An Indigenous Birth in Whitechapel
A White River woman finds refuge in a shack in Seattle's skid road district during childbirth.
A report was received at police headquarters Monday night to the effect that a White River Indian woman had suddenly given birth to a child in a shack in Morning Star Alley. A reporter visited the ruins of Whitechapel and after a long hunt found a box-like hut in which were the Indian woman, her child, and the owner of the house, Charley Roberts. The Indian woman said in broken English that she was going home with her cousin Lucy when she found it was impossible to go further. Lucy asked Roberts to take her into his cabin, which he did and built a fire. The child was delivered about 10 o'clock without aid. Several women went to offer their assistance and Health Officer Palmer visited her. Her people came after her in a canoe the next morning.
“The Indian woman said in broken English that she was going home with her cousin Lucy when she found that it was impossible to go further.”
Morning Star Alley was part of the gritty, transient 'Whitechapel' district in early Seattle, a name reflecting the era's preoccupation with urban decay and crime. The story highlights the precariousness of Indigenous life on the periphery of a rapidly industrializing city, where a canoe ride remains a standard mode of transport.
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