Colonial Despatches

Seattle is a coastal city on the eastern shores of Puget Sound, Washington State. According to Middleton, the name Seattle refers to a Suquamish chief, who was baptized as “Noah Sealth” by Father Demers.1

The variations on Seattle, such as “See-yat” and “Se-yalt” stem from the European inability to glean the correct pronounciation of, likely, “Sealth”.2 The local name for the area was “Tzee-Tzee-lal-itch”, or “little portage”, in reference to a trail to a nearby lake.3

• 1. Lynn Middleton, Placenames of the Pacific Northwest Coast (Victoria: Elldee Publishing Company, 1969), 185.
• 2. History & Culture, The Suquamish Tribe.
• 3. Middleton, Placenames of the Pacific Northwest Coast, 186.