Cultus Bay

{{Short description|Bay in Island County, Washington, U.S.}}

Cultus Bay ({{Langx|lut|dəgʷasx̌}}){{Efn|Also spelled {{langx|lut|dəgʷadᶻq|label=none}}}}{{Cite book |last=Tweddell |first=Colin E. |title=A Historical and Ethnological Study of the Snohomish Indian People: A Report Specifically Covering Their Aboriginal and Continued Existence, and Their Effective Occupation of a Definable Territory |date=August 1953 |publisher=Garland Publishing |series=Coast Salish and Western Washington Indians |volume=II |location=New York & London |publication-date=1974 |pages=140}}{{cite book |last1=Bates |first1=Dawn |title=Lushootseed Dictionary |last2=Hess |first2=Thom |last3=Hilbert |first3=Vi |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-295-97323-4 |location=Seattle |pages= |oclc=29877333 |author-link3=Vi Hilbert}}{{Cite book |last=Hilbert |first=Vi |title=sdaʔdaʔ gʷəɬ dibəɬ ləšucid ʔacaciɬtalbixʷ - Puget Sound Geography |last2=Miller |first2=Jay |last3=Zahir |first3=Zalmai |publisher=Lushootseed Press |others=Original Manuscript from T.T. Waterman |year=2001 |isbn=979-8750945764 |location= |pages=355 |language=en |author-link=Vi Hilbert}} is a bay in Island County, in the U.S. state of Washington.{{GNIS|1504297}}

The name "Cultus" ({{Langx|chn|kʰəltəs|label=none}} in modern Grande Ronde orthography) means "worthless" in Chinook Jargon.{{Cite book |last=Zenk |first=Henry |url=https://lingpapers.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2018/02/2010_Zenk_Johnson_Hamilton.pdf |title=Chinuk Wawa (Chinook Jargon) etymologies |last2=Johnson |first2=Tony |last3=Hamilton |first3=Sarah Braun |publisher=Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde |location=Oregon |pages=280}}{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OFVOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4e4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6845%2C4107045 | title=Unusual names, odd spellings found in Washington | work=The Spokesman-Review | date=Dec 24, 1977 | accessdate=20 May 2015 | pages=A12}} In Lushootseed, the name is {{Langx|lut|dəgʷasx̌|label=none}} (also spelled {{langx|lut|dəgʷadᶻq|label=none}}). There are multiple possible meanings of {{Langx|lut|dəgʷasx̌|label=none}}. Possible meanings include "inside the basket" or "lots of little crabs."

The {{Langx|lut|dəgʷasx̌abš|label=none}}, a Snohomish subgroup, had their main village on the sand spit on the eastern side of the bay. The village was highly influential and prestigious, and was widely known at the time. The village was composed of a great potlatch house, three longhouses, and two single-family houses. The longhouses and potlatch house each had several families living in it. The potlatch house in the village brought visitors from as far as the Duwamish and Suquamish.{{Sfn|Tweddell|1953|p=154-155}}

Around 1855, a small stone wall was constructed around the village to keep the spit from being washed away.{{Sfn|Tweddell|1953|p=156}} In 1877, most of the residents left to the Tulalip Reservation. The village was abandoned sometime after this, although by 1953, there were still three Snohomish living in the area.{{Sfn|Tweddell|1953|p=154-155}}

The Cultus Bay Estuary has been diked off, minimizing open tidal exchange. A tide-gate and a small culvert allow for a little salt water exchange.{{Cite web|url=https://soundwaterstewards.org/icbw/estuaries/CultusBay.htm|title=Cultus Bay|access-date=2018-05-13|archive-date=2021-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507081101/https://soundwaterstewards.org/icbw/estuaries/CultusBay.htm|url-status=dead}}