Susan Tomolcha: Mother of Mary - WordPress.com · 2016-03-07 · • ^Soi-en-gah-rah-ta (LITGR 4,...

Susan Tomolcha- First wife of Chief Tumulth

Mother of Mary Will-wy-i-ty

Mary Will-wy-i-ty

Daughter of Chief Tumulth and Susan Tomolcha

“Indian Mary” “ Kalliah” “Mary Will-wy-i-ty”

Amanda Williams Daughter of Mary Will-wy-i-ty

Approximately one year after the signing of the 1855 Dayton Treaty (apx. March 1856), Chief Tumulth was tried under military commission and unjustly executed (hanged) by the US Army. Within days of Chief Tumulth’s death (April 1856), 51 of Chief Tumulth’s Wah-lal-la natives along with the Oregon City and Clackamas Chinook were removed to the Grand Ronde encampment by Oregon Territory US Department of the Interior Superintendent Joel Palmer’s Indian Agents*

* April 1856 removal of Cascade Indians to Grand Ronde Encampment/Reservation: Boxberger DL, The Hudson’s Bay Company 1839 Fort Vancouver Censuses of Indian Population. J. NW Anthropology Vol. 46, No. 1, 2013 and Oregon Historical Society: M114, 1/6 Diaries (typescript transcriptions), 1856

A “Susan Tomolcha” Appears On A Grand Ronde Roll Or Record

The 1872 census is a roll or record (Lewis testimony;

Deloe record)

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1872 census is a roll or record (Lewis, Deloe)

testimony)

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Chief Tahona Tum-walth of the Wah-lal-la band of Tumwater’s (Cascade Indians). Born approximately 1820, died March 1856. Left behind four wives and many children. Chief Tahona Tum-walth is also known as Chief Tumalth, Tomulth, Tomalsch, Tomalth, Tomalgh, Tumalt, Tomalch, Tumulth, Tum-walth, Tumath, Tomult, or Tomolch and so forth.

Alternate Spellings of Indian Names Were Commonplace

Various Spellings of Sangretta • Joseph Sanegertta (Treaty with the Kalapuya 1855) • Senegertta (Treaty with the Kalapuya 1855) • Sanagratti (Catholic Records, xi) • Zangrata (Catholic Records P. 5) • Sanagratta (Catholic Records Index 25) • Shangaretta(Living in the Great Circle 320) • Sangaretta (LITGR 401) • Sengaretta (LITGR 401) • Shangratte (LITGR 401, Just a Memorandum) • “shaeyng-GRE-ta” (LITGR 401, Clara Riggs pronunciation) • “Soi-en-gah-rah-ta” (LITGR 401, Donald Haller’s research on

pronunciation) • Shanagarate (LITGC 402, Letters of John McLoughlin) • Shangarata (LITGC 408, Annual Report Commission of Indian Affairs)


testimony)

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Grand Ronde Census Roll 1860 vs 1872?

Dr. Daniel Boxberger Indicates 1872

The Importance of ORAL HISTORY Oral history testimony from David Lewis

• DL - In the present Era, in Anthropology, oral testimony or oral history has

become part of the record both logically and historically. So 20 – 30 years ago oral histories we reconsidered folklore in anthropology.

• AB - Is it accurate to say oral testimony can be used as evidence in history?

• DL - Yes, Evidence in history, anthropology, all kinds of evidence. • AB - For evidence in lineage? • ET - It can be a component of history. • AB - It gets used in your work? • DL - I use it all the time. • AB - Do you find it at times to be reliable? • DL - At times. • AB - It can be as reliable as any other evidence? • DL - My opinion of oral history in terms of my work is it’s more reliable

than written.

Our Family Historian

Aunt Ida Altringer as Elder Grand Marshal of the Powwow

Family history prior to the 1983 CTGR restoration supports Tumulth’s first wife as being “Susan Tomolcha” Ida Altringer Letter, December 20, 1982 (written 4 years before her enrollment in the CTGR)

Oral History

Mary and Susan’s graves

Mary Will-WY-I-TY October 1854 – December 1906

(aka: Indian Mary, Kalliah, Mary Stouquin)

“Youngest Daughter of Chief Tomalch” “Of the Cascade Indian Tribe”

Skamania County Cemetery Records Support “Susan Tomolcha” was the 1st wife of Chief Tumulth and Mother of Indian Mary

Daphne Hahn Ramsay • The County Clerk in Skamania County (died

1984)

• She transcribed a collection called ‘The Cemetery Records of Skamania County’

• This is a non-circulating book kept in the Washington State Library in Olympia.

