A Monument for the Lamented Coats
Indigenous communities gather at Puyallup to honor a leader with a grand memorial and traditional potlatch.
The Puyallup reservation is the loadstone just now that is attracting the Indians of Puget Sound who are journeying here by the hundreds. They are responding to an invitation of Mrs. Coats, widow of a well-known and wealthy Indian. Old Coats was brother of the likewise deceased 'Spot,' the famous Puyallup Indian. That his memory may be kept as green as the grass waving over his grave, Mrs. Coats has caused a $1,000 monument to be erected and has invited Indians from all parts of the upper Sound to come and help dedicate the monument, mingling the rites of the white men and the ancient customs of the natives. The Mud Bay, the Oyster Bay, the Skokomish, the Nisqually and the Squaxon Island Indians are some of the tribes to be represented at the dedicatory pow-wow and potlatch over the grave of the lamented Coats. The festivities begin next Friday.
“That his memory may be kept as green as the grass waving over his grave, Mrs. Coats has caused a $1,000 monument to be erected.”
This event highlights the persistence of Indigenous cultural practices in the face of immense pressure to assimilate in early 20th-century Washington. Today, the Puyallup Tribe remains a central, powerful force in Tacoma's civic and economic landscape, honoring the same traditions that were observed at the turn of the century.
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