The Man the City Is Named For
Seattle is one of the few major American cities named for a Native leader — Chief Si'ahl, a Duwamish and Suquamish headman known for his stature, his oratory, and his uneasy diplomacy with the newcomers.
Si'ahl, whose name settlers wrote as Sealth and then Seattle, was born around 1786 and grew into a leader of both the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples. Contemporaries described a tall, powerfully built man with a voice said to carry across a crowd.
As settlers arrived, he chose engagement over war. He kept ties with early Seattle figures such as the physician David Doc Maynard, and worked to keep the peace even as his people's world was being remade around them.
There is a poignant detail in the record: by some accounts Si'ahl was uneasy that the town had taken his name, holding a belief that his rest would be disturbed each time it was spoken after his death. He was later baptized a Catholic and given the name Noah.
He died in 1866 and was buried across the Sound near Suquamish. The city that bears his anglicized name grew into a metropolis he could never have imagined — carrying his memory, and its debts to his people, into every mention of the word.
Meet the chief today
Find his likeness downtown
A bronze statue of Chief Seattle stands at Tilikum Place, near Fifth and Denny — arm raised, facing the water. Nearby streets and a fountain carry his name into the daily life of the city.
Visit his resting place across the Sound
His grave lies in the tribal cemetery at Suquamish, on the Port Madison Reservation, a short ferry ride from the city. The Suquamish Museum nearby tells the story from his own people's side.
A great city says his name a thousand times a day — the least it owes him is to remember whose name it is.