The Kalapuyan tribes were about 19 tribes and bands in the Willamette Valley. The tribes and bands in the Tualatin valley were the Tualatin Kalapuyans. Historical documents also called these people Twalaty or Atfalati. Many Tualatin villages were situated around Wapato Lake. The lake provided a vast amount of resources, reeds and sedges for … [Read more…]
An eventful year, 2016, for Indigenous peoples! We began the year with [nearly] a bang when the Malheur Wildlife refuge in Oregon was taken over and occupied by an American militia who basically wanted free land and free leasing of federal lands. This blog responded with a series of articles about the native indigenous history … [Read more…]
Kalapuyan History (summary) From original 25,000 Kalapuyan people (estimated) in 19 tribes and bands, they were reduced to about 800 by 1850 through diseases like malaria. The loss of population caused cultural collapse and the confederation of many different villages to a very few. This left the land open to settlement from other tribes and … [Read more…]
Native peoples are quick to note how colonization of tribal lands and societies has caused numerous problems. Colonization removed the agency of the original peoples and places it with the colonizers. The Colonizers, normally people of European origin, but really any expansionist nation, take control of vast areas of land and enslave Native peoples, commit … [Read more…]
Southwest Oregon Research Projects & The Archival Collection In 1995, I attended an event that would impact me for many years. The event was a potlatch held by the Coquille tribe and the University of Oregon. There was given away copies of some 50,000 pages of information collected from the Smithsonian Institution to the … [Read more…]