Sauk-Suiattle Tribal Historic Preservation

07/08/2026

The Lushootseed Alphabet page is the key to the Language Challenge for our booth at the Health Fair 2026

Before there was an alphabet, Lushootseed was recorded through traditional art, such as weaving, carving and painting. Art used symbols to express stories, history, visions, dreams and ideas. By the mid-1800s, alphabets, similar to English, began being used. However, many failed to accurately write....

05/04/2026

04/23/2026

Values my Grandmother Ermina Goudy Edsall (Daughter of Ellen Brown and granddaughter to Chief Jim Brown) insisted these would make me a good Indian. The cornerstone to value of the people.
(very rare at Sauk-Suiattle)

Respect
Respect can be a feeling, and it can be demonstrated in our actions and words. To us, respecting other people means recognizing and acknowledging their worth and value as human beings, regardless of their background, race, or creed. It's demonstrated in all our day-to-day relations—refraining from demeaning others for their ideas and opinions, refusing to laugh at racist or sexist jokes, putting prejudices aside, and staying openminded. We show respect not just by what we refrain from doing but also by intentional acts, such as being on time, dressing appropriately, or giving our full attention to the person or people we're with.
Self-respect is just as important as respect for others. A person who respects herself isn't boastful or pushy but is secure in a way that inspires confidence in others. She values herself regardless of her physical attributes or individual talents, understanding that integrity and character are what really matter.

Consideration
Consideration is about having empathy for another person, and the key to consideration is thoughtful behavior. Being thoughtful means thinking about what you can do for those around you and how your actions will affect them. Consideration leads us to help a friend or stranger in need, to bestow a token of appreciation, or to offer praise.

Honesty
Honesty is both about telling the truth and avoiding even white lies, and about acting sincerely and with integrity. We should add that we like benevolent rather than brutal honesty. it's the basis of tact: Using empathy to find the positive truth and telling or acting on it, without causing embarrassment or pain to someone else. Honesty is also about being authentic and genuine with others. No one likes insincere, "lip-service" politeness—it can be as bad as outright rudeness.

All Together
Put these three principles together and act on them in your daily life and you will be the soul of graciousness and have excellent relationships as a result. These three principles will see you through thick and thin, guiding you through differences of opinion or interactions with difficult people who cross your path and helping you to build even better relationships with those close to you.

04/23/2026

The ancestral Sauks occupied a special place in the Puget Sound region. Located high in the Cascade Mountains, their valley was a hub which gave them access to people, places, and resources in all directions.

Trails took them overland, first by foot and then by horse, into Eastern Washington and the home of Interior Salish like the Wenatchee (Peskwaws in Salish), Chelan, and Colvilles. These visits to eastern Washington encouraged the use of Wenatchee and Chelan, Interior Salish dialects spoken along the downriver Columbia.

Sauk went to the saltwater through three major rivers, the Skagit, the Samish, and the Stillaguamish. The logjam on the lower Skagit required pottage downriver or going over to the Samish River. These routes put them into Samish Bay, Skagit Bay, and Port Susan. Saratoga Passage took them between Camano and Whidbey Islands.