The Native American peoples of Oregon are the set of
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
who have inhabited or who still inhabit the area delineated in today's state of
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 ...
in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
region of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. While the state of Oregon currently maintains relations with nine
federally recognized
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
tribal groups
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...
, the state was previously home to a much larger number of
autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
tribal groups, which today either no longer exist or have been absorbed into these larger confederated entities. Six of the nine tribes gained federal recognition in the late 20th century, after undergoing the
termination
Termination may refer to:
Science
*Termination (geomorphology), the period of time of relatively rapid change from cold, glacial conditions to warm interglacial condition
*Termination factor, in genetics, part of the process of transcribing RNA ...
and restoration of their treaty rights starting in the 1950s.
History
Explorers, fur traders, and Indigenous peoples
No Native American group in the state of Oregon maintained a written language prior to the arrival of
European Americans
European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...
, nor for a considerable period thereafter. It is therefore necessary to make use of visitor accounts and the records and press of frequently hostile and poorly comprehending outsiders to reconstruct the story of the region's Indigenous peoples.
The
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
of 1804 to 1806 traversed the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
, which divides today's states of
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 ...
and
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
. Although other European and American sailors had traveled up and down the coast and made some contact with the Indigenous peoples who dwelt there, the Lewis and Clark party marked the first time that white Americans had lived among the Oregon tribes.Carey, p. 47. The party made detailed records about those whom they encountered in their travels, thus providing the first written record of Oregon's Indigenous population.
The Lewis and Clark party spent its time among various tribal groups categorized as Chinook — peoples speaking dialects of the
Chinookan language
The Chinookan languages were a small family of languages spoken in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples. Although the last known native speaker of any Chinookan language died in 2012, the 2009-2013 American Community ...
, which included the
Kathlamet
The Kathlamet people are a tribe of Native American people with a historic homeland along the Columbia River in what is today southwestern Washington state. The Kathlamet people originally spoke the Kathlamet language, a dialect of the Chinookan l ...
Clatsop
The Clatsop is a small tribe of Chinookan-speaking Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. In the early 19th century they inhabited an area of the northwestern coast of present-day Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia R ...
, and Clackamas nations. At the time of their expedition, Lewis and Clark estimated a population of approximately 16,000 for the various Chinook peoples, with other tribes in the Oregon Country pushing the total Indigenous population to perhaps 50,000.
After the departure of the Corps of Discovery, the earliest whites to enter the region were traders in furs, with the pelt of the river-dwelling
beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
particularly desired. A written account by a fur trader was left to posterity by
Ross Cox Ross Cox (1793–1853) was an Irish clerk in the Pacific Fur Company and the North West Company, later writing of his experiences.
Life
Ross Cox was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1793, the son of Samuel Cox and Margaret Thorpe. He emigrated to Amer ...
, who arrived on May 10, 1812, at the newly constructed
Fort Astoria
Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the '' Tonquin'', while another party traveled overland from St. Louis. ...
, located about south of Tongue Point at the mouth of the Columbia. Writing two decades after the fact, Cox recalled tension between the Indigenous population of the region and fur traders related to the attempted and actual theft of supplies by brazen native males, sometimes met with violence on the part of the whites.
Cox recalled the Chinook-speaking people he first encountered outside the fort as physically repugnant:
"They were the most uncouth-looking objects; and not strongly calculated to impress us with a favourable opinion of aboriginal beauty, or the purity of Indian manners. A few of the men were partially covered, but the greater number were unannoyed by vestments of any description. Their eyes were black, piercing, and treacherous; their ears slit up, and ornamented with strings of beads; the cartilage of their nostrils perforate and adorned with pieces of ''hyaquau'' placed horizontally; ... and their bodies besmeared with whale oil, gave them an appearance horribly disgusting. Then the women — Oh ye gods! With the same auricular, olfactory, and craniological peculiarities, they exhibited loose hanging breasts, short dirty teeth, skin saturated with blubber, bandy legs, and a waddling gait; while their only dress consisted of a kind of petticoat, or rather kilt, formed of small strands of cedar bark twisted into cords, and reaching from the waist to the knee."
Despite his physical aversion, Cox and his associates traveled freely to the villages of several tribes that dotted the mouth of the Columbia, noting that "the natives generally received us with friendship and hospitality." Over time, Cox's opinions became more specific, and he came to characterize the Kathlamets as "the most tranquil," the Tillamook as "the most roguish," and the Clatsops as "the most honest." He considered the Chilwitz people's practice of enhancing their conception of beauty by binding the skulls of infants to flatten foreheads to be repellant.
Venturing up the Columbia by canoe for the first time in June 1812, according to Cox's testimony, no problematic contact was made with Native American inhabitants until the party reached the first unnavigable rapids on the Columbia about upriver. Cox found these "incontestably more filthy and ugly" than the coastal tribes and seemed to have been divided into family groups that "seemed quite independent of the other" and not subject to the control of a single chief. Throughout the journey, trading was practiced in which tobacco and "trifling presents" were exchanged for
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
that supplemented the party's provisions.
