The Shasta Costa (also known as the Chasta Costa, Shastacosta, Chastacosta, Shastao-Skoton, Shista-Kkhwusta or Shistakwasta ), are a Native American tribe, one of Lower Rogue River Athabascan tribes from southwestern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, who originally lived on the Rogue River and its tributaries, or, more precisely, on the " Lower Illinois River and the Rogue River between present-day Agness and Foster Bar." They spoke Shasta Costa dialect of

Tututni The Tututni tribe is a historic Native American tribe, one of Lower Rogue River Athabascan tribes from southwestern Oregon who signed the 1855 Coast Treaty, and were removed to the Siletz Indian Reservation in Oregon. They traditionally lived a ...

(also known as Lower Rogue River Athabaskan) language. They were classified as

Rogue River Indians Rogue River Indians are a conglomeration of many tribal groups in the Rogue River Valley area, belonging to three language families: Athabascan, Takelma and Shastan. Groups The principal tribes grouped under the name Rogue River Indians were: * ...

for the purposes of treaty negotiation. One of their villages, Tlegetlinten, was located near Agness, and was eventually "occupied by Euro-American settlers." The Shasta Costa were "driven from their villages" by miners in the 1850s.

In January 1856, two miners near the junction of the Illinois and Rogue Rivers were killed. It was never known if the miners were killed by the Indians living in the area or if they were killed by other miners in the area. The military sent Lieutenants John Chandler and John Drysdale with seventeen men to the fork of the Illinois and Rogue Rivers to persuade the "Shis-ta-koos-tee" ... band to leave their settlement and move to the coast to avoid further disruptions between miners and Indians. According to Beckham, "When the young lieutenants were not able to induce the peaceful bands to leave their plank houses for the uncertainties of life near the white settlements, the troops fell back to the towns at the mouth of the Rogue River."

Later that winter, a group of Indians surrendered following a battle at the Big Bend of the Rogue, and by June, members of the tribe were sent to the

Siletz Reservation The Siletz Reservation is a 5.852 sq mi (15.157 km²) Indian reservation in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States, owned by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. The reservation is made up of numerous non-contiguous parcels of land in east-centra ...

Grand Ronde Reservation The Grand Ronde Community is an Indian reservation located on several non-contiguous sections of land in southwestern Yamhill County and northwestern Polk County, Oregon, United States, about east of Lincoln City, near the community of Grand Ro ...

. In 1856, there were 153 Shasta Costa and in 1937 there were only 30. The descendants of the Shasta Costa are now a part of the

Confederated Tribes of Siletz The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in the United States is a federally recognized confederation of more than 27 Native American tribes and bands who once inhabited an extensive homeland of more than 20 million acres from northern Califo ...

References

{{authority control Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Native American tribes in Oregon Rogue River (Oregon) Tututni

See also

References