Error left Samish tribe forgotten for decades. They rebuilt from ‘ground zero’

By: Sophia Gates

Outlets: Cascadia Daily News

Published: March 8, 2026

Words: 1,468

Last Updated: 1 week, 5 days ago

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Leslie Eastwood remembers asking her grandma where all the Samish people were.

It wasn’t that she was disconnected from Coast Salish culture. Growing up on the Lummi reservation in the 1950s and ’60s, she attended pow wows, stick games and canoe races at the tribe’s yearly festival. Eastwood’s dad smoked salmon at home the traditional way.

But as a child, Eastwood knew little about her own tribe. She was surprised when her grandma told …

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