The Alsea are a Native American tribe of Western

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 ...

. They are (since 1856), confederated with other Tribes on the Siletz Reservation, Oregon, and are members 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 ...

. Their origin story says that the Yaquina, Alsea, Yachats, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw people are all one tribe, and speak the same language. Today however, the Yakonan language branch is divided into Alsean and Siuslawan. The Alsean people (Yaquina/Alsea/Yachats) all practiced forehead flattening (by slight pressure applied in baby’s cradleboard) until about 1860. The Alsea signed the 1855 Coast Treaty, agreeing to share their homelands with other Tribes when the Siletz Reservation was to be established, the treaty not being ratified by the U.S. Senate, the appropriations never arrived. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, represented Tillamook, Yaquina, Alsea, Coquille, Tututni, Chetco aboriginal title compensation claims in the 1940s–50s. The lawsuit “Alsea Band of Tillamooks et al vs the United States”. The confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians won that case, and some compensation was received about 1959.

Name

The name "Alsea" comes from ''/alsíiya/'', the name applied to the Alseas by their neighbors, the

Tillamook Tillamook may refer to: Places: * Tillamook County, Oregon, United States * Tillamook, Oregon, a city, the seat of Tillamook County * Tillamook River, United States * Tillamook Bay, a bay in the northwestern part of Oregon * Tillamook Head, a natu ...

and Coos peoples. Kûnis'tûnne, Chastacosta name. Päifan amím, Luckiamute Kalapuya name. Si ni'-te-li tunne, Naltunne name, meaning "flatheads." Tcha yáxo amim, Luckiamute Kalapuya name. Tehayesátlu, Nestucca name.

Geography

The Alsea lived on the western coast of Oregon, around what is now

Alsea Bay Alsea Bay is a body of water near Waldport, Oregon at the mouth of the Alsea River. It is a site for beach angling. It is spanned by the Alsea Bay Bridge and is in Lincoln County, Oregon Lincoln County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. sta ...

at the mouth of the

Alsea River The Alsea River flows from Alsea, an unincorporated community in the coastal mountains of the U.S. state of Oregon, to the Pacific Ocean near the city of Waldport. It begins at the confluence of the North Fork Alsea River and the South Fork Als ...

.
:Villages *Chiink, on the south side of Alsea River. *Kakhtshanwaish, on the north side of Alsea River. *Kalbusht, on the lower course of Alsea River. *Kauhuk, on the south side of Alsea River. *Kaukhwan, on the north side of Alsea River at Beaver Creek. *Khlimkwaish, on the south side of Alsea River. *Khlokhwaiyutslu, on the north side of Alsea River. *Kutauwa, on the north side of Alsea River at its mouth. *Kwamk, on the south side of Alsea River. *Kwulisit, on the south side of Alsea River. *Kyamaisu, on the north side of Alsea River at its mouth. *Panit, on the south side of Alsea River. *Shiuwauk, on the north side of Alsea River. *Skhakhwaiyutslu, on the south side of Alsea River. *Tachuwit, on the north side of Alsea River. *Thlekuhweyuk, on the south side of Alsea River. *Thlekushauk, on the south side of Alsea River.
"Mooney (1928) estimates the number of Indians belonging to the Yakonan stock at 6,000 in 1780. The census of 1910 returned 29 Indians under this name, and that of 1930 only 9 under the entire Yakonan stock."

Culture

The Alsea hunted seals and sea lions, fished for salmon, and gathered camas roots. Like many tribes in the area, they flattened the heads of infants. They placed their dead in canoes on isolated land jutting into estuaries.

Language

Alsea was an Alsean language very closely related to Yaquina. By 1910, it was almost

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

, with fewer than six people having a speaking knowledge of the language.

Religion

Very little is known about Alsea religion. It is thought to be similar to that of the Coos. Alsea shamans promoted good salmon runs and the Alsea appealed to animal spirits and powers in nature for aid.

Arts

The Alsea wore robes of seal skin, wove baskets and made grass raincoats.