Many NW (Salish speaking) Native Americans think of “families” rather than the US Government’s imposed “tribes” concept utilized in the State of Washington to divide and conquer. In the mid 1800s when NW reservations were established, there were not that many Natives in Cascadia. In 1900 In all of California, there were counted less than 30,000 Indigenous remaining, perhaps 20,000 in Oregon, 40,000 in Washington and 20,000
in British Columbia (this includes east of the crest). The US 1954 Act encouraging natives to move to cities, that added to the Federal Government’s sterilization practices, cut in one-half the reservation totals which in 2020 for 26 reservations in WA west of the crest, total ~15,000, perhaps 10,000 in BC (groups: Islands, inside Passage, Hadi Giwa), 10,000 in OR, 5,000 in northern CA or a 40,000 population in total. Consider the State of Washington’s 3rd largest city may soon become Marysville (10 miles south of the Gardens/Farm) that includes Cascadia’s largest reservation, the Tulalip (with 4,000). Marysville has established a very large United Growth Area boundary, something that Everett, Tacoma, and Vancouver, WA lack as evidenced by the traffic on the I-5, Marysville might be approaching 100,000 which is the approximate population of Everett (Seattle and Spokane are the 2 largest). Point: Marysville, WA by itself, already dwarfs the entire West’s native indigenous population. These 4 states and 1 province population today totals ~60 million. Federal rules suggest if one has ¼ Indigenous ancestry, one can be considered for reservation status. They also allow clans to adjust their own ratios (the Makah now use 1/8th). Whether the West has 40,000 or 60,000 Indigenous today, that number is compared to 60,000,000. It is the latter that is putting the stress on the environment, but not necessarily through their residences that are quite condensed in area – a couple million acres along north-south transportation corridors. 300 million acres are dominated by commercial grazing and logging company practices. It is not for the Native Americans to rewild the West. It is for the Judeo-Christian immigrant descendants to adopt new land use practices and care for the Earth that that they/we have trashed in the last 100 years. We can start right here in Marysville (including Arlington and Stanwood). Might we all pause and agree that our responsibility is to the next generation(s) and that we must care for the Land, starting with a turn toward biodiversity?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Pacific_Northwest_Coast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_west_coast_of_North_America
The Native Indigenous population of the Cascadia Floristic Region is smaller than the city of:
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