| The
Steilacoom Tribe of Indians is centered in Pierce County, Washington State.
Before contact with Europeans, the Steilacoom Tribe was an independent group
inhabiting the Tacoma Basin southwest of what is now the city of Tacoma.
The basin contains two major waterways: Chambers Creek (or the Steilacoom
River) and the Segwallitchu River. We spoke a separate subdialect of the
Puget Sound Salish language. There were approximately 600 Steilacoom Indians
living in five bands within the drainage basin. The Steilacoom proper were
in six sites on Chambers Creek, the Sastuck were in three sites on Clover
Creek, the Spanaway were at Spanaway Lake, the Tlithlow were on Murray Creek,
and the Segwallitchu were in two sites on the Segwallitchu River. |
