Washington Honors Lynched Indian Boy

Beating drums and deep, resonant chants calling for unity and healing echoed in Washington state’s Capitol on Wednesday in remembrance of a 14-year-old Indian boy lynched 122 years ago just across the border in Canada by a Washington Territory mob.

The healing circle in the Rotunda followed the presentation of a resolution on the state Senate floor to one of several grand chiefs of the Sto:lo Nation, the Canadian tribe of the slain boy, Louie Sam.

“Through this resolution, the Senate joins its peers in the government of British Columbia, acknowledging the unfortunate historical injustice to Louie Sam and the proud Sto:lo people,” said Lt. Gov. Brad Owen before handing the resolution to Grand Chief Clarence Pennier. “It is meant to further ensure that such a tragedy will never be forgotten, nor repeated.”

Pennier, who received a standing ovation, thanked the senators for the resolution, which was passed Monday night. The House passed a similar resolution Wednesday.

“On behalf of the Sto:lo ... I want to lift up my hands to you and thank you,” said Pennier, wearing a tribal blanket and a woven cedar headpiece with mountain goat woven braids.

The resolution is not a formal apology from Washington state, which did not become a state for another five years, in 1889.

After the resolution was presented, members of the Sto:lo (pronounced STAH-lo) Nation, as well as members of the Quileute and Makah tribes from Washington state, joined in the healing circle in the Rotunda.

Sto:lo Grand Chief Doug Kelly’s voice boomed off the marble walls as a sonorous chant in his native language called for unity and honored the work by the Legislature.

“Things happen when they are meant to happen,” Kelly said after the ceremony. “What we had a chance to do here is to express a bit of celebration, express prayers, honor songs and welcome songs to one another.”

Sam had been accused of killing a shopkeeper in Nooksack, in what is now Whatcom County, Wash. Owen and others said there was convincing evidence that the boy had nothing to do with the killing and was framed.