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Portland Avenue Business District |
| The Portland Avenue Business District Merchant Association has been recently formed to aid local merchants with economic development and revitalization of the Portland Avenue area in Tacoma. Although the community is small and composed largely of manufacturing, and industrial companies, there is a small, but growing service and retail trade. Since the area is rich in Native American history and culture; when searching for a theme for the district, the merchant association turned to the artists of the Puyallup for inspiration and design. Several designs have been proposed and accepted and will be published on this Portland Business Directory when available. |
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| The Puyallup Tribe is part of the Puget Sound Salish Indian culture that
flourished in the Pacific Northwest in the 1800's. As with other Northwest tribes, salmon was central to their life as a main food and ceremonial symbol. The abundant western red cedar was used for clothing, basketry, and housing. They were hunters and clam diggers, and picked berries in season on their traditional lands. The tribe lived mainly in and around Pierce County, Washington on the south eastern Puget Sound. In the past, the Puyallup Tribe's aboriginal view of health and disease was greatly influenced by their spiritualistic view of the world. It was believed that an individual's health, both mental and physical, was directly related to the well being of the individual's spirit. Violation of the laws of the community or offenses against the powers or spirits existing in the natural world would cause a person to become sick. Among the Puyallup, care was provided by two distinct classes of providers: shamans, and herbalists possessing traditional or familial knowledge. The original Puyallup Indian Reservation was established after "negotiations" with Isaac Stevens, who served concurrently as Governor of the Washington Territory, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and head of the North Pacific Railroad exploration, under the terms of the Treaty of Medicine Creek, December 26, 1855 and was located in the area of the City of Tacoma, Washington. The predominant language spoken by the tribe was Puyallup-Nisqually. |
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| Tribal members have now largely integrated into the city life of Tacoma and other outlying areas. Many tribal members are now employed as skilled and semi-skilled workers in lumber, fishing and other industries as well as various Puyallup Tribal enterprises. Presently, there are sincere attempts being made by the Puyallup to renew interest in the traditional value system and cultural heritage that was nearly lost to the Tribe through attempts at acculturation by the "immigrants" to the northwest. The revitalization of the fishing industry is only one example of the continued interest in cultural heritage. The revival of interest in the areas of native language, traditional medicine, mid- wifery, basket weaving and beadwork is becoming more prevalent and, hopefully, the trend will continue. It is imperative to the restoration of the Puyallup as a healthy nation that they retain traditional ways of living with nature, as much as possible, while coexisting with the rest of society. | |
