Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan

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Snoqualmie Tribe

2011 Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan

Effective October 2011-October 11, 2016

Prepared for

The Snoqualmie Tribe

Department of Emergency Management

The Hon. Randy Fuzzy Fletcher

Director of Public Safety

Funded by

WA EMD, Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, DR-1734

Contract No. E09-182

Cover phot/art:

Snoqualmie Falls Postcard, 1908

Published by Edw. H. Mitchell, San Francisco, courtesy of Tacoma Public Library

Snoqualmie Falls frozen 1950

Photo by Hackney courtesy Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum

(This page left intentionally blank)

Snoqualmie Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ...............................................................................................................1-1

Authority to Plan .................................................................................................................. 1-2

Grant eligibility .................................................................................................................... 1-2

Organization of the Plan ...................................................................................................... 1-4

Adoption .............................................................................................................................. 1-5

Assurances ........................................................................................................................... 1-5

2. Planning Process .........................................................................................................2-1

Plan Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 2-1

Plan Participation ..................................................................................................................... 2-2

Stakeholder Group ............................................................................................................... 2-2

Tribal membership Participation ......................................................................................... 2-3

Local and Regional Participation.......................................................................................... 2-4

Project Timeline ........................................................................................................................ 2-4

Program Integration ................................................................................................................ 2-6

3. Community Profile ......................................................................................................3-1

Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 3-1

Governance: ......................................................................................................................... 3-1

Geography ................................................................................................................................ 3-2

Bedrock Geology of Snoqualmie Valley ............................................................................... 3-5

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Glacial History ...................................................................................................................... 3-5

Post-Glacial History .............................................................................................................. 3-7

Climate ..................................................................................................................................... 3-8

Tribal History ............................................................................................................................ 3-8

Moon the Transformer ...................................................................................... 3-9

Locations from Snoqualmie History ................................................................................... 3-15

Historic Snoqualmie Villages .............................................................................................. 3-17

Demographic .......................................................................................................................... 3-19

Economic ................................................................................................................................ 3-19

Services and Special Districts ................................................................................................. 3-20

Buildings and Critical Facilities ............................................................................................... 3-22

Reservation Site: Casino Snoqualmie ................................................................................ 3-27

Tolt Family Clinic ................................................................................................................ 3-33

Carnation Social Services Central Records ...................................................................... 3-36

North Bend Family Clinic ................................................................................................... 3-39

Administration and Tribal Court Building .......................................................................... 3-43

Raging River Recovery Center ............................................................................................ 3-47

Snoqualmie Valley Hospital ............................................................................................... 3-50

Food Bank .......................................................................................................................... 3-51

Transportation Bldg ........................................................................................................... 3-52

Historic Sites ...................................................................................................................... 3-54

Infrastructure ......................................................................................................................... 3-54

Transportation ................................................................................................................... 3-54

Utilities ............................................................................................................................... 3-54


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4. Risk Assessment..........................................................................................................4-1

Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4-1

Hazards Profiled ................................................................................................................... 4-1

Earthquake ............................................................................................................................... 4-3

Definitions ............................................................................................................................ 4-3

General Background ............................................................................................................ 4-3

Hazard Profile ...................................................................................................................... 4-4

Exposure ............................................................................................................................ 4-15

Vulnerability ....................................................................................................................... 4-15

Loss Estimate ..................................................................................................................... 4-16

Flood ................................................................................................................................... 4-21

Definitions .......................................................................................................................... 4-21

General Background .......................................................................................................... 4-24

Hazard Profile .................................................................................................................... 4-25

Exposure ............................................................................................................................ 4-30

Vulnerability ....................................................................................................................... 4-31

Loss Estimate ..................................................................................................................... 4-31

Landslide ................................................................................................................................ 4-37

Definitions .......................................................................................................................... 4-37


Hazard Profile .................................................................................................................... 4-39

Exposure ............................................................................................................................ 4-43

Vulnerability ....................................................................................................................... 4-43

Loss Estimation .................................................................................................................. 4-43

Severe Weather ...................................................................................................................... 4-49

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Definitions .......................................................................................................................... 4-49


Hazard Profile .................................................................................................................... 4-51

Exposure ............................................................................................................................ 4-53

Vulnerability ....................................................................................................................... 4-53

Loss Estimate ..................................................................................................................... 4-53

Wildland Fire .......................................................................................................................... 4-55

Definitions .......................................................................................................................... 4-55


Hazard Profile .................................................................................................................... 4-57

Exposure ............................................................................................................................ 4-59

Vulnerability ....................................................................................................................... 4-59

Loss Estimate ..................................................................................................................... 4-59

Dam Failure ............................................................................................................................ 4-63

Definitions .......................................................................................................................... 4-63


Hazard Profile .................................................................................................................... 4-64

Exposure ............................................................................................................................ 4-66

Vulnerability ....................................................................................................................... 4-66

Loss Estimate ..................................................................................................................... 4-66

Epidemic/Pandemic ................................................................................................................ 4-69

Definition ........................................................................................................................... 4-69


Hazard Profile .................................................................................................................... 4-73

Vulnerability ....................................................................................................................... 4-78


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Issues/Recommendations.................................................................................................. 4-83

Other Man-made Hazards ..................................................................................................... 4-85

Hazardous Materials .......................................................................................................... 4-85

Abandoned Mines ............................................................................................................. 4-86

Tribal Facilities Vulnerability .................................................................................................. 4-91

Loss Estimates .................................................................................................................... 4-91

Future Land Use ..................................................................................................................... 4-91

5. Mitigation Strategy .....................................................................................................5-1

Goals and Objectives ................................................................................................................ 5-1

Identification & Analysis of Tribal Mitigation Actions.............................................................. 5-2

Review of Local/Regional Mitigation Actions .......................................................................... 5-3

Mitigation Actions and Activities ............................................................................................. 5-5

Implementation Of Mitigation Actions .................................................................................. 5-11

Prioritization ...................................................................................................................... 5-11

Implementation ................................................................................................................. 5-11

Administration ................................................................................................................... 5-12

Capability Assessment ............................................................................................................ 5-12

Tribal Pre- & Post-Disaster Capabilities ............................................................................. 5-12

Federal/Regional Capabilities ............................................................................................ 5-16

Current and Potential Funding Sources .................................................................................. 5-17

Current ............................................................................................................................... 5-17

Potential ............................................................................................................................. 5-17

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6. Plan Maintenance Process ...........................................................................................6-1

Responsibility for Plan Maintenance ........................................................................................ 6-1

Monitoring, Evaluating and Updating the Plan ....................................................................... 6-1

Monitoring Progress of Mitigation Actions .............................................................................. 6-2

Incorporation into Existing Planning Mechanisms ................................................................... 6-3

Continued Public Involvement .................................................................................................. 6-3

7. Repetitive Loss Strategy ..............................................................................................7-1

8. References ..................................................................................................................8-1

Appendix A Tribal Resolution Adopting Plan ................................................................... A-1

Appendix B Approval Letter from FEMA .......................................................................... B-1

Appendix C Public Meetings ........................................................................................... C-1

Appendix D Tribal Review of Local Mitigation Actions ..................................................... D-1


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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3-1: Location Map of Snoqualmie Tribe & Snoqualmie River Watershed ......................... 3-3

Figure 3-2: Extent of Vashon Puget lobe of the Fraser Cordilleran glaciation ............................. 3-6

Figure 3-3: Two Sisters Return ................................................................................................... 3-11

Figure 3-4: Remains of Rope Ladder Rock, looking South, 1.25.2011 ........................................ 3-16

Figure 3-5: Snoqualmie Oral History Sites .................................................................................. 3-16

