“The Treaty Council That Failed”: Time, Eventfulness, and the Afterlives of Settler Colonial Failure

Abstract The so-called “Stevens Treaties” are a foundational component of Pacific Northwest History and the history of U.S. colonization of the West. Between 1854 and 1855, these treaties transferred over 100,000 square miles of Indigenous lands in what is now Washington State into the hands of the federal government. But one of these treaties, the 1855 Chehalis River Treaty council in the southwest corner of the state, ended in failure. Drawing on recent work in environmental history and queer theory that considers the historical importance of failure, this article argues that historical failures—in this case the history of a failed treaty—can help illuminate not only the fragility, but also tenacity of settler colonial power. Additionally, by understanding what led to the failed treaty, as well as the material outcomes and narrative uses of the treaty council throughout time, we can better understand the dynamics of settler colonialism and Indigenous persistence in diverse Indigenous homelands both historically and into the present.