Editorial: Mount St. Helens is part of Cowlitz Tribe's heritage

Obviously, Mount St. Helens was well known around these parts before it became an international star on May 18, 1980. To the Cowlitz Tribe, the mountain long has been known as Lawetlat'la, which means "smoker" in English and which seems appropriate for a monument that has a habit of announcing its presence to the humans in the surrounding area. The mountain is part of the tribe's lore, and it is depicted on the tribe's seal and emblem.

So it is only fitting that Mount St. Helens has been designated as a Traditional Cultural Property on the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing its importance to both the Cowlitz and to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The mountain falls within the land claim the Cowlitz Tribe made during treaty negotiations with the federal government in the 1850s, but numerous traditional tribes in the regioin have fables to describe the creation of Mount St. Helens as well as other mountains in the Cascade Range.