Forced to carry provisions around rapids again several days later, the party again ran into trouble with the attempted theft of unattended goods, which was met with
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
fire and the wounding of one of the perpetrators.Cox, p. 78. Similar problems and conflicts occurred at portage areas on the return trip in October 1812, including a confrontation with "fifty or sixty Indians, with their war-shirts on, and fully armed," who attempted to stop the returning fur traders, apparently with a view of robbing them. Two bales of goods were stolen, causing hostages to be taken to compel their return.
Further inland, other distinct tribes, armed and riding horses, were met, with the horsemen noted to be "clean" and wearing "handsome leathern shirts and leggings" and possessing "a bold daring manner, which we did not observe with any of the tribes from the sea upwards." Other local tribes, without horses, again showed little compunction about attempted theft. A recent state of war between the horse-mounted and foot-traveling tribes was noted.
Still further upriver, Cox met the
Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to:
* Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named
* Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...
, whom he recalled as "decidedly the most friendly tribe we had seen on the river," bearing "an air of open unsuspecting confidence in their manner" which "at once banished suspicion and ensured our friendship."Cox, p. 83. Cox wrote of the tribe:
"We visited several families in the village; and the moment we entered, the best place was selected for us, and a clean mad spread to sit on; while the inmates, particularly the women and the children, remained at a respectful distance, without manifesting any of the obtrusive curiosity about our arms or clothing, by which we were so much annoyed among the lower tribes. The females, also, were distinguished by a degree of attentive kindness, totally removed from the disgusting familiarity of the kilted ladies below the rapids, and equally free from an affection of prudery; prostitution is unknown among them; and I believe no inducement would tempt them to commit a breach of chastity."
Arrival of the Anglo missionaries
Despite the myriad of tribal entities spread throughout the Oregon Country, their historical occupation and implicit claim to the land was barely noted and not recognized by white Americans in the East. In 1828 New England teacher
Hall Jackson Kelley
Hall Jackson Kelley (February 24, 1790 – January 20, 1874) was an American settler and writer from New England known for his strong advocacy for settlement by the United States of the Oregon Country in the 1820s and 1830s. A native of New Hamps ...
, a leading exponent of white colonization of the Oregon Country, hailed the region as "the most valuable of all the unoccupied parts of the earth" in a memorial to
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
.
Kelley's enthusiasm was shared by others, seeking access to what they perceived as uninhabited land and willing to engage in building new communities on the frontier. European-American colonization of the Oregon Country began in earnest in 1829 with the establishment of
Oregon City
)
, image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845
, image_flag =
, image_seal = Oregon City seal.png
, image_map ...
John McLoughlin
John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver fro ...
, chief factor for the region of
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
.
The newcomers of the 1820s brought with them diseases for which the native populations of the Oregon Country had no immunity. Waves of disease swept Native American communities between 1824 and 1829, with
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
,
measles
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
, and an unknown ailment described at the time as "ague fever" annihilating tens of thousands. It is reckoned by one observer that 80% of the native population died in a single summer, with villages depopulated and the bare remnants of some tribal groups absorbed into others.Carey, p. 48.
On December 11, 1838,
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
Lewis F. Linn
Lewis Fields Linn (November 5, 1796October 3, 1843) was a physician and politician who represented his home state of Missouri in the United States Senate from 1833 to his death.
Early life
Linn was born near Louisville, Kentucky on November 5, 17 ...
of
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
introduced a bill calling for the occupation of the
Oregon Country
Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...
region north of 42 degrees latitude and west of the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
.Bancroft, p. 176. A fort was to be established on the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
and the new entity was to be subject to rule by the military force of the United States and subject to the tax laws thereof. The stage was thereby set for conflict between the American government in Washington, D.C., and the bands of indigenous peoples who had historically inhabited the area so claimed.
Missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
headed by the
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
Jason Lee Jason Lee may refer to:
Entertainment
*Jason Lee (actor) (born 1970), American film and TV actor and former professional skateboarder
*Jason Scott Lee (born 1966), Asian American film actor
* Jaxon Lee (Jason Christopher Lee, born 1968), American v ...
were the advance guard of European-American colonization, with a large "Indian church" established at
The Dalles
The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston ...
in 1839 in an effort to convert members of the Klickitat tribe to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. Lee also set out to build a new settlement at the mouth of the
Umpqua River
The Umpqua River ( ) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west ...
, familial grounds of the Umpqua tribe. Lee and his party traversed the region among a tolerant native population, which, as one early historian noted, was found by the missionaries to be "easily impressed, and apt at imitating the forms of devotion."
Ever since the first arrival of European trappers and traders, the native peoples of the Columbia Basin were swept by epidemics of newly introduced diseases that annihilated a vast percentage of the population.Bancroft, p. 196. Lee's party found that the population in the region that he visited had been reduced to less than 375 people, and believed that the life expectancy of even these survivors was limited. Plans for a new mission in the Umpqua River valley were consequently abandoned.