• Cemetery in question for our family is the Pioneer – Cascade Cemetery.

Skamania County Cemetery Records support “Susan Tomolcha” was the 1st wife of Chief Tumulth and Mother of Indian Mary

Official Cascade Cemetery Record - Ramsay

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This proves Tomalch had a wife named Susan. 20



This proves (1) the family used “Tomalch” as a last name and (2) Mary was the daughter of Susan, Tomalch’s wife. 21


This proves that the names Tumalth and Tomalch and Tomolcha are interchangeable. 22



Henry Zenk • “In view of these considerations, I believe that the linguistic

evidence is in line with other evidence that the following historical recorded spellings are for the Chinookan name Tamalh:

Tumalth, Tomulch, Tomalsch, Tomalth, Tumalt, Tomalch, Tumulth, Tum-walth, Tumath, Tomult”

• “The spelling “Tomolcha”, appearing on a Grand Ronde

census taken ca. 1872, obeys the pattern outlined above, except for showing as extra syllable in the terminal “a”. ……… historical spellings of Indian names are notoriously rife with errors, and I would not consider a slight spelling variation significant in itself.”

Linguistic Experts and Historians Support “Susan Tomolcha” was the 1st wife of Chief Tumulth and Mother of Indian Mary

Tony Johnson • “It is my opinion that there is no significant

difference between “Tomalch,” “Tomolch,” and “Tomolcha”.

• “Without evidence to the contrary, it is my professional opinion that the ‘Susan Tomolcha’ on the 1872 GRIC and the ‘Susan Tomolch’ referred to in the statement: “1st wife of Chief Tomalch was Susan- had four wives” should be considered one and the same”.



testimony)

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Greg Archuleta

• It would have been very usual custom for Tumulth’s wife (Susan) to be cared for and living with Joe Apperson following his death. It was the native custom and similar instances are documented many times on the Grand Ronde Reservation.


Burial Record For Susan Tomalch


This proves (1) the family used “Tomalch” as a last name and (2) Mary was the daughter of Susan, Tomalch’s wife. 30


A CORRECTED DEED FOR SUSAN

• Attached as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of a corrected Cemetery No. 1 record, more specifically a deed for the burial plot at the Cascade Pioneer Cemetery for the mother of Mary Will-wy-i-ty. Mary Will-wy-i-ty, also commonly known as “Indian Mary,” had the maiden name of Tomalch, based on the graves of her immediate family. This correction remedies the use of Will-wy-i-ty in connection with Susan, who’s [sic] last name was Tomalch based on the graves of her immediate family located near by. The corrections set forth in that burial record were mandated by the Cemetery District Board… The corrections represent the official action of Skamania County Cemetery District No. 1, a Washington State government body

• There is no evidence whatsoever that either the Enrollment Committee or the Enrollment Department have given in showing that Susan Tomolcha—who undeniably appears on a roll of Grand Ronde members—is NOT mother of Mary, and the lineal ancestor of the 66 of us that stand here today.

• No other family claims Susan Tomolcha.

• Mary Will-Wy-Ity—the common lineal ancestor of the 66 members of my family facing disenrollment before the Tribal Council presently—was the daughter of Chief Tumulth.

• Chief Tumulth’s name was adopted as a surname by many of his family members, and has over a dozen different spellings.

• Susan Tomolcha appears on the 1872 census of Grand Ronde Indians prepared by the Department of the Interior.

• Susan Tomolcha/Tomalch/Tumulth was one of Chief Tumulth’s four wives.

• We have state government cemetery records that prove that Susan Tomolcha/Tomalch/Tumulth was Mary Will-Wy-Ity’s mother.

• For the 66 of us, this proves lineal descent a from a person who appears on a roll or record of Grand Ronde membership as prepared under the DOI prior to the effective date of our Constitution.

“Indian Mary” “ Kalliah” “Mary Will-wy-i-ty”

Susan Tomolcha: Mother of Mary - WordPress.com · 2016-03-07 · • ^Soi-en-gah-rah-ta (LITGR 4,...

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