(Alaska) Native Seattle and the Northwest: A Primer.

Yours truly and  two Alutiiq cousins
Thomas Michael Swensen, Michael Inga, and Papa George Inga (Woody Island 2006).

“Do you guys know any songs?” I asked the Aleuts.
“I know all of Hank Williams,” the elder Aleut said.
“How about Indian songs?”
“Hank Williams is Indian.”
“How about sacred songs?”
“Hank Williams is sacred” (190-191).

Sherman Alexie "What you Pawn I Will Redeem"

In the Sherman Alexie story "What You Pawn I Will Redeem," Alaska Natives, in the form of Aleut cousins, make an unforgettable appearance. The lead character Jackson Jackson, a Spokane tribal member, meets three Aleuts sitting on a bench over looking Elliot Bay and and they discuss how they arrived from Alaska by boat. As the story progresses Jackson Jackson, looking for his grandmother's regalia, continues to meet up with the three men, until he hears that they "walked on the water and headed north," returning home (193). The term Aleut historically signified at least three distinct groups of people in where is now considered Southwestern and Southcentral Alaska since their obligatory participation in colonial resource extraction during the 18th century. It's come under scrutiny in the 25 years but the name is still commonly used throughout the world and even within Alaskan communities. Alexie's use of Aleut here seeks to highlight the multitude of Indigenous communities residing in the Seattle region as well as lend a hat-tip to the extractive circuits that bring resources to the contiguous part of the nation from Alaska but fail to give the three Aleuts an opportunity to sail home from Seattle.

Seattle, a city named after Si'ahl, or Chief Seattle, a leader of the nineteenth century Duwamish and Suquamish community. Coll Thrush notes that the indigenous people call the area in the Salish language, “dzee-dzee-LAH-letch,” literally means in English as the “Little Crossing-Over Place,” centered on the area now known as Pioneer Square. At the time of “Little Crossing-Over Place” stood beautiful cedar houses whose residents sustained themselves with the local fish and berries and buried their family members “on a bluff overlooking Elliot Bay” (Thrush, 14). The title of this post, "(Alaska) Native Seattle" draws from Thrush's awesome work, Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over-Place. The distinction between Alexie's and Thrush's narratives of Seattle lie in this recognition of Alaska Natives as part of the regional Indigenous community. I would be amiss if I didn't mention the Tlingit crest pole stolen and erected in pioneer square in 1899.