The Methodists continued to harbor grand designs upon the new territory. A mission-owned
lumber mill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
was established, as was a "manual-labor school," intended to instruct the indigenous population in the ways of domestic industry.Bancroft, p. 201. Following a May 1841 meeting of the territorial Methodist society, a $10,000 building was erected in the vicinity of today's city of Salem on the Chemeketa Plain. The group established there a school for the native population, which was operated for nine months before being abandoned in the spring of 1843 for lack of success.
Additional European-American immigrants began to arrive in this period, with growth centered at Oregon City, which grew from nor more than 3 or 4 buildings to about 30 by the spring of 1843. At the behest of Jason Lee, an Indian Agent was appointed by the federal government to administer its affairs in the Oregon Country.
Elijah White
Dr. Elijah White (1806–1879) was a missionary and agent for the United States government in Oregon Country during the mid-19th century. A trained physician from New York State, he first traveled to Oregon as part of the Methodist Mission in t ...
was appointed to this position early in 1842 by the administration of President
John Tyler
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president dire ...
, who declined to name a governor for the region at that time. White was also given verbal permission to make use of government funds for the necessary expenses associated with his office.
Not long after his arrival at
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of the ...
, the de facto head of the American presence in the Oregon Country found himself tested by worsening relations between white settlers and the various indigenous peoples. Members of the Cayuse tribe burned a mill located at the Waiilatpu religious mission near today's
Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to:
* Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named
* Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...
, while further east the
Nez Perce
The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...
were believed to be on the verge of violence against colonists at
Lapwai
Lapwai is a city in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States, in Nez Perce County, Idaho, Nez Perce County, Idaho. Its population was 1,137 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, and it is the seat of government of the Nez Pe ...
, a place that is today part of the
Idaho Panhandle
The Idaho Panhandle—locally known as North Idaho—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Shosh ...
.Bancroft, p. 268. Rumors swept the region's settlers that the Native American tribes were uniting to launch a coordinated attack aimed at the annihilation of the white community. A heavily armed party of eight, traveling with two interpreters, set out on an expedition to end the perceived threat.
The Americans were joined en route by a representative of British commercial operations in the region so as to present a united front.Bancroft, p. 269. Indian Agent White unilaterally presented a set of laws at a meeting with the Nez Perce addressing the concerns of white settlers and forced them to choose a head chief and sub-chiefs. These officials were to be held collectively responsible for the good conduct of their people, White declared. Similar terms were later forced upon the Cayuse.
Racism and violence
As settlers began to flood into the Oregon Country from points east, they brought with them
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
attitudes about the indigenous peoples of the region. By the end of the 1840s, more than 9,000 American and foreign national settlers occupied the Oregon Territory, exclusive of "the aborigines of the country, half-breeds, and Hawaiians." Some of the more violent members of this white population periodically engaged in acts of violence in attempts to displace and destroy local Native American communities. In 1849 one or more residents of
Linn City Linn City was a community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, that existed from 1843-1861 and was destroyed in the Great Flood of 1862. The former site of Linn City was incorporated into the city of West Linn.
History
Robert Moore founded ...
launched a nighttime
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
attack on a Native American village, destroying the winter provisions of the band.Downing, p. 29.
Nor was property crime the extent of damage inflicted upon the Native American populations. One contemporary settler, the naturalized English expatriate John Beeson, left
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
for Oregon in March 1853, arriving in the Rogue River Valley at the end of September. He remained in Oregon for three years before leaving, repelled by what he saw, returning to the East to write a book about the abuses suffered by the native population at the hands of white settlers. Beeson wrote
"Owing to a scarcity of water during several months of the year, the Miners have no work. Their food, meanwhile, consists principally of fine bread and beef; and they generally use abundance of tobacco and
whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...
. Thus the quality of the food, and the poisons, in connection with a stimulating atmosphere, excite their baser passions; and, in the absence of moral restraint and civil law, they seek indulgence by outrages on the persons of defenseless Indians. I forbear the recital of horrors. Any American father or mother can easily imagine what would be the fate of their daughters if, unprotected and isolated, in valleys and ravines, surrounded by hosts of men of the class and under the circumstances above described. It is no palliation to say, that the females are willing victims; for it is notorious that their fathers and brothers are often shot in order to gain forcible possession. We should realize the magnitude of this wrong, if we consider what execration and punishment we inflict upon another Race for such violations of our own."Beeson, p. 24.
Some white settlers successfully induced the native population to trade women for provisions and armaments. It was to no small extent this trade of flesh for firearms that provided the tribes of Southern Oregon with sufficient means to maintain a resistance during the Rogue River War of 1855–1856.Beeson, p. 25.
Genocidal attitudes were commonplace, including expressed sentiments that every "Indian" should be destroyed from the Pacific Coast to the Rocky Mountains and a vicious witticism that if a white man should encounter a "Buck" Indian and a buck deer at the same time, they should shoot the man and leave the deer to run.
