From the late 1860s to the early 1890s, hop farming was an important activity in the valleys of the Puget Sound region, including Puyallup, White River, and Snoqualmie. Indigenous workers came from throughout the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Alaska (but especially from regional tribes like the Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Muckleshoot, Duwamish, Sammamish, Lummi, and Nisqually) as a seasonal labor force to harvest these crops in late summer and early autumn.

This image shows a group of Indigenous men at work picking hops. Two men in the foreground are picking hop flowers from one of the plants and gathering them in open top wooden boxes. Rows of hop plants are visible behind the group.

Caption information source: “Indigenous Hop Pickers in Western Washington” by Hans Zeiger, HistoryLink.org Essay 21295.