Description
The Chelan are an Interior Salish people speaking the Wenatchi dialect, though separate from that tribe. The name derives from the traditional Wenatchi name Tsi-Laan meaning "deep water". The Chelan were historically located at the outlet of Lake Chelan in the U.S. state of Washington, where they spent the winter months. The Chelan Native Americans are thought to have splintered off from the Wenatchi tribe. After the arrival of the horse, Plateau tribes faced more competition from the Plains Indians and Indians from the Great Basin. Intertribal war in the area faded out as alliances were made to fight their common enemies. By the 1860s, smallpox epidemics had virtually ended tribal warfare, due to the drastic decrease in population. From 1840 onward, the US government tried to move all Indians to reservations. The resulting wars between the 1840s to the 1870s were the final push to tame the West.
Language
The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches.
Culture
During the salmon runs, they fished the outlet where the lake meets the river and also moved down to the Wenatshapam Fishery on the Columbia River to fish and trade with other tribes. The Chelan tribe also had several permanent villages in the lower Chelan valley. One at Willow Point, near Manson, had up to 500 occupants. Another on Wapato Point was home to about 100 people. Many groups lived from Field's Point to the First Creek drain into the lake (now a WA State Park), the Watson's Resort, Granite Falls, Sunnybank drainage, Minneapolis Beach, Laferties Landing or Resort, and the area referred to as Lakeside. They were frequently on the move, traveling in and out of the mountains with the seasons, collecting plants, fishing small streams, and hunting game.