The Rogue River Wars (1855–1856)
The indigenous peoples of
Southern Oregon
Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern Oreg ...
were filled with alarm and terror over the brutality that they faced at the hands of white miners and settlers.Beeson, p. 27. Appeals to white authorities for protection went unheeded.
In the summer of 1855, an anonymous letter signed simply "A Miner" appeared in the ''
Oregon Statesman
The ''Statesman Journal'' is the major daily newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851 as the ''Oregon Statesman'', it later merged with the ''Capital Journal'' to form the current newspaper, the second-oldest in Oreg ...
.''Beeson, p. 28. This letter predicted the eminence of bloody massacres carried out by the "Red Skins" against the white population of Oregon. This claim was picked up by the Sub-Indian Agent for Southern Oregon, who convened a mass meeting in a Willamette Valley town and formally made the call to raise 3,000 troops from the citizenry to do battle with the menace. A war frenzy swept the Oregon Territory, with newspaper opinion up and down the coast, from the
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...
to
Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
, virtually unanimous for war.
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
George Law Curry
George Law Curry (July 2, 1820 – July 28, 1878) was a predominant American political figure and newspaper publisher in the region that eventually became the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he published a newspaper in St. Louis, Miss ...
obliged the popular demand and issued a proclamation declaring war, urging that a volunteer militia take the field immediately. A frenzy of extreme violence followed—native populations were uprooted from their villages, driven through the countryside, and many were killed, including 27 natives killed in October by settlers during a raid on a village.Beeson, p. 29. Native Americans responded by burning of a white homestead and killing 27 settlers in revenge;Rose M. Smith and Barrett Codiec "Guide to the Cayuse, Yakima, and Rogue River Wars Papers, 1847–1858" Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, 2010. this was pointed to by adherents of the campaign that to continue war.
John Beeson later wrote of the Rogue River War which he witnessed:
"During the years of 1855-6, as many as twenty murders were committed by the Indians; and several of them were prosecuted and hung according to law. But no account was kept of murdered Indians; and yet it was a matter of common talk, that they were shot whenever it could be done with safety to the shooter."
The fledgling Oregon press provided propaganda that rationalized the war against Native Americans. One paper opined on November 10, 1855, that
"The Indians are ignorant, abject, and debased by nature, whose minds are as incapable of instruction as their bodies are of labor.... They have nothing in common with Humanity but the form; and God has sent us to destroy them, as he did to the Israelites of old to similar tribes."
The war ended in June 1856, and resulted in 100 Rogue River Indians killed and 94 Soldiers, militia or settlers killed. The Tolowa people and other tribes were moved to reservations after the war.
Dispossession and the reservation system
From 1850 to 1855, the Oregon Donation Land Act entitled white male settlers arriving in present-day Oregon to 320 acres of land apiece, while also legitimizing the land claims made by those who had already arrived and claimed land. The law also applied to "American half-breed Indians" who made claims on the land. The Donation Land Act came into effect before treaties or land cessions were negotiated with Oregon's indigenous peoples, and so allowed white settlers to claim lands already occupied by Native American tribes. Eventually, over 2.5 million acres of land were claimed, and with the influx of settlers came increased conflict and so-called "race wars" between themselves and Oregon's indigenous peoples, such as the Rogue River Wars (as discussed previously).
However, under
agreements Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting of ...
made with England concerning the turnover of the
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Ori ...
to the U.S., the United States had agreed to respect the land rights of indigenous peoples living within the territory. The U.S., therefore, was legally unable to allow settlement in the area without making land cession treaties with tribal groups. To get around the issue, the United States Congress passed the Indian Treaty Act the same year that the Oregon Donation Land Act went into effect, which allowed for the appointment of commissioners who would negotiate land cession treaties with, as well as the possible removal of, Native American tribes.
The decade following the implementation of both acts saw the signing of treaties with indigenous groups throughout the Oregon territory, including the Warm Springs and Wasco tribes (1855), the Siletz (1855), the Cow Creek band (1853), the Umatilla (1855), and the Kalapuya (1855). Several tribes living in the Willamette Valley were originally successful in retaining their rights to the lands they inhabited at the time; however, those treaty agreements were never ratified by the United States, and subsequent
negotiations
Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach the desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement ...
by superintendent
Joel Palmer
General Joel Palmer (October 4, 1810 – June 9, 1881) was an American pioneer of the Oregon Territory in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. He was born in Canada, and spent his early years in New York and Pennsylvania before serving ...
resulted in the confederation of the Willamette Valley tribes and their removal to a reservation.
Many tribes were forcibly removed to reservations, including the
Warm Springs Reservation
The Warm Springs Indian Reservation consists of in north-central Oregon, in the United States, and is governed by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Tribes
Three tribes form the confederation: the Wasco, Tenino (Warm Springs) and P ...
Coast Indian Reservation The Coast Indian Reservation is a former Indian reservation in the U.S. state of Oregon, established in 1855. It was gradually reduced in size and in the 21st century is known as the present-day Siletz Reservation.
