The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe celebrates its sovereignty and Federal Recognition
What is Sovereignty?
The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe is a sovereign tribal nation with its own constitution and laws governing its tribal citizens. Snoqualmie leaders signed the Treaty of Point Elliott on January 22, 1855. By signing this Treaty with the Snoqualmie Tribe, the United States government affirmed and recognized the Snoqualmie’s inalienable, inherent status as a separate sovereign nation that has existed since time immemorial. In return for extensive concessions by the Snoqualmie People, the United States recognized and promised to respect and protect the Snoqualmie Tribe’s reserved rights, including the ability to fish, hunt, and gather in their ancestral homelands as they had done for thousands of years before.
Celebrating Sovereignty
Snoqualmie Rights Day
October 6th, 1999
21 years ago the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe’s status as a federally recognized tribe was finally affirmed. After decades of petitioning, the Tribe received a determination of Federal Recognition in August of 1997. Following the announcement there was a short period of time in which surrounding tribes could challenge our final determination, which some tribes did. It was not until over two years later, in 1999 that the Department of the Interior affirmed its original decision. Today, the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe celebrates this date, October 6th as Snoqualmie Rights Day.
Twenty-one years later, the Tribe has much to celebrate. We raise our hands to those who came before us, and to those who join us in supporting Snoqualmie Tribe’s sovereign rights to ensure a prosperous future for the next seven generations and beyond.
2019 Celebration
On Sunday, October 6th, 2019, the Snoqualmie Tribe celebrated the first ever Snoqualmie Rights Day, on the 20th anniversary of the federal affirmation of the Tribe’s recognition status. The Tribe hosted hundreds of special guests on the Tribal reservation, celebrate and honor those who came before us, and who joined the Tribe in supporting our sovereign rights to ensure a prosperous future for the next seven generations and beyond.
October 6th, 2020 | 21 Years
This year we are celebrating 21 years of Federal Re-Recognition. We have much to celebrate and reflect on.
This year’s celebration is going virtual, due to the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has brought us. We have created a virtual space we hope allows the Tribe to connect, celebrate and reflect on the year, our Snoqualmie Tribe’s rights, and Federal Re-Recognition.
Snoqualmie Rights Song
Snoqualmie Tribal Member Angela Wymer wrote the Snoqualmie Rights Song with her husband, Stephen Wymer, and James Ironheart, for the Snoqualmie Rights Day celebration in 2019.
Click below to watch a video of the Snoqualmie Rights song being performed at Snoqualmie Falls by Tribal Members and Tribal Culture staff.
Click below to watch a video of the Snoqualmie Recognition song being performed at Snoqualmie Falls by Tribal Members and Tribal Culture staff.
