She Stood up When she Didn't Even Have the "Right" to. And Won.
- Debbie Brannan
- Mar 10
- 2 min read
I recently discovered a story about a woman in my family tree that I had never heard before.
She stood up to the federal government. And WON.
Her name was Anastasia Spithill, a Snohomish woman who lived in Washington in the late 1800s. And she fought a battle decades before women could even vote.
Until recently, I had never heard her story.
But the more I learned, the more I kept thinking…Wow. This woman had grit.
Stay with me here… this is where it gets interesting AND courageous!
Anastasia was the granddaughter of Chief Sadkok (often called Chief Napoleon Bonaparte), a Snohomish leader who signed the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855. That treaty established the Tulalip Reservation in Washington.
Years later, Anastasia and her children were granted allotment land there.
They built a life on that land. But then a federal agent questioned whether she should even have the land (as a woman... as someone who didn't look "native enough")
And then the government tried to take it away and reassigned it to someone else.
And these are the questions that keep running through my head: What does it take to decide you’re going to fight the federal government in the early 1900s… when you are a Native woman who doesn’t even have the right to vote yet?
Because that’s exactly what she did.
She fought back.
Anastasia challenged the decision in federal court for 7 YEARS.
Eventually the court ruled in her favor and restored the land to her and her children. Finally!
I keep thinking about what that must have taken.
Not just determination… but a deep sense that what was happening wasn’t right. And YEARS before it was even legal for women to vote, she put her voice out there and stood for her Own. Damned. Land.
I only learned about Anastasia recently, and it has stayed with me.
It makes me think about how often strength shows up quietly in family stories we don’t always know yet. And how the women in our families have gotten us to where we are today. Did they even consider the ripple of what they were doing? Their courage. Their strength. Facing hard things and injustices.
This Women’s History Month, I’m feeling grateful for Anastasia. I want to learn where her courage came rom and how to strengthen mine. Because apparently, it is in my DNA!
And it serves as a reminder that courage often runs deeper in our roots than we realize.
This Women’s History Month, I’m feeling especially grateful for Anastasia.
Here is some information about "Her Day in Court". And I'd love know what you've learned about the women in YOUR family tree. And what legacy you are leaving for the women that come after you.
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