History
The Coast Reservation wa ...
. The latter was quickly altered soon after its creation; the reservation lost a significant portion of its original land and was divided into the Grand Ronde and
Siletz
The Siletz (pronounced SIGH-lets) were the southernmost of several divisions of the Tillamook people speaking a distinct dialect; the other dialect-divisions were: ''Salmon River'' on the river of that name, ''Nestucca'' on Little and Nestucca Ri ...
Reservations.
Termination
The Termination Era of the mid-20th century saw the end of federal recognition status for over 100 indigenous tribes, primarily in the western United States. In the 1950s, Oregon tribes rapidly lost their rights to legal jurisdiction and federal recognition, as the United States government brought an end to their responsibilities towards indigenous nations that were previously guaranteed by treaty agreements.
Public Law 280
In 1953, several indigenous nations in Oregon and four other states lost sole legal jurisdiction over their own territories through
Public Law 280
Public Law 280 (, August 15, 1953, codified as , , and ), is a federal law of the United States establishing "a method whereby States may assume jurisdiction over reservation Indians," as stated in '' McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission'' ...
, passed by the U.S. Congress. Under this law, state law enforcement took over the ability to prosecute certain civil and criminal offenses involving tribal members, as well as offenses that took place within a tribe's territory, from tribal governments. The Burns Paiute Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation are all exempt from this law.
Klamath Termination Act
Public Law 587, passed in 1954, terminated the trust relationships between the
Klamath Klamath may refer to:
Ethnic groups
*Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon
**Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon
*Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people
Places in the United States
* ...
tribe, the
Modoc
Modoc may refer to:
Ethnic groups
*Modoc people, a Native American/First Nations people
** Modoc language
**Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe of Modoc
*Modoc War, the last armed resistance of the Modoc people in 1873
*The "Mo ...
tribe, the
Yahooskin
The Klamath people are a Native American tribe of the Plateau culture area in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Today Klamath people are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes:
* Klamath Tribes (Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin (Yahu ...
Band of Snake Indians, and the United States government, and initiated the process of transitioning the supervision of indigenous lands away from the federal government and into private hands.
The Klamath Tribes were terminated in part because the federal government judged them to be ready for self-management and assimilation. At the time, a booming lumber industry on Klamath lands had enriched the local economy, making the Klamath one of the richest indigenous nations. The federal government held that selling off the Klamath's timberlands and distributing the payouts among enrolled Klamath members would help build individual wealth, thereby contributing to the goal of assimilation and independence from federal oversight.
Additionally, in a hearing for the proposed termination act, Orme Lewis, then-Assistant Secretary of the Interior, noted that:
"... the Klamath Tribe and the individual members thereof have in general attained sufficient skill and ability to manage their own affairs without special Federal assistance. Through intermarriage with non-Indians and cooperative work and association with their non-Indian neighbors ... these people have been largely integrated into all phases of the economic and social life of the area. The standard of living of the Klamath Indians compares favorably with that of their non-Indian neighbors. Their dress is modern, and there remains little vestige of religious or other traditional Indian customs. Most of them live in modern homes.... Farms are mechanized with modern machinery ... the Klamath tribe has been considered one of the most advanced Indian groups in the United States, and much consideration has been given to the possibility of terminating Federal supervision...."
As reservation lands were divided up and sold, more than three-quarters of enrolled Klamath tribal members chose to receive the value of their share in cash, while the remainder opted to keep their share of the land in trust. Eventually, however, the land held in trust was also sold, and all tribal members received payments for their shares. The act did, however, stipulate that the Klamath would retain their water and fishing rights as established by treaty; these rights were later upheld in federal court.
Western Oregon Indian Termination Act
Public Law 588, also known as the
Western Oregon Indian Termination Act The Western Oregon Indian Termination Act or Public Law 588, was passed in August 1954 as part of the United States Indian termination policy. It called for the termination of federal supervision over the trust and restricted property of numerous ...
, was passed by the U.S. Congress in the same year as the Klamath Termination Act. The act ended the official recognition by the federal government of sixty tribal bands west of the Cascade mountain range, negating the existing trust relationship via previous treaty agreements, and ending services provided to tribal nations by the federal government. After receiving various options for what to do with their common lands, both tribes chose to sell of some or all of their tribal land holdings. Following this decision, the
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
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 ...
and the
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) consists of twenty-seven Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day western Oregon between the western boundary of th ...
were required to register member rolls with the federal government, which were used to disburse funds from the sales equally among tribal members. Members of the Siletz confederation received $542.50 per person, while members of the Grand Ronde confederation received $35 each.
Restoration
Following the termination of their trust relationships with the federal government, six indigenous tribes successfully engaged in decades of lobbying and Congressional hearings in an effort to regain their lands and have their sovereignty recognized again.
1977: Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
From 1975 to 1976, the Siletz people gave testimonies and sent lobbyists to the U.S. Congress in support of the Siletz Restoration Act. Sponsored by Oregon Senator
Mark Hatfield
Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropr ...