Figure 3-6: Historic Snoqualmie Villages .................................................................................... 3-18

Figure 3-7: Tribal Facilities .......................................................................................................... 3-23

Figure 3-8: Detailed Map of Tribal Facilities ............................................................................... 3-25

Figure 3-9: Casino Snoqualmie ................................................................................................... 3-27

Figure 3-10: Conceptual Casino Snoqualmie site plan, 2001 ..................................................... 3-30

Figure 3-11: Casino/Reservation site looking north ................................................................... 3-31

Figure 3-12: Casino/Reservation site looking east ..................................................................... 3-31

Figure 3-13: Casino Site during Construction, 2009, same location .......................................... 3-32

Figure 3-14: Snoqualmie Casino completed ............................................................................... 3-32

Figure 3-15: Tolt Family Clinic .................................................................................................... 3-33

Figure 3-16: Carnation Social Services Building .......................................................................... 3-36

Figure 3-17: North Bend Family Clinic ........................................................................................ 3-39

Figure 3-18: Railroad Building (front) ......................................................................................... 3-43

Figure 3-19: Railroad Building (back) ......................................................................................... 3-44

Figure 3-20: Mural on Railroad Building ..................................................................................... 3-45

Figure 3-21: Raging River Recovery Center ................................................................................ 3-47

Figure 3-22: Snoqualmie Valley Hospital .................................................................................... 3-50

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Figure 3-23: Food Bank ............................................................................................................... 3-51

Figure 3-24: New Transportation Building ................................................................................. 3-52

Figure 4-1: Earthquake Types in Western Washington ................................................................ 4-9

Figure 4-2: Faults near Snoqualmie ............................................................................................ 4-12

Figure 4-3: PGA 2% in 50 Years ................................................................................................... 4-14

Figure 4-4: Seismic Hazards ........................................................................................................ 4-17

Figure 4-5: Detail Map of Seismic Hazards ................................................................................. 4-19

Figure 4-6: Floodway Schematic ................................................................................................. 4-23

Figure 4-7: Snoqualmie River Gauges ......................................................................................... 4-25

Figure 4-8: Nov 25, 1990 Snoqualmie Flooding ......................................................................... 4-28

Figure 4-9: Snoqualmie Valley 100 Yr. Floodplain ...................................................................... 4-33

Figure 4-10: Detail Map of 100 Year Floodplain Boundaries ..................................................... 4-35

Figure 4-11: Deep Seated Slide .................................................................................................. 4-40

Figure 4-12: Shallow Slide .......................................................................................................... 4-41

Figure 4-13: Bench Slide ............................................................................................................. 4-41

Figure 4-14: Large Slides ............................................................................................................. 4-41

Figure 4-15: Landslide Hazard Areas .......................................................................................... 4-45

Figure 4-16: Detail Map of Landslide Hazard ............................................................................. 4-47

Figure 4-17: Wind Storm damage, 2006 .................................................................................... 4-52

Figure 4-18: Wildland/Urban Interface Areas and Past Wildfire Events .................................... 4-61

Figure 4-19: Tolt River Dam ........................................................................................................ 4-65

Figure 4-20: Tolt Dam flooding: Carnation area ......................................................................... 4-67

Figure 4-21: Spread of Smallpox in the Pacific Northwest ......................................................... 4-75

Figure 4-22: Coal Mine Hazards ................................................................................................. 4-89


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LIST OF TABLES Table 1-1: FEMA Programs Requiring Tribal Mitigation Plan ....................................................... 1-3

Table 2-1: Snoqualmie Tribal Stakeholder Group ........................................................................ 2-3

Table 4-1: Large Earthquakes in the Puget Sound Region ........................................................... 4-4

Table 4-2: Local Earthquake Events .............................................................................................. 4-7

Table 4-3: Severity of Snoqualmie Valley Area Earthquakes ..................................................... 4-13

Table 4-4: FEMA Flooding Disasters in King County, WA ........................................................... 4-26

Table 4-5: Snoqualmie River Flood Phases ................................................................................. 4-29

Table 4-6: Recent High Flow Data for Snoqualmie River............................................................ 4-30

Table 4-7: Tribal Facilities Exposure & Vulnerability Assessment .............................................. 4-92

Table 5-1: Mitigation Strategies .................................................................................................. 5-8

Table D-1: Review of Local Mitigation Initiatives ......................................................................... D-1

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LIST OF ACRONYMS HMP Hazard Mitigation Plan BFE Base Flood Elevation bp before present CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CEMP Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan CERT Community Emergency Response Team CFR Code of Federal Regulations cfs cubic feet per second DMA Disaster Mitigation Act DNR Washington Department of Natural Resources DR Disaster Recovery DSO Dam Safety Office EMD Washington Emergency Management Division FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency FIRM Flood Insurance Rate Map HIVA Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Assessment HMGP Hazard Mitigation Grant Program NEHRP National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program NFIP National Flood Insurance Program NWTEMC NW Tribal Emergency Mgmt. Council PA Public Assistance PGA Peak Ground Acceleration PSCZ Puget Sound Convergence Zone RCW Revised Code of Washington (State) RHMP Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan SFHA Special Flood Hazard Area SRL Severe Repetitive Loss USC United States Code USGS United States Geological Survey WHO World Health Organization WRIA Water Resource Inventory Area

WUI Wildland/Urban Interface Areas

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1. INTRODUCTION

The Snoqualmie Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) has been prepared to guide current and future efforts to effectively and efficiently mitigate natural hazards on the Snoqualmie Indian Reservation and other areas of Tribal interest including, but not limited to, its Usual and Accustomed Areas.

Hazard mitigation is any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from hazards. Mitigation activities may be implemented prior to, during, or after an incident. However, hazard mitigation is most effective when based on an inclusive, comprehensive, long-term plan that is developed before a disaster occurs.

The mitigation planning process encourages coordination among Indian tribal authorities and other governmental agencies, tribal members, local residents, businesses, academia, and nonprofit groups and promotes their participation in the plan development and implementation process. This broad-based approach enables the development of mitigation actions that are supported by tribal members and other stakeholders and that reflect the needs of the Indian Tribal government as a whole.

This Snoqualmie Tribal HMP establishes goals, lists objectives necessary to achieve the goals, and identifies policies, tools, and actions that will help meet the objectives. These short- and long-term actions will reduce the potential for losses on the Reservation due to natural hazards.

In short, this plan is intended to help create a disaster-resistant community by reducing the threat of natural hazards to life, property, emergency response capabilities, economic stability, and infrastructure, while encouraging the protection and restoration of natural and cultural resources.

The natural hazards that have affected the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe in the past and will affect the Tribe in the future include earthquakes, riverine flooding from the Snoqualmie and Tolt Rivers, severe winter storms including high winds, as well as landslides and wildfires.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

The goals and objectives of the Snoqualmie Tribal HMP are to:

1. Protect the people, property and the natural environment of the Snoqualmie Tribe

2. Guide future planning and development that includes an assessment of the risks from natural hazards

3. Ensure Tribal sovereignty, culture and self-governance

Plan objectives include:

Focus future development outside of hazard prone areas

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Protect culturally and historically significant Tribal sites and resources

Increase mitigation and emergency management capabilities for the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe

Support Local and Regional Mitigation efforts that do not conflict with Tribes Mitigation Goals

This THMP provides detailed recommendations and an action plan designed to meet each objective and, ultimately, the goals of the plan.

AUTHORITY TO PLAN

Section 322 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) 42 U.S.C. 5165, as amended by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA) (P.L. 106-390), provides for States, Indian Tribal governments, and local governments to undertake a risk-based approach to reducing risks to natural hazards through mitigation planning.

