The Swinomish moved onto reservation lands after the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty in 1855. The Swinomish people speak a dialect of the Salishan Lushootseed language. The lifestyle of the Swinomish, like many Northwest Coast tribes, involved the fishing of salmon and collecting of shellfish.
The Swinomish reservation is a confederation of several distinct tribes of Coast Salish, including the Swinomish, Kikyalus, Lower Skagit, and Samish.