, the Act would restore federal recognition status to the Siletz and grant them "all Federal services and benefits" applicable to recognized tribes. The Act did not, however, restore reservation lands or hunting, fishing, or trapping rights. The Act was approved in 1977 as Public Law 95–195, and the Siletz exist today as the
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
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 ...
. The Siletz were officially granted the rights to 3,063 acres of reservation lands three years later, under Public Law 96-340. In 2016, Public Law No. 114-262 came into effect; the law restored the additional lands that were originally granted to the Siletz as part of the Coast Indian Reservation in 1855, to be held in trust for them by the federal government.
1982: Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
The
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, known to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon is a federally recognized Native American tribal government based in Roseburg, Oregon, United States. The ...
were next to be restored, under Public Law 97–391 in 1982. The Cow Creek Band received federal recognition and services, but there was no restoration or creation of reservation lands. In 2018, the Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act restored over 17 thousand acres of land to the Cow Creek Band, which are now held in trust for them by the U.S. federal government.
1983: Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community
In 1983, the
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) consists of twenty-seven Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundar ...
came together and regained federal status under the Grand Ronde Restoration Act, after engaging in lobbying, fundraising efforts, and testimony before the United States Congress. The Grand Ronde Reservation Act went into effect in 1988, and returned to the Grand Ronde Community 9,811 acres of land that had initially been granted to them within the original
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 2016, the same bill that restored the original reservation lands of the Siletz also enabled the U.S. Department of the Interior to more easily accept land parcels given to the tribes in trust - in other words, making it easier for the Grand Ronde Community to regain their treaty lands.
1984: Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians
The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians were restored to federal recognition and granted reservation lands in 1984 after the passage of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Restoration Act. Under the Act, the state of Oregon retained civil and criminal jurisdiction over tribal members. The Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act, which also restored the lands of the Cow Creek Band in 2018, put over 14,000 acres of land in trust for the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw.
1986: Klamath Tribes
The
Klamath Tribes
The Klamath Tribes, formerly the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon, are a federally recognized Native American Nation consisting of three Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited Southern Oregon and Northern California in the United St ...
, a confederation of the
Klamath Klamath may refer to:
Ethnic groups
*Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon
**Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon
*Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people
Places in the United States
* ...
,
Modoc
Modoc may refer to:
Ethnic groups
*Modoc people, a Native American/First Nations people
** Modoc language
**Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe of Modoc
*Modoc War, the last armed resistance of the Modoc people in 1873
*The "Mo ...
, and
Yahooskin
The Klamath people are a Native American tribe of the Plateau culture area in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Today Klamath people are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes:
* Klamath Tribes (Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin (Yahu ...
peoples, were restored to federal recognition status in 1986 under the Klamath Indian Tribe Restoration Act. While their treaty rights were restored, the Klamath did not regain any of their previous reservation lands.
Native Americans in contemporary Oregon
Federally-recognized tribes in Oregon
Today, Oregon's indigenous peoples have consolidated into nine federally-recognized tribal groupings:
*
Burns Paiute Tribe
The Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in Harney County, Oregon, United States.Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians
The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon are a federally recognized Native American tribe of Hanis Coos, Miluk Coos, Lower Umpqua (or Kuitsh), and Siuslaw people in Oregon.Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) consists of twenty-seven Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundar ...
*
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
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 ...
*
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are the federally recognized confederations of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and ...
*
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is a recognized Native American tribe made of three tribes who put together a confederation. They live on and govern the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Tribes
The confederat ...
*
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, known to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon is a federally recognized Native American tribal government based in Roseburg, Oregon, United States. The ...
*
Coquille Indian Tribe
The Coquille Indian Tribe ( ) is the federally recognized Native American tribe of the Coquille people
who have traditionally lived on the southern Oregon Coast.
History
Pre-contact through the mid-19th century
Beginning in 1847, following th ...
*
Klamath Tribes
The Klamath Tribes, formerly the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon, are a federally recognized Native American Nation consisting of three Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited Southern Oregon and Northern California in the United St ...
Additionally, some of the lands of the Nevada-based
Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe
The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone peoples, whose reservation Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation spans the Nevada ...
are located within present-day Oregon.
Representation in state government
As of 2020, there have been two representatives in the Oregon State Legislature of indigenous descent:
*
Tawna Sanchez
Tawna Dee Sanchez (born August 23, 1961) is an American politician, currently serving as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives. She represents the 43rd district, which covers parts of north-central Portland.
Early life and education
...
, of
Shoshone-Bannock
The Fort Hall Reservation is a Native American reservation of the federally recognized Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (Shoshoni language: Pohoko’ikkateeCrum, B., Crum, E., & Dayley, J. P. (2001). Newe Hupia: Shoshoni Poetry Songs. University Press o ...
,
Ute
Ute or UTE may refer to:
* Ute (band), an Australian jazz group
* Ute (given name)
* ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus
* Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles
* Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along ...
, and Carrizo descent, currently serves in the Oregon House of Representatives, where she has been since 2017.
