The Cusick, WA Siwash Indians baseball team!

Not these guys (the 1908 Seattle Siwashes, previously known as the Chinooks!) (image credit: sportspressnw)

There was a baseball team in northeastern Washington state’s post-frontier era named the Siwash Indians.

Locals in a backwater area such as this (sorry!) would’ve still known enough Chinook Jargon to recognize the meaning, even without the redundant “Indians”.

— from the Newport (WA) Miner of July 9, 1908, page 4, column 1

So, were the players Kalispel tribal folks?

Quoting a rather solid Wikipedia article: “Cusick (Salish: čmq̓ʷoqnú) is a town in Pend Oreille County…[and] is the headquarters of the federally recognized Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel Reservation.”

The following clipping seems indicative:

…Cusick had a Siwash Indian catcher and a large number of dusky braves, squaws and papooses from across the river watched the game…

— from the Newport (WA) Miner of June 11, 1908, page 1, column 6

People did call the Kalispels Siwashes, so it would seem nearly certain that the Cusick team was named for the local tribe.

What do you think?