Skokomish

[skoh-koh-mish, skuh-]

noun

plural

Skokomishes ,

plural

Skokomish .

1. a member of an Indigenous people of western Washington State.

2. Also called Twana. the Salishan language of the Skokomish.

adjective

1. of or relating to the Skokomish or their language.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Skokomish¹

First recorded in 1850–55; from Skokomish sqwuqwóʔbəš, equivalent to sqwuqwóʔ “river” + -bəš (from earlier -məš ) “people”

Example Sentences

Oral histories and traditions surrounding the beaked hazelnuts abound in the Kalapuya, Skokomish, Nlaka’pamux, and Gitxsan communities of British Columbia.

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About half the waterways where it spawned — spanning the Skokomish River on the canal to the Dungeness River near Sequim — lost their entire runs, according to the University of Washington’s Puget Sound Institute.

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The Skokomish Tribe, descendants of the Twana peoples, called the canal tuwaduq sidaqʷ — the “Twana people’s saltwater,” according to Tom Strong, the tribe’s vice chair and CEO.

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Joseph Pavel, director of the Department of Natural Resources for the Skokomish Indian Tribe, said the unpermitted construction is indicative of “ongoing micro-colonialism of developing and trying to own the landscape.”

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Major rivers empty into it, including the Skokomish, Dosewallips and Big Quilcene.

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