A Chief's Remains and a Fourth of July at Leschi's Old Camp
Puyallup, Muckleshoot and valley tribes planned a July gathering to disinter a Nisqually chief and rebury him at the site of Leschi's old camp.
Tacoma, June 19.—Special.—The date for disinterring the body of the old chief at Nisqually and reburying it on the site of Leschi's old camp on the reservation has been set for July. Arrangements are now in progress to have the Puyallup, Muckleshoot, White River and Green River Indians join in the ceremonies, and there will be a grand Fourth of July celebration exclusively for Indians. Horse races and gambling will be features of the celebration.
The meeting of the Puyallups was held at the house of George Rirl on the reservation. It was agreed to go over [to Nisqually], and Jerry Meek was appointed to notify Indians throughout the valley to attend. Jerry Meek was also commissioned to see the agent and secure the [body] of the old chief, and his daughter, now the wife of a prominent Puyallup man, will go to Nisqually a day ahead. The Nisqually and Puyallup people are prime movers in the project.
“There will be a grand Fourth of July celebration exclusively for Indians.”
The reburial of a Nisqually chief at Leschi's old camp was an act of Indigenous memory and sovereignty in a decade when the state was still consolidating its power over Native lands and peoples. Today, tribal gatherings, repatriation work and the ongoing effort to honor Leschi keep that same struggle visible.
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