The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq., as amended, further reinforces the need and requirement for mitigation plans, linking flood mitigation assistance programs to State, Tribal, and Local Mitigation Plans.

In recognition of tribal sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship that FEMA has with Indian Tribal governments, FEMA amended 44 CFR Part 201 at 72 Fed. Reg. 61720, on October 31, 2007, and again at 74 Fed. Reg. 47471, on September 16, 2009, to consolidate and clarify the requirements for Indian Tribal governments, establish Tribal Mitigation Plans separately from State and Local Mitigation Plans, and finalize the Mitigation Planning rule.

GRANT ELIGIBILITY

Indian Tribal governments with an approved Tribal Mitigation Plan in accordance with 44 CFR 201.7 may apply for assistance from FEMA as a grantee. If the Indian Tribal government coordinates with the State for review of their Tribal Mitigation Plan, then the Indian Tribal government also has the option to apply as a subgrantee through a State or another tribe. A grantee is an entity such as a State, territory, or Indian Tribal government to which a grant is awarded and that is accountable for the funds provided. A subgrantee is an entity, such as a community, local, or Indian Tribal government; State-recognized tribe; or a private nonprofit organization to which a subgrant is awarded and that is accountable to the grantee for use of the funds provided.


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If the Indian Tribal government is eligible as a grantee or subgrantee because it has an approved Tribal Mitigation Plan and has coordinated with the State for review, it can decide which option it wants to take on a case-by-case basis with respect to each Presidential Disaster Declaration, and for each grant program under a Declaration, but not on a project-by-project basis within a grant program. For example, an Indian Tribal government can participate as a subgrantee for Public Assistance (PA), but as a grantee for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) under the same Declaration. However, the Indian Tribal government would not be able to request grantee status under HMGP for one HMGP project, then request subgrantee status for another HMGP project under the same Declaration.

Under the Stafford Act and the National Flood Insurance Act, Indian Tribal governments must have an approved, adopted Tribal Mitigation Plan to meet the eligibility requirements types of assistance, which may differ depending on whether the Indian Tribal government intends to apply as a grantee or subgrantee, as outlined in the following table.

Table 1-1: FEMA Programs Requiring Tribal Mitigation Plan

Program Enabling

Legislation Funding

Authorization

Tribal Mitigation Plan Requirement

Grantee Status Subgrantee

Status

Public Assistance (PA) (Categories A, B: e.g., debris removal, emergency protective measures)

Stafford Act Presidential

Disaster Declaration

No Plan Required No Plan Required

Public Assistance (Categories C-G: e.g., repairs to damaged infrastructure, publicly owned buildings)



No Plan Required

Individual Assistance (IA) Stafford Act Presidential


No Plan Required No Plan Required

Fire Management Assistance Grants

Stafford Act Fire Management

Assistance Declaration

No Plan Required

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Program Enabling

Legislation Funding

Authorization

Tribal Mitigation Plan Requirement

Grantee Status Subgrantee

Status

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Planning Grant



No Plan Required

HMGP Project Grant Stafford Act Presidential


Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Planning Grant

Stafford Act Annual

Appropriation No Plan Required No Plan Required

PDM Project Grant Stafford Act Annual

Appropriation

Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) National Flood Insurance Act

Annual Appropriation

Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) National Flood Insurance Act


Repetitive Flood Claims (RFC) National Flood Insurance Act


No Plan Required

= Tribal Mitigation Plan Required

ORGANIZATION OF THE PLAN

The Snoqualmie Tribal HMP is divided into seven sections plus appendices:

Section 1 is this introduction;


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Section 2 describes how the Tribal HMP was prepared including the planning process and public involvement;

Section 3 describes the land use, socioeconomic conditions, and physical characteristics of the Snoqualmie Indian Reservation and surrounding area;

Section 4 presents an assessment of hazard risks to the Reservation and the Snoqualmie Valley;

Section 5 discuses the Snoqualmie Tribes capabilities and presents its mitigation strategy;

Section 6 describes the Tribal HMP maintenance process; and

Section 7 describes the Tribes Repetitive Loss Plan.

The references cited in this plan are footnoted and any additional references are listed in Section 8.

ADOPTION

The Snoqualmie Tribal Council formally adopted the Snoqualmie Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan on May 5th, 2011 as Resolution # 68-11.

The Resolution adopting the plan can be found in Appendix I: Tribal Resolution Adopting Plan.

ASSURANCES

The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe assures that it will continue to comply with all applicable Federal statutes and regulations in effect with respect to the periods for which it receives grant funding, in compliance with 44 CFR 13.11(c). The Tribe will amend its plan whenever necessary to reflect changes in Tribal or Federal laws and statutes as required in 44 CFR 13.11(d).

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2. PLANNING PROCESS

This section will discuss the planning process used to develop the Snoqualmie Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The planning process is an extremely important aspect in the development of a hazard mitigation plan. It is crucial for the success of the plan to have the public ask questions and comment on the plan. In addition, by involving the public in the planning process, it increases the publics awareness of the hazards affecting the Snoqualmie Tribe and informs them about the importance of hazard mitigation planning. Having public involvement in the planning process also allows the plan to reflect the publics views and opinions. The Snoqualmie Tribe defines public as its Tribal Membership, Tribal Government and employees, the surrounding local communities and districts in the Snoqualmie Valley as well as King County, Washington State, Federal agencies and relevant non-government organizations. The Tribe maintains final authority on decision making related to this Plan.

The following sections will detail who was responsible for developing and producing the plan, and other associated activities such as coordinating the planning process; a listing of participating departments and agencies; and a timeline of the plan development process, dating back to 2006 and ending with the adoption of the Tribal HMP by the Snoqualmie Tribal Council.

Furthermore this section will discuss opportunities the Public was given to comment and give suggestions on the Plan during development.

PLAN PREPARATION

This plan is an update and expansion of the Snoqualmie Tribes 2006 Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Assessments (HIVA) into a FEMA approved Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Tribes Department of Emergency Management initially contracted with Glenn Coil, a recent UW graduate with a Masters in Urban Planning, to develop the HIVA for the Tribe. A grant from Washington EMD was used to fund the project. Research and development of the plan began in January 2006, with a preliminary draft submitted in June 2006. A final draft was submitted to the State in August of 2006.

Glenn, now working as a planner with the NW Tribal Emergency Management Council (NWTEMC), was retained to help the tribe develop the grant needed to fund development of the Plan, as well as to Draft the Hazard Mitigation Plan.

In September of 2008, the tribe was awarded a grant from the WA Emergency Mgmt. Division, sourced from HMGP funding related to DR-1734, to develop the Plan. In May of 2009, the Tribe contracted with the NWTEMC to assist in the development of the Plan.

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After a lengthy planning process that ensured tribal and staff participation as well as all the changes and development of the Tribe, including the development and opening of a 170,000 sq foot Casino, the Plan was finalized in the Spring of 2011, with Tribal adoption in May 2011. The plan was submitted for FEMA pre-approval in July 2011.

Additional comments and revisions that were needed for plan approval were given by FEMA in September 2011. Subsequently the Tribe had a meeting and made the additional revisions and added information to better clarify FEMA comments. The Plan was resubmitted to FEMA on September 28, 2011 for Final Approval.

On October 4th 2011, FEMA notified the Tribe that the 2011 Snoqualmie Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan had been approved by FEMA and that the tribe was now eligible to apply directly to FEMA as a grantee for Stafford Act non-emergency grant programs through October 11, 2016.

PLAN PARTICIPATION

The Snoqualmie Tribes Director of Emergency Management, working with the Environmental and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, led the planning process in formulating Goals and Objectives as well as formulating, reviewing and prioritizing mitigation actions. The committee was also responsible for reviewing and commenting on drafts of the plan.

