Princess Angeline

Princess Angeline
Princess Angeline in an 1896 photogravure by Edward Sheriff Curtis
Born	c. 1820 Rainier Beach, Seattle
Died	May 31, 1896 Seattle, WA
Nationality	American
Known for	Basket Weaving

Princess Angeline (c. 1820 – May 31, 1896), also known in Lushootseed as Kikisoblu, Kick-is-om-lo, or Wewick, was the eldest daughter of Chief Seattle.

She was born around 1820 to Chief Seattle in what is now Rainier Beach in Seattle, Washington. She was named Angeline by Catherine Broshears Maynard, the second wife of Doc Maynard. The 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott required that all Duwamish Indians leave their land for reservations, but Angeline remained in Seattle in a waterfront cabin on Western Avenue between Pike and Pine Streets, near what is now Pike Place Market. She did laundry and sold handwoven baskets. Like her father, Princess Angeline became a Christian and remained in the Roman Catholic Church until her death on May 31, 1896. She was buried in Lake View Cemetery on Capitol Hill.

The Chronicle of Holy Names Academy reported:

May 29, 1896. With the death of Angeline Seattle died the last of the direct descendants of the great Chief Seattle for whom this city was named. Angeline—Princess Angeline—as she was generally called, was famous all over the world… Angeline was a familiar figure of the streets, bent and wrinkled, a red handkerchief over her head, a shawl about her, walking slowly and painfully with the aid of a cane; it was no infrequent sight to see this poor old Indian woman seated on the sidewalk devoutly reciting her beads. The kindness and generosity of Seattle’s people toward the daughter of the chief… was shown in her funeral obsequies which took place from the Church of Our Lady of Good Help. The church was magnificently decorated; on the somber draped catafalque in a casket in the form of a canoe rested all that was mortal of Princess Angeline.