* Jackie Taylor, of
Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Citizen Potawatomi Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people located in Oklahoma. The Potawatomi are traditionally an Algonquian-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribe. They have 29,155 enrolled tribal members, of whom 10,312 live in ...
, served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1991 - 2000.
Government-to-government relations
Established in 1975, Oregon's Legislative Commission on Indian Services (LCIS) represents the interests of indigenous nations located within the state of Oregon to the state government. The commission is made up of 13 members who are nominated by local tribes and selected by the legislature, and is intended to be a means of communication between state and tribal governments to inform their respective decision-making processes. Oregon was the first state to establish such a commission for its state legislature.Quigley, Karen (2013) "Oregon's Approach to State-Tribal Relations" (PDF). ''Oregon Legislature''. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
In 2001, Oregon's Senate Bill 770 established "government to government" relations between tribal nations and the Oregon State Government. This bill created ORS 182.162-168, which further codified the legal relationships between the state of Oregon and the nine federally-recognized tribes located within the bounds of the state. The "Oregon Approach" was the first such bill passed in the United States, creating a framework for more complex intergovernmental relations while also acknowledging the inherent sovereignty of tribes. As Karen Quigley, then-Executive Director of the LCIS, noted in 2013:
"Tribal sovereign governments- like other governments- means at a minimum that each of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribal governments has a distinctive legal and political status separate from other sovereigns including other tribal governments. Like other governments, each tribal sovereign has the inherent authority to govern its people and see to their health, safety and welfare, decide requirements for citizenship, pass laws & regulations, tax and spend, create infrastructure and provide governmental services to its citizen members. Tribal governments are not "granted sovereignty." ...
hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
are the oldest form of sovereigns in Oregon by thousands of years."
Curriculum in state schools
The state of Oregon's Tribal History/Shared History law was created in 2017 via Senate Bill 13. Under this law, the
Oregon Department of Education
The Department of Education of the U.S. state of Oregon is responsible for implementing the state's public education policies, including academic standards and testing, credentials, and other matters not reserved to the local districts and boar ...
and Oregon's nine federally-recognized tribes will work together to develop curriculum that expands the English, math, social studies, science, and health lessons taught in Oregon's public schools to include the history and culture of the state's indigenous peoples. The curriculum will also be "community-based," meaning that students attending public schools near one of the nine tribes will be given lessons relating to the history and culture of that specific tribe.
Population
Below are numbers for U.S. citizens self-identifying to recognized tribal grouping, according to the 2010 U.S. census American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico 2010 (retrieved 4 November 2019)
See also
*
Alsea people
The Alsea are a Native American tribe of Western Oregon. They are (since 1856), confederated with other Tribes on the Siletz Reservation, Oregon, and are members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz.
Their origin story says that the Yaquina, Als ...
Bannock people
The Bannock tribe were originally Northern Paiute but are more culturally affiliated with the Northern Shoshone. They are in the Great Basin classification of Indigenous People. Their traditional lands include northern Nevada, southeastern Oreg ...
*
Cayuse people
The Cayuse are a Native American tribe in what is now the state of Oregon in the United States. The Cayuse tribe shares a reservation and government in northeastern Oregon with the Umatilla and the Walla Walla tribes as part of the Confed ...
*
Chetco people
The Chetco ( Chetco: chit-dee-ni, chit-dee-ne or Chit-dv-ne' ) are a tribe of Native Americans who originally lived along the lower Chetco River and Winchuck River in Curry County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The name Chetco comes from the word m ...
*
Chinook people
Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE Chinookan peoples have res ...
*
Clackamas people
The Clackamas Indians are a tribe of Native Americans of the U.S. state of Oregon who traditionally lived along the Clackamas River in the Willamette Valley. Lewis and Clark estimated their population at 1800 in 1806. At the time the tribe lived ...
*
Clatsop people
The Clatsop is a small tribe of Chinookan-speaking Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. In the early 19th century they inhabited an area of the northwestern coast of present-day Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia ...
*
Coquille people
The Coquille ( , sometimes spelled Ko-Kwel) are a Native American people who historically lived in the Coquille River watershed and nearby coast south of Coos Bay. They were signatories of the Oregon Coast Tribes Treaty of 1855 and were subseque ...
*
Coos people
Coos people are an indigenous people of the Northwest Plateau, living in Oregon. They live on the southwest Oregon Pacific coast. Today, Coos people are enrolled in the following federally recognized tribes:
* Confederated Tribes of the Coos, ...
*
Kalapuya people
The Kalapuya are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American ethnic group, people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Va ...
*
Klamath people
The Klamath people are a Native American tribe of the Plateau culture area in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Today Klamath people are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes:
* Klamath Tribes (Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin (Yahu ...
*
Klickitat people
The Klickitat (also spelled Klikitat) are a Native American tribe of the Pacific Northwest. Today most Klickitat are enrolled in the federally recognized Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, some are also part of the Confederated ...
