Mt. Baker Highway: History - Nooksack Tribe

Five thousand years before pioneers came to the Nooksack River valley, the Nooksack Indians were plunging
shallow root nets into the river to catch Chinook, Coho and Chum salmon. They
paddled the currents in shovel-nosed canoes fashioned from Western Red Cedar.

About 450 Nooksack Indians lived in the valley in 27 villages on the shores of the Nooksack. The largest
settlements were near present-day Lynden (Squ-ha-lisb), Everson (Pop-a-homy)
and (Kisk-a-well) where the river forks (Mile 14). Early Nooksack dug pit
dwellings 4-12 feet deep over which they erected a bark tepee. Later
generations built plank longhouses.

During spring and fall fish runs, 10 to 12 families would share a smokehouse on the riverbank next to
fishtraps. They’d catch, clean and dry thousands of salmon a day. Phoebe
Judson, founder of Lynden, wrote that the Nooksack believed “the spirit of
the fish dwells in its backbone and returns to the salt water to lure other
salmon to their traps.”

They hunted mountain goat for meat and pelts, and gathered berries (buckle-, blue- and saial) in alpine
meadows. However, they mostly ate fish, roots, and ferns such as balbet and
fiddle- head. The tribe is believed to be named for noot-sa-ack, the bracken
ferns that were a dietary staple. The Nooksacks also grew sbugmack (wild carrots)
and were the first Indians in the region to cultivate white potatoes, which
they had obtained from Hudson Bay Company trappers in British Columbia.

Their primary trade partners were the Sumas,
Chilliwack and Matsqua tribes in B.C. To a lesser extent, they traded with
coastal Lummis and Semiahmoos, and the Skagit Valley tribes.