Members of the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee include the Director and staff of the ENR Department, the Director of Emergency Management, the Tribal Administrator, the Transportation Director, the Finance Director, and members of the Tribal Council.

Efforts to get broad public participation in the plan include the development of a hazards survey for tribal staff and membership and the inclusion of hazard plan documents, such as draft versions of the plan, on the Tribes website.

STAKEHOLDER GROUP

Other Tribal departments were included in the planning process and feedback was solicited from all. Directors and staff from Tribal departments were put together as the Stakeholder Group. This group met informally or individually with the Director of Emergency Management. This group included staff from:


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Table 2-1: Snoqualmie Tribal Stakeholder Group

Snoqualmie Tribe Stakeholder Group

Department Participant Title

Public Works/Facilities Facilities Manager

Snoqualmie Casino Security Director,

Safety Officer

Environment & Natural Resources Director of Environmental & Natural Resources,

GIS Specialist,

Archeology Technician

Tribal Legal Department In-house Legal Counsel

Tribal Clinics Administration Clinics Manager,

Substance Abuse Program Manager

Tribal Public Safety: Emergency Management & Police Department

Director of Public Safety

Tribal Administration Adminstrative Services Officer

Housing Department Housing Director

Transportation Department Transportation Director

Information Technology Department Chief Information Officer

TRIBAL MEMBERSHIP PARTICIPATION

Effort was made to get participation and feedback from the Tribal membership. Many on tribal staff are Tribal members and thus were able to participate via the Environmental & Natural Resources (ENR) committee and via the Stakeholder Group. Members of the Snoqualmie Tribal Council also participated via the ENR Committee.

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Other efforts to include Tribal membership participation were via informal personal discussions with Tribal members as well as the distribution of the Hazards Survey. Planning materials were made available on the Tribes website for Tribal membership to review and comment on.

LOCAL AND REGIONAL PARTICIPATION

Every effort was made to include all stakeholders in the process and development of the Mitigation Plan. This included meeting with King County Emergency Management staff, as well as officials from Seattle City Light (for Tolt River dam issues) and the local police and fire districts. The plan will also be made available via the Tribes website to local officials for comment.

PROJECT TIMELINE

2006: Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Assessment developed for Tribe.

Sept 2008: WA EMD awarded grant to Snoqualmie Tribe to develop Hazards Mitigation Plan.

May 2009: Snoqualmie Tribe contracted with NW Tribal Emergency Management Council to help prepare Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan.

June 2009 Progress Report: Review of the 2006 Snoqualmie Nation HIVA to be updated to be included as the Risk Assessment for the Hazard Mitigation Plan. Also work has begun assembling a planning team to give input to NWTEMC staff working on the plan.

October 2009 Progress Report: Begun working with Tribal departments identifying hazards and creating awareness/purpose of plan. Begun acquiring tribal data for hazard inventory (tribal lands, historic sites etc). Acquired software for mapping of hazards/ vulnerability.

January 2010 Progress Report: Draft Template began of Plan using data gathered.

March 2010: Progress review of plan between Tribal Director of Emergency Management and NWTEMC staff. Draft template was submitted and a discussion of scope, stakeholder involvement as well as issues of off-reservation tribal membership was discussed.

April 2010 Progress Report: Draft plan continue to be updated. Begin meeting with staff to discuss mitigation actions.

Summer 2010: Review of local and regional mitigation activities. Development of Plan Maintenance Process.


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Fall 2010: Progress review of plan between Tribal Director of Emergency Management and NWTEMC staff. Discussion of public involvement in planning process. Discussion of identification, prioritization and approval of mitigation actions.

October 2010 Progress Report: Draft plan continue to be updated. Begin meeting with staff to discuss mitigation actions.

January 2011 Progress Report: Introduction, Assurances, Program Integration and Plan Maintenance requirements reviewed and drafted for Plan. Met with NWTEMC staff to add additional tribal facilities to Risk Assessment. Updated economic profile of tribal membership. Continued to hold meetings with staff to discuss plan and review mitigation actions. Developed strategy for Tribal adoption. Hazards Survey added to Tribal website (home page and emergency management webpage).

January 25th 2011: NWTEMC staff and Director of Emergency Management met with Environmental & Natural Resources Committee. It had been determined this committee, representing members of Tribal Administration, Departments and the Tribal Council, would lead the effort in developing and prioritizing mitigation actions as well as review the plan.

During the meeting contractor gave a presentation on background and status of the plan. The Tribe had recently provided updated data of tribal facilities and land for Loss Estimate and draft hazard maps were presented. Discussion of proposed Goals and Objectives. Discussion of Mitigation Actions and the review of Local/Regional Actions. Due to limited land base and the Tribes desire that they work closely with local partners, there was a discussion of whether the Tribe should formally review and support/not support local/regional initiatives based on Tribes Mitigation Goals and Objectives. Further discussion of scope of Tribes mitigation actions. Lastly Plan Maintenance section was reviewed. Comments on responsibility for plan maintenance given by Tribes CEO.

In conclusion, it was agreed that the Committee would meet monthly to discuss and review Mitigation Plan until adoption by Tribe and FEMA.

March 2011: Final list of mitigation actions drafted and submitted to Tribe for review and prioritization.

April 2011: Resolution to adopt plan by Tribal Council prepared.

May, 2011: Tribal Council reviews and adopts plan

May 23, 2011: Environmental & Natural Resources Committee meeting to discuss and formally prioritize Mitigation Actions. Local mitigation actions were also reviewed with Tribe listing actions they support.

July 2011: Draft submitted to FEMA and WA EMD for review and approval.

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September 8, 2011: FEMA review completed, List of revisions needed before Final FEMA approval submitted to the Tribe.

September 19, 2011: Staff meeting with Director of Emergency Management to discuss revisions needed for the plan.

September 28, 2011: Plan resubmitted to FEMA with revisions for Final approval.

October 4, 2011: Tribe notified that Snoqualmie Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan has been approved.

PROGRAM INTEGRATION

Every effort was made to integrate this planning process into other Tribal planning processes. The Tribe does not have a large planning portfolio as most of its planning recently began after the purchase of land for a casino in 2006. Nonetheless, planning documents and strategies from Housing, the Environmental and Natural Resources Dept, Tribal Clinics Administration and Public Safety/Emergency Management were reviewed and discussed. It was agreed that current and future planning efforts will integrate the Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan. Effort will made that this Plan also be integrated into other FEMA programs and initiatives that the Tribe is involved in, such as participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.

The Snoqualmie Tribe has a limited but growing land base and it is imperative that local planning processes be integrated. Special consideration was made of the mitigation activities of the Tribes local neighbors in the Snoqualmie Valley, except where those activities ran counter to Tribes stated goals of this Plan.

Furthermore, with a Tribal membership spread over a five county area and beyond, the Tribe has determined that the Tribal membership and staff will fall under the Mitigation Plan of the community that they reside.

