This document is a communication from the acting commissioner of Indian Affairs that details the rolls of certain Indian Tribes in Oregon and Washington, specifically in reference to a Treaty made in August 1851 between the Lower Chinook tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was never ratified, and never went into effect. This particular statement, No. 8, is given by Adeline (Pellard) James of Bay Center, a 44-year-old member of the Lower Chinook, to Charles E. McChesney, supervisor of Indian schools, in 1906. In his sworn statement, Adeline provides an account of her Lower Chinook ancestry, mentioning those who were alive during the 1851 treaty, including their descendants and their fates.
Statement No. 8
State of Washington, Pacific County, ss:
Mrs. Adeline James, being duly sworn, deposes and says she lives at Bay Center, Wash., and is 44 years of age, and that her maiden name was Adeline Pellard.
My father was a white man who is dead. My mother was Ellen Pellard, deceased, who was a daughter of Cahlast, a Lower Chinook Indian woman, alive in 1851, but has died since. She was a sister of Selahwish, deceased, a Lower Chinook woman, who was also alive in 1851 when the treaty of that year was made, and that Ellen Pellard, deceased, at the time of her death was the sole heir of Selahwish, deceased, and Cahlast, deceased, both Lower Chinook Indians. My mother left surviving her as sole heirs myself and my brother, Alex. Pellard, about 37 years old, and he lives at Altoona, Wash., and my half brother, named Henry Pierce, of whom I have not heard for six or seven years, and whose whereabouts I do not know and do not know whether he is alive or dead.
Mrs. Adeline (Pellard) James (her x mark).
Sworn and subscribed to before me at Bay Center, Wash., this 1st day of January, 1906.
Chas. E. McChesney, Supervisor of Indian Schools.
