Over time, the reservation was enlarged and the Muckleshoot tribe incorporated other local tribes, as long as the members had one-eighth degree Muckleshoot blood. In 1874, an executive order defined the boundaries of the oddly configured, 3,533-acre area. The river tribes settled on the new reservation, a former military tract. Tribes from the Green and White rivers were to be moved to the Nisqually Reservation, unless a more suitable place could be found. On December 5, 1856, Stevens recommended the establishment of the Muckleshoot Reservation between the Green and White rivers, up the hill from their confluence. When Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens (1818-1862) signed the Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854, no mention was made of the Muckleshoot tribe, as they were not named as such. The tribes also trapped goats for their wool in the Cascade Mountains.

Salmon fishing was a staple in their economy, along with hunting and gathering.

Villages included the Yelaco, consisting of 17 houses near present-day Green River Community College the Quiats, on the Green River and the Cublokum, one large house near Enumclaw. Other tribes included the Stkamish, Yilalkoamish, Tkwakwamish, and the Buklshuhl. The Skopamish tribe inhabited the central Green River valley, and the Smulkamish tribe lived near present-day Enumclaw. Located on a six square mile reservation between Auburn and Enumclaw, the tribe numbers in the thousands, and employs most of its members through fisheries, gaming, small business, and tribal government.įor centuries, the White River Valley and surrounding hillsides were inhabited by Native American tribes who made good use of the abundant fish and wildlife. The Muckleshoot Indian tribe is an amalgam of several Native American tribes that have inhabited the region surrounding the White and Green rivers for centuries.

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