The plans and documents reviewed for integration include:

TRIBAL

Snoqualmie Hill Casino Environmental Assessment

Snoqualmie Tribe Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Assessment (HIVA)

http://www.snoqualmienation.com/Documents/HIVA.pdf
http://www.snoqualmienation.com/Documents/HIVA.pdf


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LOCAL

King County Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan (RHMP)

http://www.co.king.wa.us/safety/prepare/EmergencyManagementProfessionals/Plans/RegionalHazardMitigationPlan.aspx

2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan

http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/flooding/documents/flood-hazard-management-plan.aspx

King County Flood Control District Hazard Mitigation Plan

http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/flooding/flood-control-zone-district/local-hazard-mitigation-plan-update.aspx

City of Snoqualmie All Hazards Plan

http://www.ci.snoqualmie.wa.us/CityDepartments/Planning/HazardMitigationPlanning.aspx

South Fork Tolt River Dam Emergency Action Plan

STATE

Washington State Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Assessment (HIVA)

http://www.emd.wa.gov/plans/documents/HIVA_2009_FINALformattingNOV09.pdf

Washington State Enhanced Hazard Mitigation Plan

http://www.emd.wa.gov/plans/washington_state_hazard_mitigation_plan.shtml
http://www.co.king.wa.us/safety/prepare/EmergencyManagementProfessionals/Plans/RegionalHazardMitigationPlan.aspxhttp://www.co.king.wa.us/safety/prepare/EmergencyManagementProfessionals/Plans/RegionalHazardMitigationPlan.aspxhttp://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/flooding/documents/flood-hazard-management-plan.aspxhttp://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/flooding/documents/flood-hazard-management-plan.aspxhttp://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/flooding/flood-control-zone-district/local-hazard-mitigation-plan-update.aspxhttp://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/flooding/flood-control-zone-district/local-hazard-mitigation-plan-update.aspxhttp://www.ci.snoqualmie.wa.us/CityDepartments/Planning/HazardMitigationPlanning.aspxhttp://www.emd.wa.gov/plans/documents/HIVA_2009_FINALformattingNOV09.pdfhttp://www.emd.wa.gov/plans/washington_state_hazard_mitigation_plan.shtml

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3. COMMUNITY PROFILE

INTRODUCTION

The people known today as the Snoqualmie Tribe have lived in the Puget Sound region of Washington State since time immemorial, long before the early explorers came to the Northwest. They hunted deer, elk, and other game animals, fished for salmon and gathered berries and wild plants for food and medicinal purposes.

The Snoqualmie Tribe currently has approximately 650 members. Historically, Tribal members lived in an area of East King and Snohomish Counties that now contains the communities of Monroe, Carnation, Fall City, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Mercer Island and Issaquah. Tribal members continue to live in each of these communities.

In 1855 Snoqualmie signed the Point Elliott Treaty. This treaty created a government-to-government relationship between the United States and the Snoqualmie Tribe and the Tribe ceded to the US government all of its land between Snoqualmie Pass and Marysville. The Tribe lost federal recognition in 1953 when federal policies limited recognition to tribes having reservations.

In October of 1999, After 46 years of petitioning, the Bureau of Indian Affairs notified the Tribe's Fall City headquarters that they had re-recognized the Snoqualmie Tribe and granted Snoqualmie Nation tribal status based on evidence that the Tribe had maintained a continuous community from historical times to the present. Recognition provided the Tribe the right to acquire its initial reservation land and to develop a casino to help fund the costs of tribal governance, administration and services to its members.

In the decade since re-recognition, the Tribe has worked hard to develop programs and provide services to meet the needs of its members. The Tribe has developed a government, created medical clinics, economic development, social and health services and housing programs.

On March 2nd, 2006 the Snoqualmie Reservation site was officially put into trust status. The Snoqualmie Casino (which opened in 2009) was built on the Reservation and is used to pursue economic development and increase the financial resources of the Tribe for government operations.

Figure 3-1 shows the location of the Snoqualmie Reservation with the Snoqualmie Watershed highlighted in pink.

GOVERNANCE:

The Tribe is governed by a Tribal constitution and elected Council. The Tribe's governing structure includes building codes, health codes and other standard governmental functions.

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Council Members (as of September 2011)

Head Chief: Jerry Enick,

Chief: Andy de Los Angeles, Nathan (Pat) Barker,

Chair: Shelley Burch,

Vice Chair: Mary Anne Hinzman,

Secretary: Nina Repin,

Treasurer: Margaret Mullen,

Honorable Lifetime Council: Katherine Barker,

Council: Frances de los Angeles, Robert Hinzman, Ray Mullen, Jo-Anne Dominick,

Alternates: Jake Repin, Jolene Williams.

GEOGRAPHY 1

The tribal homeland of the Snoqualmie Nation is located in the Snoqualmie Valley. This section will give an overview of the geography of the valley, and the geological events that created and shaped the valley that we see today. The primary event that shaped the valley was the recent Ice Age and the glaciation it brought. It is vital to understand the geography of an area in order to best mitigate against the natural hazards that said geography creates. Most of the information for this section was summarized from

An Overview of the Geology and Geomorphology of the Snoqualmie River Watershed

The Snoqualmie River originates as west-flowing drainage from the central Washington Cascade Mountains. Its various headwater tributaries join to form the mainstem river in the vicinity of the city of North Bend. The mainstem river continues flowing westward over spectacular

, prepared for King County, and referenced below. For more a complete geological overview of the Valley, please refer to this invaluable source.

1 John Bethel, An Overview of the Geology and Geomorphology of the Snoqualmie River Watershed 2004. http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/streamsdata/reports/SnoGeo.htm
http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/streamsdata/reports/SnoGeo.htm


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Figure 3-1: Location Map of Snoqualmie Tribe & Snoqualmie River Watershed

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Snoqualmie Falls. Below the 270 foot high Falls the river turns north into a glacially sculpted trough that it follows for 40 miles (64 kilometers) until reaching the confluence with the Skykomish River near the city of Monroe The combined discharge of the Snoqualmie and Skykomish Rivers flows generally westward as the Snohomish River, reaching Puget Sound at the City of Everett.

The Snoqualmie River has a drainage area of 693 square miles (1794 square kilometers) at its confluence with the Skykomish River, and ranges in elevation from 7492 feet (2283 meters) on Mount Hinman on the Cascade Crest to 15 feet (4.6 meters) at the confluence with the Skykomish. Rainfall in the watershed ranges from 40 inches (1000 millimeters) in the lower valley up to 160 inches (4000 millimeters) near the Cascade Crest. At Carnation (the lowest gauged station in the watershed), the two-year discharge is 30,200 cubic feet per second (cfs)2

The Snoqualmie River watershed includes parts of two major physiographic provinces, the Puget Lowland and the Middle Cascade Range (Buffington et al., 2003).

; the one-hundred-year discharge is 79,700 cfs. The Carnation gauge includes flow from 87 percent of the watershed area.

BEDROCK GEOLOGY OF SNOQUALMIE VALLEY

Most of the headwater channels draining from the Cascade Mountains are underlain at shallow depth by bedrock There are three primary bedrock assemblages exposed in the Snoqualmie River watershed (Tabor et al., 1993; Tabor et al., 2000) that form three irregular bands roughly paralleling the topographic expression of the Cascade Range. Along the core of the Cascade Range, intrusive igneous rocks of Tertiary age are extensively exposed. These consist primarily of light gray granite rocks. Most of the High Cascade peaks in the Snoqualmie River watershed are composed of these erosion-resistant rocks.

GLACIAL HISTORY

The Snoqualmie River watershed has been subject to two distinctly separate (although substantially contemporaneous) types of glacial activity. Continental glaciers originating in the highlands of the Canadian Coast Range and Vancouver Island merge and flow south forming the

2 Cubic Feet per Second -- (Abbrev. CFP) - In hydrologic terms, a unit expressing rates of discharge. One cubic foot per second is equal to the discharge through a rectangular cross section, 1 foot wide by 1 foot deep, flowing at an average velocity of 1 foot per second. It is also approximately 7.48 gallons per second.

