The creation of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the Ballard Locks had a profound impact on the future of the region environmentally, economically and geographically. But that impact was immediately felt by one Native American tribe in particular.
"When they lowered the lake, the Black River disappeared, which had been an outlet for Lake Washington," historian John Caldbick said. "There were a lot of Duwamish living on the Black River. It was very important for them. It was a big fishery for them ... and the river just disappeared."
The ship canal from Puget Sound to Lake Washington is considered to be an engineering marvel. One necessary part of making that marvel a reality was creating the Montlake Cut.
But its creation launched a domino effect. Creating the cut led to Lake Washington lowering by nearly nine feet, which meant the Black River near Renton dried up. Nearly 300 Duwamish lived along that river.
“The village disappeared,” Duwamish Chairperson Cecile Hansen said.
She went on to say, “The white people were so excited because when the water went down to the bare bones, there was fish jumping around, and they were so excited. But they didn’t care about the Native American, which was Duwamish.”
One Duwamish descendent recounted the day to historians by saying, “People came from miles around, laughing and hollering and stuffing fish into gunny sacks.”
Hansen explains Duwamish means “the people of the inside.” And there was no place more “inside” than the Black River. It served as a key defensive position against other tribes and an abundant food source with salmon, crab and wild game.
James Rasmussen’s ancestors called the Black River village home for thousands of years. He says that river served another key purpose: It was the tribe’s highway.
“But without the river, there was no way they could survive there," he said. "So they didn’t have a whole lot of choice. They were just moved.”
Finding a place to go was the next issue.
“Understand that some of the first laws in the city of Seattle is Indian people were not only not welcome, Indian people could not own property. After dark if you’re an Indian person, you had to be out of town," Rasmussen said. "The only way we let you in town is if you actually have a job, somebody’s hired you, or somebody will vouch for you.”
By the early 1900s, many of the people native to the Puget Sound region had already gone to reservations created as part of treaty agreements between tribes and the federal government.
The reservations meant ship-canal planners had less sympathy for the remaining people who would be displaced, according to Coll Thrush, an associate professor of history at the University of British Columbia
“According to the thinking of many people in charge of these processes, all those people should really be there. They don’t really have a place in ‘modern society,’” Thrush said.
Thrush is also the author of the book Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place. He said via Skype the creation of the locks could be considered the final blow to “traditional living” in the city.
“I think in this time period there’s this sense of modernism. That the local doesn’t matter. We want to create these big technological projects," Thrush said. "So there’s no mention of Native people, or, really, people in general.”
James Rasmussen agrees. He says no one thought of the immediate effect on people.
There wasn’t much consideration for long-term ramifications either.
Industrial pollution over decades has caused problems with water quality and salmon, a culturally significant fish for tribes. These are still problems today.
Rasmussen says that absence of forethought at the time may have come from a lack of connection to the land.
“It’s like you moved into a very old house, which is city of Seattle on Elliott Bay. When you move into an old house, it’s important to know the history of that house. You know? And I think that’s what we’re talking about here. This is the history of this old house,” he said.
Rasmussen says he’s grateful his people are still here to tell it.
