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 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 ...

."About Us."
''Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians.'' 2013. Retrieved 8 Sept 2013.

Lands

The service area of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians include lands a five-county area spanning Coos,

Curry A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in trad ...

, Lincoln,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, and Lane Counties.

Government

The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians are headquartered in

Coos Bay, Oregon Coos Bay ( Coos language: Atsixiis) is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one ent ...

. The tribe is governed by a democratically elected general council, serving four-year terms. The tribal chief serves ten-year terms. The current tribal government leadership is as follows: * Chief: Don "Doc" Slyter * Chair: Debbie Bossley *Vice-Chairman: Mark Petrie * Councilperson: Enna Helms * Councilperson: Iliana Montiel * Councilperson: Doug Barrett * Councilperson: Josh Davies

Languages

Members of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw speak English. Formerly they spoke the Coos language and

Siuslaw language Siuslaw was the language of the Siuslaw people and Lower Umpqua ( Kuitsh) people of Oregon. It is also known as ''Lower Umpqua''. The Siuslaw language had two dialects: Siuslaw proper (Šaayušƛa) and Lower Umpqua (Quuiič). Classification Si ...

(Siuslaw and Kuitsh dialects), which is a

language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The nu ...

. The tribe runs a language program to revive Coos and Siuslaw.

Economic development

The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw owns and operates: * Three Rivers Resort, a Class 3 Facility in Florence, Oregon.
Three Rivers Casino
a Class 2 Facility in the Empire District of

.
Blue Earth Services and Technology

History

The tribes did not have contact with Europeans until 1792. In 1828, Lower Umpqua (Kuitsh) people massacred members of the

Jedediah Smith Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western United States, an ...

Party and attacked the

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 di ...

's fort in 1838.Pritzker 172 Most of their population died in the epidemics which followed European contact.Robert T. Boyd, ''The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence: Introduced Infectious Diseases and Population Decline among Northwest Coast Indians.'' page 132. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1999. https://books.google.com/books?id=jnWMCaFcuM4C&pg=PA132&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false accessed 20 November 2013. In 1860 the remnants of these and other tribes were forced onto 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-centr ...

. The reservation was split into three parts, with one section being opened to non-native settlement and another becoming the Alsea Reservation, which was opened to non-native settlement in 1875.Pritzker 173 The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw formally organized in 1916. They adopted their first constitution in 1938Pritzker 174 and ratified their current constitution in 1987.

Notes

References

* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

External links

Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians
official website

Native American Rights Fund {{DEFAULTSORT:Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians Coos tribe Native American tribes in Oregon Federally recognized tribes in the United States Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau Coos County, Oregon Curry County, Oregon Douglas County, Oregon Lane County, Oregon Lincoln County, Oregon