siastenu (1857-1958), also named Ruth Sehome Shelton, was born in 1857 on Guemes Island, in one of the last remaining Samish longhouses. She was descended from the Dungeness Klallam, the Lummi, and the Samish peoples. siastenu spread the oral histories of the Coast Salish peoples and carried knowledge of that history into the 20th century. In 1889, siastenu married Wheakadim or Whah-kay-dub (also named William Shelton), who was a leader of the Snohomish people.

This image shows siastenu and Ed Dalby at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer office on November 16, 1940. siastenu visited the newspaper to deliver a forecast of a cold and harsh winter ahead. While at the PI, she had a conversation in Chinook Jargon with Dalby, the newspaper’s marine editor. Chinook Jargon was a trade language derived from several different Indigenous languages, as well as English and French. siastenu noted that few white people at that time knew Chinook Jargon and complimented Dalby on his grasp of the language.

Caption information source: “siastenu Ruth Shelton,” Tulalip Lushootseed, retrieved from https://tulaliplushootseed.com/dx%CA%B7s%C9%99hubtx%CA%B7-story-tellers/ruth-siast%C9%99nu-shelton/
Caption information source: "'Klonas mika wasa Chinook?' and chief's widow knows the answers," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nov. 17, 1940, page 24