnography of the North Cascades (1988), the following research program is suggested.

1. Smith's report does not address all of the park-associated Native groups. Arguably Smith made a case for only including the four groups that he did (Upper Skagit, Chilliwack, Lower Thompson and Chelan), however he relied primarily on early ethnographic data and did not take into account contemporary Native groupings. Here Smith's work is expanded to include outlines on the Nooksack, Sauk-Suiattle, Methow, Entiat and Wenatchi in order to fill out the data base to be inclusive of all park-associated tribes. One problem identified with this task is the fact that several tribes have been consolidated onto reservations and therefore it is not clear to what extent these bands remain autonomous. One component of this research program was to determine to what extent the ethnographically-described groups are autonomous tribes or bands.

This research found the following contemporary heirs of succession of park-associated tribes and bands.

2. The available data base does not adequately address the post-reservation or contemporary Native communities It is suggested that Smith's ethnographies be expanded to include the ethnohistoric data. During the course of this research project it was discovered that the ethnohistoric data base is also lacking in specificity and therefore it is deemed necessary to collect new data to fill in the gaps in the information. While not pursued in this report, a suggested research program is outlined that includes a five-step process for systematically gathering the needed data. This five-step process is as follows.

1. Consultation with Tribes and Bands.
2. A program of oral history research.
3. Site visits.
4. Incorporation of oral histories into existing data base.
5. Use of this new data base to implement programs of protection and interpretation and to monitor use activities.

No program of research is possible without the cooperation of the affected tribes. Therefore it is suggested that the research program be implemented with input from the seven park-associated tribes from the very beginning. Tribal liaisons should be integrated into the research process to identify knowledgeable individuals and to select interviewers. This, of course, would be integrated with the National Park Service's on-going relationship with the tribes.

Since the information needed is not available in the current data base the only source of information lies within the Native communities. Therefore it is suggested that the National Park Service pursue a program of oral history that is designed to collect information on traditional, historical and contemporary uses of North Cascades National Park Service lands. This would include in-depth interviews and site visits.

Once the information is collected it can systematically be organized and incorporated into the existing data base. This would be done with the understanding that it will present a working document that will be upgraded periodically or as needs change.

With this information in hand the National Park Service will be equipped to develop a program to inventory Native American cultural sites and resource uses and have the data necessary to monitor use activities and implement programs of protection and interpretation.