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Puget lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The Cordilleran Ice Sheet has advanced and retreated multiple times during the Pleistocene Era (between two million and ten thousand years ago). The most recent of these advances has been named the Vashon stade of the Fraser glaciation. This continental glacial advance filled the Puget Lowland from the Cascade Mountains to the Olympic Mountains, and extended south as far as the vicinity of the present-day city of Olympia. It reached its maximum extent approximately 14,000 years before present (bp). In the vicinity of the Snoqualmie River watershed, continental glacial ice reached an elevation of 2400 to 3300 feet (750 to 990 meters) on the Cascade Mountains (Thorson, 1979). Sediments deposited by continental glacial advances underlie most of the ground surface in the Snoqualmie River watershed west of the Cascade foothills.

Figure 3-2: Extent of Vashon Puget lobe of the Fraser Cordilleran glaciation3

The climatic conditions that lead to growth of continental glaciers also caused mountain, or alpine glaciers to develop and expand. Alpine glaciers from the high Cascades extended down mountain valleys to the Cascade foothills. The most recent major alpine glaciation was the Evans

3 http://timeliner.blogspot.com/2007/06/illigitimus-non-carburundum-esse.html from Easterbrook, 1979
http://timeliner.blogspot.com/2007/06/illigitimus-non-carburundum-esse.html


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Creek stade of the Fraser glaciation. This advance reached a maximum approximately 20,000 years bp, and these glaciers had retreated significantly by the time of the Vashon continental maximum 6000 years later. In the Snoqualmie watershed, major alpine glaciers developed in the valleys of each of the three forks of the Snoqualmie River, both forks of the Tolt River, and in many of the tributaries to these rivers. Most of the Alpine lakes in the Snoqualmie watershed are cirque lakes, scoured by glacial erosion at the heads of these alpine glaciers. Reconstruction of the alpine glacier profile indicates that the maximum ice thickness in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Valley was 2100 feet (645 meters) (Williams, 1971). Sediment deposited by the subsequent Vashon advance into the Puget Lowland covered the down-valley deposits of the Evans Creek alpine advance. For that reason, glacial deposits marking the maximum down-valley extent of these alpine glaciers are not exposed to the modern ground surface.

POST-GLACIAL HISTORY

As glaciers retreated from the Puget Lowland, they left a landscape highly susceptible to a variety of non-glacial erosional processes. This susceptibility was due to a number of characteristics of this post-glacial landscape. These include:

The lack of vegetative cover;

The lack of surficial organic soil horizons, and

A drainage network developed to convey subglacial and ice marginal runoff, and thus largely out of equilibrium with the post-glacial topography and climate.

In a geomorphic context, this was a quintessential youthful landscape. Under these circumstances, a period of rapid erosion was inevitable. This erosion occurred through a variety of geomorphic processes. Where runoff collected in swales or depressions in the post-glacial topography and discharged over steep slopes, ravines were quickly incised.

Alluvial fans formed at the base of these steep slopes. Steep slopes, previously buttressed by glacial ice or undercut by rapid stream incision, failed in massive landslides.

Closed depressions at all scales in the glacial landscape filled progressively with water, organic detritus, and sediment, forming lakes, wetlands, and alluvial lowlands. From a geologic standpoint, the Snoqualmie watershed remains a youthful landscape. Most of the area underlain by glacial substrate has undergone little post-glacial geomorphic modification. Much of the active geomorphic activity in the Snoqualmie watershed consists of equilibrating this recently glacial landscape to the current, temperate, non-glacial conditions

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CLIMATE

In general, the maritime temperate climate consists of dry summers and mild, wet winters. High winds are common in winter months when major storm systems occur. Average minimum daily temperatures in the winter since 1931 range from 32.6 to 36.7 degrees Fahrenheit and average maximum daily temperatures in the winter range from 44.7 to 50.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Average minimum daily temperatures in the summer since 1931 range from 46.4 to 50.6 degrees Fahrenheit and average maximum daily temperatures in the summer range from 69.5 to 75.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Approximately two-thirds of the annual precipitation occurs between mid-October and late February. Peaks occur in December, May and June. Annual precipitation since 1931 is 61.25 inches, including 11.5 inches of snowfall between November and April. Snowfall occurs most years, but snow only remains on the ground for a short period of time. Accumulations of snow are usually slight. The precipitation pattern causes wintertime peak flows of the river in late November and December, often from rain-on-snow events. Cooler weather in January and February causes a greater snowpack accumulation, followed by snowmelt runoff in late spring. The minimum flows are recorded in late summer to early fall.

The climate regime in the study area supports extensive conifer forests, predominantly consisting of western hemlock and Douglas fir. Other habitats included mixed conifer forest (Douglas fir, western red cedar, hemlock), deciduous forest (big-leaf maple, red alder, black cottonwood), upland scrub-shrub (thimbleberry, salmonberry, Douglas spiraea), and riparian or forested wetlands (City of Snoqualmie, 1995 [DEIS, Falls Crossing]).

TRIBAL HISTORY

The Snoqualmie people have a long history dating back thousands of years. The Snoqualmie are

known as in the native Lushootseed language (a branch of the Coastal Salishan language family). translates to People of Moon (the Transformer) Snoqualmie has also been written as Snoqualmoo and Snuqualmi.

This section will discuss the creation of the Snoqualmie by Moon the Transformer, discuss locations from Snoqualmie history and give an overview of Snoqualmie villages that existed until the 19th century.


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MOON THE TRANSFORMER 4

In the Old Days all the people, the animals, plants, rocks and trees and rivers, supernatural beings, even the weather--everything!--was alive and could think and act much as human beings do today. But they also all had personal powers that we cannot imagine, like the ability to move quickly from place to place. That was in the Old Days. This is the story of how all of that came to change, how the world came to be as the First People knew it when they lived here on this land for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, before the settlers ever arrived. And then, of course, it all changed again but thats not part of this story.

This story begins at the ancient village of TOHLTwh, which is just across the Tolt River from the little town we know today as Carnation. There were two young women--sisters--who lived there, about 15, 16 years-old. The older one was named tuhk-wee-YAY, the younger YAH-slibsh. Their parents were high-born, important people of the village.

One day the two sisters went to dig fern roots, which were one of the main foods of their people. They went to dig on the prairie above a big dam--a fishtrap or fish weir its called--that the people had built across the river. Today we know this place as Snoqualmie Falls. How it came to be changed from a fish weir into that huge waterfall we will find out later in this story.

Now thats a long trip from the village to the prairie--about 10 miles--even if mostly by canoe and of course you couldnt paddle over the tall fish weir, youd have to park your canoe and walk from there. After a long day of digging it was so late the sisters decided to spend the night on the prairie and return home the next day.

That night was clear and it must have been fairly warm and so the two sisters lay down to sleep. Looking up at the dark sky with all of those twinkling pinpoints of light, tuhk-wee-YAY saw one bright white shining star and she wished that it could be her husband. Another star nearby, one that had a reddish cast, she told her younger sister would be good enough for her to marry. Now, with these thoughts in their minds the two young women fell asleep.

When they awoke in the morning each of them was lying by the side of a man who was her husband. tuhk-wee-YAY saw that her man, the one with the cloudy white eye, was old and wrinkled. On the other hand, YAH-slibshs husband, who had a reddish eye, was young and strong.

Getting up, the sisters saw that they were in a strange country they had never seen before. It was perfectly calm--there was no wind at all. And as they would find out, it

4 http://coastsalishmap.org/moon_the_transformer.htm
http://coastsalishmap.org/moon_the_transformer.htm

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was always that way. (Or almost always.) In all other respects, though, the land about them was much the same as the land around their old village, TOHLTwh. And life went on there just as it did back home--during the day the men would take their bows and arrows and go out and hunt deer and the women would take their digging sticks and hunt for roots. The two sisters wanted to fit in with the customs of this place so they said to one another "Let us go out and dig fern roots, too."