Modoc people
The Modoc are a Native American people who originally lived in the area which is now northeastern California and central Southern Oregon. They are currently divided between Oregon and Oklahoma and are enrolled in either of two federally recogni ...
*
Molala people
The Molala (also Molale, Molalla, Molele) are a people of the Plateau culture area in the Oregon Cascades and central Oregon, United States. They are one of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, with 141 of the 882 member ...
*
Multnomah people
The Multnomah are a tribe of Chinookan people who live in the area of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Multnomah villages were located throughout the Portland basin and on both sides of the Columbia River. The Multnomah speak a dialect of ...
*
Northern Paiute people
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
*
Sahaptin people
The Sahaptin are a number of Native American tribes who speak dialects of the Sahaptin language. The Sahaptin tribes inhabited territory along the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Sahaptin-s ...
*
Santiam people
Santiam people are an indigenous people of the Northwest Plateau, living in Oregon. ...
*
Shasta people
The Shastan peoples are a group of linguistically related indigenous peoples from the Klamath Mountains. They traditionally inhabited portions of several regional waterways, including the Klamath, Salmon, Sacramento and McCloud rivers. Shastan ...
*
Siletz people
The Siletz (pronounced SIGH-lets) were the southernmost of several divisions of the Tillamook people speaking a distinct dialect; the other dialect-divisions were: ''Salmon River'' on the river of that name, ''Nestucca'' on Little and Nestucca Ri ...
*
Siuslaw people
Siuslaw is one of the tribes comprising the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and a portion of the off-reservation population forms part of the three Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians located on the southwest Oregon ...
*
Takelma people
The Takelma (also Dagelma) are a Native American people who originally lived in the Rogue Valley of interior southwestern Oregon.
Most of their villages were sited along the Rogue River. The name ''Takelma'' means "(Those) Along the River".
His ...
*
Tenino people
The Tenino people, commonly known today as the Warm Springs bands, are several Sahaptin Native American subtribes which historically occupied territory located in the North-Central portion of the American state of Oregon. The Tenino people includ ...
*
Tillamook people
The Tillamook are a Native American tribe from coastal Oregon of the Salish linguistic group. The name "Tillamook" is a Chinook language term meaning "people of he villageNekelim (or Nehalem)", sometimes it is given as a Coast Salish term, meani ...
*
Tolowa people
The Tolowa people or Taa-laa-wa Dee-ni’ are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethno-linguistic group. Two rancherias (Smith River and Elk Valley) still reside in their traditional territory in northwestern California. Tho ...
*
Tututni people
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 ...
*
Umatilla people
The Umatilla are a Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribe who traditionally inhabited the Columbia Plateau region of the northwestern United States, along the Umatilla and Columbia rivers."Umatilla," in Barbara A. Leitch, ''A Concise Dictionar ...
*
Umpqua people
The Umpqua people are an umbrella group of several distinct tribal entities of Native Americans of the Umpqua Basin in present-day south central Oregon in the United States. The area south of Roseburg is now known as the Umpqua Valley.
At least ...
Burns Paiute Tribe
The Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in Harney County, Oregon, United States.Warm Springs tribes
*
Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians
The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon are a federally recognized Native American tribe of Hanis Coos, Miluk Coos, Lower Umpqua (or Kuitsh), and Siuslaw people in Oregon.Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) consists of twenty-seven Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundar ...
*
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
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 ...
*
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is a recognized Native American tribe made of three tribes who put together a confederation. They live on and govern the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Tribes
The confederat ...
*
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are the federally recognized confederations of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and ...
*
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, known to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon is a federally recognized Native American tribal government based in Roseburg, Oregon, United States. The ...
*
Klamath Tribes
The Klamath Tribes, formerly the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon, are a federally recognized Native American Nation consisting of three Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited Southern Oregon and Northern California in the United St ...
*
Coquille Indian Tribe
The Coquille Indian Tribe ( ) is the federally recognized Native American tribe of the Coquille people
who have traditionally lived on the southern Oregon Coast.
History
Pre-contact through the mid-19th century
Beginning in 1847, following th ...
*
Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs
The Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs was an official position of the U.S. state of Oregon, and previously of the Oregon Territory, that existed from 1848–1873.
Background
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was created in 1824 to regulate ...
*
Alsea language
Alsea or Alsean (also Yakonan) was two closely related speech varieties spoken along the central Oregon coast until the early 1950s. They are sometimes taken to be different languages, but it is difficult to be sure given the poor state of attest ...
*
Coosan languages
The Coosan (also Coos or Kusan) language family consists of two languages spoken along the southern Oregon coast. Both languages are now extinct.
Classification
* Hanis ''†''
* Miluk ''†'' ( Lower Coquille)
Melville Jacobs (1939) says tha ...
*
Chinook languages
The Chinookan languages were a small family of languages spoken in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples. Although the last known native speaker of any Chinookan language died in 2012, the 2009-2013 American Community ...
910
Year 910 ( CMX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
__NOTOC__ Events By place Europe
* June 12 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under ...