Sahehwamish Indians. Meaning unknown but evidently that of a locality.
Sahehwamish Connections. The Sahehwamish belonged to the Nisqually dialectic group of the coastal division of the Salishan linguistic stock.
Sahehwamish Location. On the innermost inlets of Puget Sound as indicated by the positions of the subdivisions given below.
Sahehwamish Subdivisions
- Elo’sedabsh, on Medicine Creek and the lower reaches of Nisqually River, including a main settlement at the mouth of Nisqually River and Tuda’dab, at the mouth of McAllister or Medicine Creek.
- Sahehwamish or Sahe’wabsh, on Shelton Inlet, including the main settlement of Sahe’wabsh, at Arcadia, and a village opposite the town of Shelton.
- Skwayaithlhabsh, on Mud Bay or Eld Inlet.
- Statca’sabsh, on Budd Inlet, with its principal settlement at Tumwater.
- Tapi’ksdabsh, with its main settlement on Oyster Bay or Totten Inlet below the town of Oyster Bay.
- Tutse’tcakl, on South Bay or Henderson Inlet, between the creek at the head and that on the south.
Sahehwamish Population. The group to which this tribe belonged is estimated by Mooney (1928) to have numbered 1,200 in 1780, and he gives 780 for the year 1907.
