Lummi
The Lummi ( ; Lummi: Xwlemi ; also known as Lhaq'temish (), or People of the Sea), governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group. They are based in the coastal area of the Pacific Northwest region of Washington state in the United States. With a historic territory ranging from the San Juan Islands to interior foothills of the Lummi River watershed, today the federally recognized tribe primarily resides on and around the Lummi Indian Reservation slightly west of Bellingham. It takes in most of the Lummi Peninsula and Portage Island, and is in western Whatcom County, south of the border with Canada. History Lummi Nation was founded by Chief Henry Kwina. The Lummi traditionally have spoken the Songish dialect of the Coast Salish languages. Their ancient villages were known as Hutatchl, Lemaltcha, Statshum and Tomwhiksen. For 12,000 years, the Lummi subsisted near the sea and in mountain areas. They returned seasonally to their longhouses situated at scattered locales, which historically were on the land included in their present reservation in today's western Whatcom County and the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Their protein-rich diet consisted principally of salmon, supplemented by trout, shellfish, elk, deer, and other game, and starchy camas bulbs, and sun-dried berries. The Lummi, and most of the other northwest coastal tribes included in the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855, were paid a total of $150,000 for their lands by the United States. They were paid an additional $15,000 in relocation costs and expenses. That would equate to over $4.2 million, or approximately $840 per person of purchasing power in 2013. The reservation has a land area of 54.378 km2 (20.996 sq mi), which includes the Lummi Peninsula, and uninhabited Portage Island. The Lummi nation are the original inhabitants of the Puget Sound lowlands. In pre-colonial times, the tribe migrated seasonally among many sites in their territory, including Point Roberts, Washington, Lummi Peninsula, Portage Island, and sites in the San Juan Islands, including Sucia Island. Many tribal members converted to Christianity in the late nineteenth century, influenced by missionaries of the Catholic Oblate order. The traditional lifestyle of the Lummi, like many Northwest Coast tribes, consisted of collecting shellfish, hunting game and, most importantly for the men, salmon fishing. Women prepared and dried the fish, and also gathered and processed plants, such as camas, a root vegetable, and different species of berries. The Lummi developed a fishing technique known as "reef netting," used for taking large quantities of fish in salt water. In the 21st century, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife acknowledges this as the original and best technique for selective fishing. Lummi historically had reef net sets on Orcas, San Juan, Lummi, Fidalgo, and Portage islands, and near Point Roberts and Sandy Point. Following steady increases in the number of individuals and firms fishing in areas traditionally fished by the Lummi, the nation fought for and gained limited protection under the law for the right