Suquamish, Washington

How Suquamish is governed

Suquamish appears to be an unincorporated community or a census-designated place, so it may have no city government of its own — services usually come from Kitsap County and its elected officials. The chart below is a generic template; readers can correct it if Suquamish does have local officials.

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0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

  Executive

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  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

    Executive

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    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

      Administration & departments

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      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

      Administration & departments

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      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

      Administration & departments

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      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

      Administration & departments

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      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

  Legislative

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  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

    Administration & departments

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    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

    Administration & departments

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    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

    Legislative

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    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

  Judicial

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  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

    Judicial

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    Presides over the municipal court.

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Population over time

From 4,140 in 2010 to 4,266 in 2020 (+3.0%).

History

The Suquamish people have lived in the Puget Sound, including the area around the current town of Suquamish, Washington, for thousands of years. When Europeans began moving to the Americas, diseases spread to the Suquamish and killed many people.

In 1855, members of the Suquamish Tribe signed the Treaty of Point Elliott, which created the Port Madison Reservation. Its land included dxʷsəq’ʷəb (the place of the clear salt water), a winter village around the Old Man House. The longhouse's residents had included Chief Seattle and Chief Kitsap. When Chief Seattle died in 1866, he was buried in a cemetery, now called the Suquamish Cemetery, near the village.

After Chief Seattle died, the U.S. Indian Agent for the Port Madison Reservation, William DeShaw, burned down the dxʷsəq’ʷəb longhouse. His goal was to force the 600-800 Suquamish residents of the area to leave and change their living style, moving to single-family houses in other areas of the reservation. Most families remained at dxʷsəq’ʷəb. After the Dawes Act was passed in 1887, the U.S. government used more excuses for taking reservation land from tribal members to sell to non-native developers. Through sales and seizures, pieces of the Port Madison Reservation land began to move to non-native ownership. Many Suquamish remained at dxʷsəq’ʷəb in spite of the U.S. government's efforts to disperse them.

In 1904, the U.S. military took the land around dxʷsəq’ʷəb from the Suquamish Tribe. They initially claimed it would be used to build a fort, but later sold it to non-native developers. Kitsap County also placed racial restrictive covenants on private land in the county, requiring that land only be sold to white people. Because the claimed land covered most of the village, many Suquamish residents were forced to move elsewhere by 1906, including nearby towns like Indianola. During this period, Suquamish children were forced to attend American Indian residential schools run by the U.S. government, which sought to erase Suquamish culture.

Joe Hillaire, married to Suquamish tribal member Lena Legg-Hillaire, created the Lands In The Sky Totem Pole for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. It stood atop a hill near the town of Suquamish for decades, giving the mound the nickname Totem Pole Hill. The hill was later chosen to host the Suquamish Veterans Memorial, a structure made of poles and canoes that honor veterans, Chief Kitsap, Chief Seattle, and the original totem pole.

In 1983, the Suquamish Tribe established the Suquamish Museum. A one-acre park around the site of the dxʷsəq’ʷəb longhouse, or the Old Man House, was returned to the Suquamish Tribe in 2004. In 2009, the Suquamish Tribe built the House of Awakened Culture as their first traditional communal space since 1870, when the longhouse was burned. The building is used as a ceremonial, governmental, research, and education space.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Other cities in Washington

• Seattle 737,015
• Spokane 228,989
• Tacoma 219,346
• Vancouver 190,915
• Bellevue 151,854
• Kent 136,588
• Everett 110,629
• Renton 106,785

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