William Shelton (1868-1938)

William Shelton, 1913
(Photo: J.A. Juleen, Everett Public Library)

During my research into the history and culture of the Tulalip Tribes, I kept coming across a name I'd never heard before in connection to Everett's history: William Shelton (1868-1938). So I started to take a closer look at Shelton, and as I learned more about him and read his writings, I really came to admire him. He plays a major role in the preservation the region's Native culture, and did everything he could to create a bridge between his people and an unfamiliar white culture.

During the early 1900s, at the height of the U.S. Government/Indian Agency effort to "kill the Indian, save the man" (via cultural assimilation into white American culture and the systematic destruction of Native language and culture) at the Tulalip Indian Boarding School, Shelton was going to great lengths to preserve a way of life and bring a greater understanding and appreciation of that way to those outside of the reservation.

From historylink.org:

"William Shelton (1868-1938), cultural leader of the Tulalip Tribes, spent much of his life attempting to bridge the divide between regional Indians and whites through traditional storytelling and art. Shelton gained an understanding of his own native culture through family teachings and by learning from many of his tribal elders. He also was adept at working with Bureau of Indian Affairs and city government officials, gaining their respect and support. Shelton spent years mastering the art of wood carving in order to create story poles through which he shared many of his tribes’ cultural teachings. To accompany one of his carved poles, Shelton wrote a booklet published in 1913 titled Indian Totem Legends which told the stories of the pole’s carved figures. The booklet also carried the author’s autobiography. On January 2, 1914, a longer version of this same piece was published in The Everett Daily Herald."

As far as I can tell, a major newspaper printing the autobiography of a local Indian was pretty unheard of at the time. Shelton was seen as a leader by both the Tulalip and the citizens of Everett.

The Herald published these comments along with Shelton's story:

"The following interview with William Shelton, a full-blooded Indian of the Tulalip Reservation, is remarkable . . . seldom has an Indian talked so freely of himself and his tribe and of the white race. The interview is interesting in its reference to the early practices of Indian fathers to make their sons strong and courageous. William Shelton, carver of the wonderful double totem pole at Tulalip, also originator of the plan that resulted in the totem's creation, is a remarkable red man and a valuable attache of Tulalip Reservation. There is nothing in the way of an assignment that he is unable to fulfill. He has been tested many times along various lines. Here is Shelton's story."

(Shelton's story can be found in his book Indian Totem Legends of the Northwest Country and The Story of the Totem Pole, available at the Everett Public Library, as well as at the Shelton link above. Herald quote found in Indian Totem Legends)

Shelton understood that education was the key to stopping cultural genocide. Although there was no way he could stop the white culture's domination of the area, he did succeed in recording pieces of Native culture, and presenting them to the mainstream community. He was able to give the Tulalips a voice in a time when they were afforded none, and to bring some of their discourses back to Everett.

Shelton is, without a doubt, a key figure in Everett and Tulalip history ... a bit of an unsung hero. I'd like to see him honored more. In any case, he serves as role-model to me in his belief that histories and discourses are valuable, and that multitude of diverse voices need to be heard within the region.