# Since Time Immemorial

**Channel:** Island County Historical Society & Museum
**Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKcvPX6OvWA
**Transcript page:** https://www.withtranscript.ai/video/CKcvPX6OvWA

## Chapters

- 0:14 — Ice Age Origins of Whidbey
- 2:43 — Early Settlements and Social Structure
- 5:23 — Snum Point and Treaty History
- 7:35 — Villages, Trails, and Trade Routes
- 9:33 — Treaty Rights and Living Heritage
- 11:58 — Transcript Ending Fragment

## Transcript

**[0:14]:** since time immemorial Whidby Island's beautiful pen Cove didn't always look like it does today our most recent Ice Age ended about 14,000 years ago at its peak glacial ice more than 3,000 ft thick th covered what we now know as Whidby Island and the surrounding region the immense weight of all that ice compressed the land pushing it downward into the Salish sea when the ice melted and the glaciers retreated those lands slowly rose again and what we know today as Whidby Island emerged into air and sunlight above sea level wave cut Terraces of those ancient shorelines remain as evidence of the Islands rebound experts believe that the first people here came following the mammoths into a semiarid postglacial landscape of tundra and scrub vegetation the oldest evidence of human habitation Clovis style spear points found near E's Prairie were left there more than 12,000 years ago anecdotal evidence indicates that green breaks in Colombian Mammoth

**[1:28]:** bones refering to Bones broken after an animal has died when it was prepared as meat have been discovered on our beaches and at the base of Shoreline Bluffs after the mammoth the archaeological record indicates an abundant food supply existed here numerous mammals including deer elk and bear lived here and were hunted ducks and geese were also taken with Nets and arrows ancient Shell middens Food refug piles made up of Bones and shells show that the oldest deepest layers of midden are mostly made up of larger mammal remains over time those mammal remains give way almost exclusively to shells and other evidence of sea life readily available as the prime source of nutrition the fish-based diet included salmon halibut flounder soul and smelt also shellfish varieties such as horse clams butter clams little necks cockal and muscles some 9,000 years ago as the climate became more moist coniferous forests appeared followed by permanent native settlements dating

**[2:43]:** from at least 2000 BC though perhaps much earlier without roads natives navigated the Salish sea in canoes accessing Marine Resources on both the high energy outer coast and the more sheltered Waters of the s sea including pen Cove the nearby prairies were used to grow and harvest Blue C bulbs these plants provided starch and had a mildly sweet flavor the cus bulbs were roasted slowly to make the bulb palatable and digestible roasting them also helped preserve them when made into small cakes and stored in baskets additional food sources include bracken fern and nettles as well as several species PES of berries and Wild Onion Vancouver and other explorers provided early descriptions of the Salish sea and Whidby Island they were the first Europeans to enter the pen Cove area and estimated that 600 natives lived in area Villages at that time though later visitors estimated a much higher population the natives living on pen Cove

**[3:54]:** were the lower scet people over time the native people's developed a social system which functioned well in a world of small independent Villages unlike what old movies seem to portray and early settlers seem to believe a United Nation of tribes didn't exist well-established trading networks were used to obtain special items from outside their own territories or to purchase something that another Village was especially known for but beyond that Villages were autonomous they didn't have a big chief to command many tribes or even one big chief to command a single tribe various leaders served as Chief in the areas they were skilled in and respected for one person might be a Warchief because he was a fierce Warrior and strategist another in charge of settling arguments and disputes because of his wisdom and diplomacy skills still another might be the lead for such tasks as building new structures and holding Community celebrations everyone had a part

**[5:04]:** to play and even though the village structure might be considered Loose by European standards established protocol customs and social status were keenly observed and defined their communities a well-structured class system dictated where some people might be allowed to

**[5:23]:** live an elite class or good people as referred to by scet sources would be those of pure scet ancestry a lower class was reserved for those of mixed Heritage with a distinct class at the bottom reserved for slaves in the pen Cove area there was an additional class of people who may have served as specialized trades people their name translates into taken person but their status was clearly higher than slaves unlike slaves they were allowed to marry up to improve their prospects snum point on Woodby Island because of its high cast status was where the Elite Class lived they were descendants of the original scet and those considered to be of pure scet lineage three families lived in the main long housee at snakin Point nearby lived a specialized Hunter group of intermediate cast if one of the upper class tribesmen from the main house wanted to go hunting he'd arrang for a hunter to

**[6:30]:** accompany him chuba Al this was the lower Gadget name for what is now known as snum point the point was named after chief s nutan's grandson known to locals as Charlie snum Mr snum passed away in 1934 the last of the lower scet people to live and die at that site another important scet leader Golia signed the point Elliott treaty on behalf of the lower Gadget people in 18 1955 restating and maintaining the tribe's ancestral rights to fish here forever the lower Gadget people are now a part of the swinish Indian tribal community in lonor Washington The Village at snum point was defended with earn Works Stockade fences and slit trenches to serve against raids from marauding northern tribes like the clinet or heida even so the main long housee was burnt during one of these raids the rebuilt long house was used into the early 20th century as a Gathering Place and ceremonial structure

**[7:35]:** for scet families As Time P Sand's descendants spread to the West starting other Villages along the South Shores of pan Cove Buck OD alite the side of present day coupville was prized for prolific smell runs louses lined the shore but were apparently removed by settlers in the construction of present day coupville chalot across the water near present day Monroe Landing was a permanent scet village with a long housee and a cemetery behind it was an important site for horse clam Harvest as well as the home of another of the point Elliot treaty signers a scet leader by the name of quab just to the West on what is now called fossil Beach was another permanent Village featuring a single long housee at survived into the 20th century a son of the founder known to locals as Billy Barlo lived there and held the last pot latch there in 1904 this was the site of many burials as well an established Trail ran from pen Cove to today's Fort Casey

**[8:47]:** area just as later in the days of the triangle of fire with its concrete Forts and huge gun imp placements the Bluffs at Fort Casey were once used by the gadgets as Lookouts for enemy Raiders in later years when raids from the north began to happen with more regularity Runners were trained to Sprint from snum point along the beach to Fort Casey to watch for Raiders and then report back a canoe Portage once ran from pen Cove across the Prairie and down to E's Landing the gadgets used this area as a convenient place for friendly visitors to meet and trade with them thus avoiding a rigorous times dangerous paddle around the island to pen Cove

**[9:33]:** there were many pen Cove scet Villages each had its purpose and was known for the type of food that could be gathered there in abundance the scet people of Whidby Island consider themselves lower scet while their relatives who live on the mainland rivers are known as upper scet the lower scet people are one of four tribes mandated by the point Elliot Treaty of 1855 to live upon the swinish Indian tribal Community the Mandate also includes the samish the Kiki Alis and the swinish peoples who make up the tribal Community it's located across the swinish channel from loner many early settlers believed indigenous homelands throughout the country were not owned or fully utilized by anyone but the reverse is true settlers didn't come to an empty land the areas repres resented and connected by the Salish sea and Beyond thrived as unique civilizations since time and Memorial time before writing or even before memory teeming with

**[10:41]:** established Villages art and culture as well as sophisticated methods of hunting fishing and surviving on land and water today's lower Gadget people still fish still rest a living from the same Waters as did their parents grandparents and great grandparents extending back to the beginning of human time and they will fish here

**[11:28]:** forever

**[11:58]:** h

**[12:27]:** for