Editing Chief Seattle (section)

=== Youth ===
Seattle was born between 1780 and 1786 to Schweabe, a Suquamish leader from {{Langx|lut|dxʷsəq̓ʷəb|label=none}}, the main Suquamish village on [[Agate Pass]],<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Buerge |first=David M. |title=Chief Seattle and Chief Joseph: From Indians to Icons |url=https://content.lib.washington.edu/aipnw/buerge2.html |access-date=2024-03-17 |work=[[University of Washington]] |quote=}}</ref>{{Sfn|Waterman|2001|p=48-49, 199}} and Sholeetsa,{{Efn|also spelled Sholitza}} a Duwamish woman.<ref name="Duwamish">{{cite web |title=Chief Si'ahl |url=https://www.duwamishtribe.org/chief-siahl |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=[[Duwamish Tribe]]}}{{Self-published source|date=June 2024}}</ref><ref name="Suquamish">{{Cite web |date= |title=Chief Seattle |url=https://suquamish.nsn.us/home/about-us/chief-seattle/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201133926/https://suquamish.nsn.us/home/about-us/chief-seattle/ |archive-date=2017-02-01 |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=Suquamish Tribe}}{{Self-published source|date=June 2024}}</ref> By some accounts, his mother was born into slavery, while in others, she was a high-born noblewoman.{{Sfn|Cummings|2020|p=17-18}} His exact birthplace is also disputed. According to some historians, as well as the tradition of the [[Suquamish Tribe]], Seattle was born on [[Blake Island]] ({{Langx|lut|tatču|links=no}}),{{Sfn|Waterman|2001|p=232}} and his mother was from the village of {{Langx|lut|stəq|label=none}} on the [[White River (Puyallup River)|White River]].{{Efn|Now the [[Green River (Duwamish River tributary)|Green River]]}}<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Suquamish" />{{Sfn|Cummings|2020|p=17-18}}{{Sfn|Waterman|2001|p=133}} Seattle himself said he was born on Blake Island.<ref name=":0" /> According to the [[Duwamish Tribe]], Seattle was born at his mother's village on the Black River, near what is now the city of [[Kent, Washington]].<ref name="Duwamish" /> According to one of his contemporaries, an American settler named [[Emily Inez Denny]], he was born at the [[Old Man House]] at {{Langx|lut|dxʷsəq̓ʷəb|label=none}}.<ref name="Denny1899">{{Cite book |last=Denny |first=Emily Inez |author-link=Emily Inez Denny |title=Blazing the Way, or, True Stories, Songs, and Sketches of Puget Sound and Other Pioneers |publisher=Rainier Printing Company |year=1899 |location=Seattle |publication-date=1909}}</ref> 

Seattle grew up speaking both the Duwamish and Suquamish dialects of [[Southern Lushootseed]].<ref name="Duwamish" /> Seattle's Suquamish family was a powerful one, and they dominated parts of [[Kitsap Peninsula]], [[Vashon Island]], [[Bainbridge Island]], and Blake Island. Because power and authority in [[Coast Salish]] culture are traditionally not guaranteed through descent, Seattle had to prove his worth to his Coast Salishan society.<ref name="Suquamish" /> 

In 1792, when Seattle was around six years old, he met ''[[HMS Discovery (1789)|HMS Discovery]]'' and ''[[HMS Chatham (1788)|HMS Chatham]]'' under the command of [[George Vancouver]], who had anchored off Restoration Point on Bainbridge Island.<ref name="HistoryLink" />{{Sfn|Cummings|2020|p=19}} Seattle and his family, who were occupying nearby Blake Island gathering food, were visited by a party from the [[Vancouver Expedition|Vancouver expedition]].{{Sfn|Cummings|2020|p=19}} Seattle's father, Schweabe, and uncle, [[Kitsap (Suquamish leader)|Kitsap]], may have been the two "chiefs" that Vancouver invited onto his ship.{{Sfn|Cummings|2020|p=19}} Over several days, Vancouver and the Suquamish (who were soon joined by their Duwamish neighbors) interacted extensively, trading goods and observing each other.{{Sfn|Cummings|2020|p=19}} Seattle often talked about this experience later in his life.{{Sfn|Cummings|2020|p=19}} Seattle would also later visit [[Fort Nisqually]] to trade with the [[Hudson's Bay Company]].<ref name="HistoryLink" /> It is likely that these events taking place in his formative years encouraged his fascination with Europeans and their culture.<ref name="HistoryLink" />{{Sfn|Cummings|2020|p=19}}

At some time during his youth, Seattle participated in a traditional coming-of-age ceremony called a [[vision quest]] ({{Langx|lut|ʔalacut|links=no}}). His nobility was affirmed by the reception of a powerful [[spirit power]], the [[Thunderbird (mythology)|thunderbird]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Suquamish" /> In the traditional religion of the peoples of southern Puget Sound, having a strong spirit power is a symbol of strength, purity, and prestige.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Marian W. |author-link=Marian Smith |title=The Puyallup-Nisqually |publisher=AMS Press |year=1940 |isbn=9780231896849 |location=New York |publication-date=1969 |pages=56–57 |doi=10.7312/smit94070 |lccn=73-82360}}</ref> 

Seattle married into Duwamish families from {{Langx|lut|t̕uʔəlalʔtxʷ|label=none}}, a significant village at the mouth of the Duwamish River, where he took several wives, as expected from a man of his status. He would go on to have several children, the most famous being [[Kikisoblu]], his first child, born to his first wife, Ladalia. She died after the birth of her daughter, but Seattle had three sons and four more daughters through his second wife, Olahl.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Denny1899" />