So they did. And they lived like this with their new husbands and their husbands people for day after day, month after month, through the summer and fall and into the winter. All this time the two young women did not know where they were. They missed their home, their family and friends, the familiar village of TOHLTwh, and all the land around it that they loved. And the older sister, especially, did not like her husband, even though he was good to her. She did not like to look on his wrinkled face and his pale, white eye.

One day it happened that this older sister, tuhk-wee-YAY, found that she was going to have a baby by her husband, the old man. YAH-slibsh was sad when her sister told her this because her husband, though he was young, was always too busy to spend time with her. To hide her tears from this sadness, YAH-slibsh began to sit where the smoke from the cooking fire would blow into her face so the people would think she was crying from the soot in her eyes and not from her grief.

The baby was born and was shown to be a healthy boy, but still both sisters remained unhappy, though for different reasons. While the child was very young they stayed home to care for him. But as he grew older they both again began to go out digging for fern roots. This time, though, the old man, tuhk-wee-YAYs husband, took the two sisters aside and told them that they should be careful not to dig the roots that went straight down deep, to dig only those that spread out and remained near the surface.

For a time they followed the old mans advice, but they were so curious what would happen if they dug up the deep roots that one day they did. They dug and dug and dug, until finally with a blast of air, a strong wind came rushing up through the hole they had made. They had dug all the way through the bottom of the sky and now they looked down to their long-ago home on the earth so far below them. Now they knew where they had been all of this time. They had been living with the Star People way up high in the Sky Country.

Because they were homesick and unhappy with their husbands YAH-slibsh and tuhk-wee-YAY decided to escape from their life with the Star People. They covered the hole they had dug and told no one about it. They continued to go out on their errand, but they only brought home a few of the fern roots. Every day now, they would do the same, taking the baby boy with them.


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Figure 3-3: Two Sisters Return5

Finally their husbands became suspicious and asked the sisters, "Before, your basket would always be full of fern roots, now why do you only bring home so few." tuhk-wee-YAY answered, "The baby cries and I have to dig alone while my sister cares for him." But that was not the true reason. Instead of gathering roots, the sisters had been gathering cedar branches and tearing the inside bark into long strips. They had been twisting the strips into rope and finally they had made a long rope ladder.

5 Two Sisters Return by Chris Hopkins, 2004

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On the fourteenth day after they had first dug the hole and caused the wind to blow, after they had first seen their home on the earth so far below them, the sisters went out in the morning as usual, taking the baby boy with them. This time they uncovered the hole. They hung the rope ladder down from the sky and found that it reached to the earth. YAH-slibsh stepped through the hole and onto the ladder. tuhk-wee-YAY handed the baby to her sister and began to climb down the ladder herself. As soon as she was through, she closed the hole in the sky and caused a forest to grow above it. This way their husbands would not be able to find where they had gone.

Now the two sisters had been away from their home on the earth for a long time. Their grieving parents had asked the various Bird People, who were the best doctors, to search for their missing children. Bluejay and the others had sung and danced, trying with their spirit power to find tuhk-wee-YAY and YAH-slibsh, but none could find them because their spirit helpers were not strong enough. Most of the doctors had given up the task and gone home, but a few were left, dancing and singing on the prairie, when the two sisters and the baby boy reached the ground.

News spread quickly of their arrival and people gathered at the site where the rope was touching the ground. soo-WAHB-koh, the young womens father, asked that everyone celebrate the return of his daughters and enjoy themselves by swinging on the long ladder that they had made. From DAHK-shdibsh to KEHLBTS, a half-days journey by foot, the people swung through the air on the rope ladder. DAHK-shdibsh means footprint and you can still see what look like big footprints on the side of the mountain that the white people today call Rattlesnake Ridge. KEHLBTS is camping place, named for an old chief of the people. Today we call this Mount Si. So they all swung through the air clear across the valley where the town of North Bend is today.

While the sisters were still enjoying themselves with the people who were swinging, their blind old grandmother tseh-LOH-yah, which means Toad, was caring for the baby boy. She had wrapped the fretful child onto a cradle board and was singing to him. After a time the babys crying stopped and he became very quiet, so quiet that tseh-LOH-yah got worried. She felt him and she sang out, "This feels like rotten wood [which, you know, can feel soft and yielding] instead of a baby." tuhk-wee-YAY heard her and came running over and found that, indeed, someone had stolen her child and replaced him with a piece of rotten wood about the same size.

In her grief tuhk-wee-YAY took the babys cedar bark diaper and clutched it to her breast. Crying out her sorrow, she carried the diaper to a nearby stream, dipped it into the water and then wrung it out. Five times she did this. On the fifth time she heard the cry of a baby. It was a big sturdy child, a boy, who appeared there in place of the diaper. He had come to comfort the mother, her sister, and all of the people for their sorrow in losing the other. This is the one they named spee-TSEEkw which means diaper child.

Now, all of the best doctors, the Bird People, were gathered again, this time to find where tuhk-wee-YAYs baby had been taken. Yellowhammer was the first bird to go in search of the child. He followed the trail to a narrow place where the earth was


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going apart and then coming back together. He tried to go through the opening but he was not quick enough. Woodpecker, KEHT-kehts, went next. Then Raven, SKWAHKw, followed by Osprey. None of them could get past the open-and-shut place. Finally it was the turn of Bluejay, who was called SKAI-kai.

When Bluejay got to the passage he flew quickly up and down and almost got through without being touched, but at the end the earth closed against his head and made it flat. But Bluejay was quicker--he did make it, and once through, he sang out for gladness at his success and his escape, "Kai kai kai". Then he looked around him and saw that he was in the land of the Dog Salmon People. They were the ones who had stolen tuhk-wee-YAYs baby boy.

Bluejay flew all over that place and found that the baby was now grown into a young man who was named Moon. Moon had married into the Dog Salmon People and now had two children of his own, two boys. When Bluejay passed over him, Moon was making flint arrowheads. He picked up some of the flakes and threw them at that birds eye, saying, "Why are you flying around me like that?", and then after a moment Moon said, "I do not feel right. I am feeling sad all the time."

Bluejay had been blinded by the flakes that Moon had thrown so he came down and spoke to the young man, saying, "Grandchild, I have come for you." When he heard this Moon cleaned out the birds eyes and Bluejay told Moon who his mother was, how he had been stolen, and how all of his people were sorrowing for him and wanted him to return home. Moon replied, "I shall go, but not with you, Bluejay, and not now."

That young man, Moon, had needed more time to say goodbye to his own children. Only when he had done that did he begin his return home. Driving the dog salmon ahead of him up the river, Moon called out to them, "Dog Salmon, the new generation is coming now and you shall be food for the people." That is how Moon began his work of transformation. All the long way home to his mothers people Moon traveled, changing everything upon the earth.

At first, the different Animal People that he came to, Moon changed easily into animals that could be food--birds and ducks and clams, and later land-otter and beaver. After a while though, the other Animal People heard what Moon was doing. They became afraid, and made weapons to defend themselves against this Transformer of whom they had heard so much but had never seen.

That is how it happened that Moon came upon Deer making spear points of bone and singing, "With these I will kill the Transformer." Moon suddenly appeared in front of Deer. "Let me see those spear points," Moon said. Not knowing who this person was, Deer gave them to Moon who placed them on Deers wrists and saying, "You shall be something good to eat," Moon turned him into the deer we know today that still has those tiny bones near its ankle, so sharp you have to be careful or they will cut you.

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Next Moon came to a place where four women were fighting. Moon asked them what they were doing. One of the women said, "We are practicing so we will be prepared to fight Moon when he comes." Hearing this, Moon threw each of the women into the mud, saying, "You shall grow and be something good to eat." The women became what they are today--skunk cabbage, maidenhair fern, wild artichoke and sand rush.

