SX̌ʷƏBABŠ: THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF VASHON ISLAND
Learn about the sx̌ʷəbabš and Puyallup Tribe
Swift Water Sign Project
The sx̌ʷəbabš signs are available again! Come to the Museum, Wednesday – Sunday, 1-4 p.m. These FREE yard signs honor the First People of Vashon Island. Puyallup Tribe artist Daniel Baptista was commissioned to design this beautiful yard sign to recognize the sx̌ʷəbabš (Swift Water People). The signs are available on a first come, first served basis. Vashon and Maury Islands are in the traditional territory of the Puyallup Tribe, of which many descendants of the sx̌ʷəbabš are members. The original printing of the sign was funded through the King County Alan M. descendants of the sx̌ʷəbabš are members. The original printing of the sign was funded through the King County Alan M. Painter Grant Program. Donations are appreciated to help cover the costs of reprinting. Cash or checks can be given to the docents on duty; online donations can be made at the Museum or at www.vashonheritage.org/product/swiftwater. Thank you for displaying this sign in a place where others can see it and learn from it. If you post on social media, please tag the artist Daniel Baptista (Puyallup) @dose_otek_ends and our partners at the Vashon Land Trust and Puyallup Tribe.
The collection labeled “Vashon’s First Peoples” includes: --Lucy Gerand’s place names and village sites for Vashon-Maury Island, as told to Thomas Talbot Waterman in 1918 --Testimony by Lucy Gerand and other Puyallup Native people in the U.S. Court of Claims in 1927, describing their homes and way of life --"Vashon’s and Maury Islands: Hands Across Time,” a film produced and directed by Roxanne Thayer, in 1998 that shows the Burton Acres excavation and interviews with many members of the Puyallup Tribe and descendants of the sx̌ʷəbabš.
The Puyallup-Nisqually book by Marian W. Smith, Columbia University Press, 1940 is out of print and the Museum is researching a digital copy. You can find more information at the PLU page about indigeonous languages and land linked here.
A poster showing Puyallup Tribe names for every month of the year in both Twulshootseed and English, and illustrating key activities of the months. Produced by the Vashon Heritage Museum and available for purchase from the museum.
GENERAL RESOURCES
Puyallup Tribe of Indians Instagram page. The Puyallup Tribe is known as spuyaləpabš in their ancestral language. "People at the bend at the bottom. The Puyallup were known as the generous and welcoming people." --spuyaləpabš
“Fort from Home: Puget Sound Treaty War Panel”
“Fort From Home: Puget Sound Treaty War Panel” – a four-part series with representatives from Puyallup, Nisqually, Steilacoom and Muckleshoot Tribes
Books Available at the King County Library
Books- available at King County Library System The Puyallup-Nisqually Published in 1940 by Columbia University Press, anthropologist Marian W. Smith’s detailed study of the culture and history of the Puyallup and Nisqually Tribes. Vashon Island Archaeology: a View from Burton Acres Shell Midden Edited by Julie Stein and Laura Phillips, this book describes the 1996 shell midden excavation at Jensen Point, a collaborative project of the Burke Museum archaeologists with other organizations, including the Puyallup Tribe, Vashon Park District and McMurray Middle School.
SX̌ʷƏBABS, THE SWIFT WATER PEOPLE SIGN PROJECT
Honoring the Indigenous People of Vashon Island
Puyallup Tribe artist, Daniel Baptista was commissioned to create a yard sign to honor the sx̌ʷəbabs (Swift Water People), the indigenous people of Vashon-Maury Islands.
This sign honors the presence of the sx̌ʷəbabs, the Swift Water People of Vashon and Maury Island, past, present, and future. Descendants of the sx̌ʷəbabs are members of today’s Puyallup Tribe, which retains the inherent, aboriginal and treaty rights to Vashon and Maury Islands. The sign was funded through the King County Alan M. Painter Grant Program.
The signs are free, and available at the Museum on a first come, first served basis starting Friday, March 3rd at 6 p.m.