Muckleshoot - Washington (U.S.)

Native American

Last modified: 2012-11-17 by rick wyatt
Keywords: muckleshoot | washington | native american |
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image by Donald Healy, 18 January 2008

• The band
• The flag

See also:

• Index to North American Native Bands and Nations
• Washington
• United States of America

The Band

map image by Peter Orenski based on input from Don Healy

Muckleshoot - Washington

King County, Washington, which claims Seattle as its biggest city, also contains the Muckleshoot Reservation, the home of the Muckleshoot Indian Nation. Like many of the Tribes of western Washington, the Muckleshoot are members of the Coastal Salish who for over a thousand years have made a living from the salmon that filled the rivers. The "fishing wars" of the 1970s led to court intervention and to a significant expansion of Muckleshoot rights, land area, and financial resources.

© Donald Healy 2008

The Flag

The tribal flag, adopted when the bingo hall and casino opened in 1993, has a turquoise blue field bearing the tribal seal in full color. The seal is a circular yellow shield, recalling traditional warrior shields and edged by a narrow black ring. From the shield hang five eagle feathers with red tassels. Centered on the shield is Mt. Rainier, the dominant geographic element in the region and sacred to many local Tribes. Behind Mt. Rainier is a sunburst of two colors - an inner burst of red and an outer one of orange. The rays of this outer burst shoot up into "MUCKLESHOOT" arching over the mountain in black. Below the mountain is "INDIAN TRIBE" also in black; above the entire shield is "THE GREAT SEAL" in white. Completing the design are two traditional peace pipes in orange-brown, overlapping the seal from either side, with their bowls pointing inward.

According to the tribal office, three copies of the flag have been manufactured. One is displayed in the tribal council chambers, one is in the president's office, and one flies outdoors. The seal, when used alone, does not usually depict the sunburst, nor does it have the legend "THE GREAT SEAL". This simplified seal is also seen in some modified forms, such as on tribal school T-shirts, which modify the seal by replacing "INDIAN TRIBE" with "TRIBAL SCHOOL".

[Thanks to NAVA member Harry Oswald for the photo of the Muckleshoot flag.]

© Donald Healy 2008
information provided by Peter Orenski, 18 January 2008