All land in what is now Washington State was occupied by Native American or Indian peoples before Europeans began to explore and settle in the region.

Who were these Native people and how did they use the natural resources?

Read Tribal Homelands and be sure to look at the digital maps representing how Native American territories changed over time.

Your assignment: Use this Nisqually timeline organizer. As you read, note the dates of significant events on it; this will help make your project easier later.

Your assignment: You can begin now to take notes on the sources or causes of conflict in this region. Use the Causes of Conflict Graphic Organizer to organize your notes.

Click at right to read "Relationship to the Mountain." Underline the most important concepts illustrating the traditional Nisqually relationship with the mountainous portion of the watershed.

Let's continue.

What happened to the Nisqually people once British and American settlers arrived? Read a short biography of "Chief Leschi" here.

Now that you have done some background reading, let's begin analyzing some primary historical materials, mainly from the Washington State Historical Society's collection.

Click into the primary source web gallery, at left, and ask yourself:

How are each of these artifacts and historic photos significant to understanding how Nisqually people felt about and used the natural environment?

Reminder about your assignment: Don't forget to use both your Nisqually timeline and your graphic organizer to note details about Nisqually lifeways that are revealed by these primary sources.

You are going to add another layer to your understanding of how the Nisqually watershed has been used by different groups of people. Let's look at how British fur traders and American settlers were using natural resources in the 1800s.

You might be surprised to know that British fur traders and American settlers engaged in a "Cattle Battle." Read about this conflict here.

Reminder about your assignment: Since you are now reading about different groups of people, be sure to use your Causes of Conflict Graphic Organizer to note the sources of conflict over natural resources, such as pastureland. You may find that you want to take notes on an additional copy of this organizer.

Now let's look at this image of the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Nisqually...

What do you see? What kinds of animals?
What kinds of man-made structures do you see?
Which ecological zone might you be looking at here (woodland, shoreline, plain)?
How is it being used?
How is this use of the Nisqually watershed similar to or different from uses you have learned about thus far?

Pull out your Causes of Conflict Graphic Organizer and continue noting some of the factors that led to conflict. What natural resources have been a source of conflict thus far in your research?

Reminder about your assignment: Continue to add to your timeline organizer because we are going to move to the 20th century and more contemporary watershed issues.

Now we are returning to the concept of watershed and fast forwarding to the early 20th century. We are going to look at how two forms of technology affected the salmon population.

Read "Iron Chink."

Answer the questions: What is an "iron chink"? How did its invention impact the salmon population?

What do you already know about the impact of building dams upon the salmon population? Why is there such interest in building these dams? What have been the consequences? Map of Nisqually River dams

Reminder: Modify your timeline and Causes of Conflict graphic organizer to include reading from this section.

Listen to another historical source - Native American oral history. In "Remembering Medicine Creek" Nisqually elder, Billy Frank, Jr., tells about Nisqually fishing traditions and the "fishing wars" of the late 1960s and 1970s.

Lastly, let's look at what people are doing today to try and recover some of the natural resources of the Nisqually River watershed.

Look at a web gallery of photos from a Salmon Carcass Toss.

Read "Salmon Restoration"...

...and the excerpt from the book "Frank's Landing."

Answer the question: What are tribal and non-tribal groups doing today to address the impacts on the watershed?

You now have a much better understanding of some of the past conflicts over the Nisqually River watershed's resource. These historic events have not only shaped the landscape but they continue to shape current events.