Woman finds her tribal heritage

Kathie Zetterberg's upbringing in North Seattle's Haller Lake neighborhood provided scant connection to the culture of the Duwamish Indians whose longhouses once dotted what is now the city's downtown.

But last week, Zetterberg, who describes her ancestry as seven-eighths Welsh and German, headed to West Seattle for the dedication of a story pole recounting Duwamish history -- a past that Zetterberg has come to learn includes her own family's heritage as well.

While many around her dressed in traditional Duwamish vests and headbands woven from the inner bark of cedar trees, Zetterberg, 57, wore a plain white blouse and skirt to the dedication. But she is no less a member of the tribe, even if a recent one.

How she connected with the Duwamish begins with an intriguing story told to her as a child: that her great-grandmother, Julia, was the daughter of one of Seattle's most prominent white settlers, Henry Yesler, and an Indian woman.

"I'd always heard there was Native American blood in my family," Zetterberg said at her home in Federal Way.

In one version of the tale, Julia's mother was Princess Angeline, the daughter of the Duwamish Chief Seattle (or Sealth), who gave his name to the city. In another, Julia's mother was the daughter of Chief Curly (Su-quardle), head of the Duwamish village on the land now filled by skyscrapers.

Zetterberg, a graphic artist in Seattle, said she never thought much about the stories. But when she read articles about the city's past in 2001, the 150th anniversary of the landing of the first white pioneers at Alki, she found no mention of Yesler's relationship with a Native American woman -- or of Julia.

"I just thought she should be part of the history," she said.

But no official record shows Yesler fathering a child with an Indian. So Zetterberg began looking for proof, surfing genealogical sites on the Internet, visiting the library, researching death certificates.

Her biggest discovery: Julia's obituaries from 1907 in the Seattle P-I and The Seattle Daily Times. Both identified her as Yesler's daughter.

But who was the mother? Zetterberg turned for help to HistoryLink.org, the online, unofficial Washington state historical site.

HistoryLink.org deputy director David Wilma isn't surprised the early chronicles don't mention any liaison between Yesler and an Indian woman.

"The guys writing these histories were from a pretty Victorian and straight-laced time, where people would not have acknowledged unsanctioned marriages," Wilma said. "For those who wanted to portray this positive image of Yesler, it would have been something they would have purposefully forgot."

Yesler had left his wife and invalid son in Ohio and traveled to Seattle in the early 1850s, building a sawmill at what's now Yesler Way and Western Avenue, near Chief Curly's village. Although there are no records of Julia's birth in 1855, Wilma believes there's convincing evidence that Yesler had a daughter, Julia, with Curly's daughter, Susan.

The newspaper obituaries listed Hannah (Benson) Behrens as Julia's half-sister. Hannah's 1917 death certificate said her father was Jeremiah Benson, a cook at Yesler's mill. Her mother -- who also would have been Julia's mother -- is recorded as "Susan Curlay." That fits with Zetterberg's family tale that Julia's mother was the daughter of Chief Curly, Wilma said.

And Indian records confirmed that Zetterberg was part Duwamish: The name of her father, William Price, appears on a 1927 tribal roll.

Once Yesler's wife, Sarah, joined him in Seattle in 1858 after the death of their son, family lore says he sent his Indian "wife" to live with Jeremiah Benson, Zetterberg said. An 1870 census includes Julia in the Benson household.

But an 1871 census records Julia Benson, a "half-breed" house servant, living with H.L. and S.B Yesler.

"Seeing her listed in the census as Yesler's house servant was startling," Zetterberg said. "As far as I could see, he was caring for her, without having to reveal anything."

Yesler "was what we'd consider a lefty," Wilma said. "He was a capitalist and cheap in his spending, but he and his wife were freethinkers. I think he brought her (Julia) into his home because he felt a sense of responsibility."

Julia married Charles Intermela in 1890. The couple settled in Port Townsend, where Charles served as sheriff and later as city treasurer. Julia moved comfortably in Port Townsend society, Zetterberg said, and was elected president of the Women's Relief Corp. The couple raised a daughter, Elsia -- Zetterberg's grandmother -- and a son, Charles II.

Julia died at age 52. Among the heirlooms she left is a piano that now stands in the corner of Zetterberg's living room, in the house Zetterberg shares with her husband, Carl.

Zetterberg's research has brought her full circle. Last summer, at a simple ceremony that included a performance by Duwamish dancers, she was welcomed into the Duwamish Tribe. Since then, she said, she's begun attending tribal celebrations and learning Duwamish customs.

And the wish that originally animated her journey into the past is coming true.

In October, the Museum of History and Industry plans an exhibit called "Essential Seattle." Featured will be the only known picture of Julia, no longer overlooked.

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