Moon continued his trip home. He tamed Fire which otherwise would have burned forever and destroyed the world. Sticks and stones, which used to be alive, he changed so that now they dont strike us whenever they please. He came across an old man who made fun of him, who mocked him by repeating everything that Moon said. This made Moon angry and the angrier he became, the angrier this old man became as well, turning Moons words back to him. On and on it went until Moon got the best of the old man, transformed him into echo.

Finally it was that Moon arrived near the spot where he had been stolen as a child. There was a fish trap near there made of branches that stretched all the way across the river. Moon turned this fish weir into the high waterfall that today we call Snoqualmie Falls, so high that now no salmon can swim up to the land above it.

After making the falls, Moon passed onto the prairie and there he was reunited with his mother and all of his earthly relatives. He met his brother, Diaper Child, who was now known as Sun. The people began celebrating and in their excitement they began to swing again on the rope ladder. Moon said to them, "The ladder will be there forever to swing on, or even for you to go up to the sky."

Now it was time to make the light for the people to see by day and by night. Sun said to Moon, who was the eldest, "You travel in the daytime." So Moon began his journey through the sky. But as soon as he arose everything became hot. Water boiled in the river, fires began everywhere.

"It is too hot," the people cried. So Moon came down and then he said to his brother, "I think it will satisfy the people better if you travel in the daytime." Sun did that and everyone was pleased. Now it was Moons turn. "I guess I am to go at night," he said, "Ill warm my back where the land has become heated by Sun." So Moon turned with his back towards the earth and the light from him was just right. Moons grandmother, Toad, was so happy to see him she decided to keep him company. You can still see her there on the Moon today.

At this time the rope ladder on which the people had been playing fell to the ground. All eyes turned to see what had happened. It had been gnawed in two by Rat. Ahh--everyone was angry and sad. Moon made a curse on Rat. He said, "From this day, Rat, you will gnaw and steal whatever people want and destroy what is good. You will crawl on the earth and everyone will curse you."

Now it was about time for Moon to go up into the sky, but before he went he did three more things. The people of that time who were sitting around he turned into the rocks of the mountains. He made all of the rivers we know today. And as he made


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them, he named them--the Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Nisqually and Duwamish he made. He made the Snohomish, Skykomish, Stillaguamish and Skagit.

And then a man and a woman he placed on each river.

Moon said, "Fish shall run up these rivers--salmon. They shall belong to each of the people on its own river. They will each make their own living from the fish, the deer and all the other wild animals I have changed."

From these first couples the people increased in number until many people lived on these rivers. They have lived here for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, and hundreds of years, on all of the land between the mountains and the water of Puget Sound. For all of that time--until the settlers came--there was food and shelter for all of the people. And it was all the work of Moon and of no one else but Moon.

--The original story with the same name was related by Snuqualmi Charlie to Arthur Ballard and is contained in the book Mythology of Southern Puget Sound. This version was adapted by Tom Dailey.

LOCATIONS FROM SNOQUALMIE HISTORY

Early in the 20th century T.T. Waterman and Arthur Ballard separately collected a number of stories from their informants living in the area encompassed by the map below.6

"Moon the Transformer" and "The Origin of Tolt River". Snoqualmie. In the first story TOHLTwh, the village located here at the mouth of the Tolt River, was the home of Moons mother, from where she set out with her sister to dig roots in the prairie above Snoqualmie Falls, thence to be taken up into the Sky Country where Moon was conceived and born...In the second story, five human brothers born of the Wolf People hunted elk in this area. They made tallow from the elk they killed, and from the tallow they made a river. They called the river twhoh-DAHT-stleeb, elk tallow, which they later shortened to the name the river now bears--TOHLTwh. Nearby sites are also featured in one or both of these stories.

The story sites are show in geo-sequential order, from north to south.

"Moon the Transformer". Snoqualmie. Moons mother escaped with her child from the Sky Country on a ladder. Just west of the town of Snoqualmie is the spot where the ladder touched ground. Rat gnawed the rope ladder so it fell and, coiled, turned to rock. A present-day quarry operation here has demolished nearly all of that rock, the remains of which can easily be seen

6 http://coastsalishmap.org/storytelling_sites.htm
http://coastsalishmap.org/storytelling_sites.htm

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on the south side of the Snoqualmie-North Bend road. Nearby sites are also featured in this story. See Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4: Remains of Rope Ladder Rock, looking South, 1.25.2011

Figure 3-5: Snoqualmie Oral History Sites


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"Moon the Transformer" and "The Origin of Tolt River". Snoqualmie. In the first story, after Moons mother came down from the Sky Country the people used the ladder, on which she had escaped, for entertainment. They would swing from this place they called KEHLBTS (camping place), which is our present-day Mount Si, clear across the valley to DAHK-shdibsh (footprint), which we call Rattlesnake Ridge...In the second story, we see how this place got its name--it was the camping place (KEHLBTS) the five brothers used during their elk hunt. Nearby sites are also featured in one or both of these stories.

"Moon the Transformer". Snoqualmie. After Moons mother came down from the Sky Country, the people used the ladder on which she escaped for entertainment. They would swing from this place they called DAHK-shdibsh (footprint), which is our present-day Rattlesnake Ridge, clear across the valley to KEHLBTS (camping place), which we call Mount Si. Nearby sites are also featured in this story.

HISTORIC SNOQUALMIE VILLAGES 7

This section shows the eleven known Snoqualmie villages that existed around 1800 AD.

1. STAHPTS or skay-WABST. Snoqualmie. On the E bank of the Snoqualmie River at the mouth of Cherry Creek. One large winter longhouse. This village was occupied by the Snoqualmie who called themselves sdho-KWAHL-byook'w, or people of sdho-KWAHL, said to refer to Moon the Transformer who made this world habitable.

2. stoo-WUH-yoogw ('throat-like'). On Stoessel Creek, the largest tributary to Tolt River, possibly at their confluence.

3. whahl-AHLTw ('decorated house') or TOHLTw. At the confluence of the Tolt and Snoqualmie Rivers, on a flat opposite the present town of Carnation. The second largest village of the Snoqualmie, this was also the residence of the powerful Kanim family as well as the "capitol of the people". Whahl-AHLTw referred specifically to a special longhouse where visiting elders and chiefs would stay to attend council. This longhouse also served as an educational center for skills, customs and laws. A steep sand hill nearby offered the best natural defense in the drainage. This was a good place to fish for dog salmon.

7 Coast Salish Villages of Puget Sound. http://coastsalishmap.org/
http://coastsalishmap.org/

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Figure 3-6: Historic Snoqualmie Villages

4. SWHAH-see-yahts. On a prairie near the mouth of Griffin Creek at Snoqualmie River. Five winter houses here. A good place to fish with gillnets.

5. tKWAI-kwai. At Patterson Creek, more exact location not known but assumed to be where the creek joins Snoqualmie River. Eight winter houses here.

6. YELLh ('raging river'). On the Snoqualmie River at the present town of Fall City. This was the largest village of the Snoqualmie with 18 longhouses, and, along with TOLTw, one of the most important. In the early-mid 1800s this was the place where young men were sent for military training.

7. tKELL (place for soaking things). At the mouth of Tokul Creek onto the Snoqualmie River. Seven winter houses here.

8. SKWED (underpart, to which the stream plunges). On Snoqualmie River just below Snoqualmie Falls. Three winter houses here.

9. BAH-whahb (prairie).. At Snoqualmie Prairie near the center of the present town of Snoqualmie. Eight winter houses were located here at this large prairie valley in the spiritual center of the Snoqualmie world. This was the home of the s