Descendants of the San Juan Island's Mitchell Bay Tribe have lived and fished on the northwestern part of San Juan Island for generations, and have ties to many of the Northern Coast Salish peoples, including the Saanach and Songee tribes of Southeastern Vancouver Island and the Lummi and Samish peoples of northwestern Washington. Not officially recognized by name in a U.S. treaty, they lost much of their land when European American settlers moved to the islands in the late nineteenth century. In 1957 Mitchell Bay Tribe descendants sued the government for recognition as the San Juan Island Indians. While the 1962 decision acknowledged a band existed, the finding claimed that they were part of the Lummi and Samish tribes and covered under their treaties.

Caroline Mills (1908-2004), known as Toots, was a Mitchell Bay descendant who lived on Stuart Island. In this photo taken for a 2002 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article, she describes how her mother taught her to live off the land by smoking salmon and picking berries.

Caption information source: "Hanging on to Their Heritage - and Existence - Tribes Fight to Keep Native Culture Alive," by Paul Shukovsky, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 13, 2002.
Caption information source: "Mitchell Bay Tribe Descendants (San Juan Island) and Their Struggle for Lost Treaty Rights," by Lynn Weber/Roochvarg, HistoryLink.org Essay 21075.