Category: trade

columbia river, Oregon indians, tradeLeave a comment

Encounters with Chief Kiesno of the Columbia

David G. Lewis, PhD

Chief Kiesno was one of the most powerful chiefs on the Columbia River at the time of the fur trade and American settlement. He was related to tribes throughout the lower Columbia region. He is well documented in numerous encounters with a number of explorers, fur traders, and settlers. His time spanned the whole of the early colonization of Oregon and ends in 1848, when he passes. There is then a transition to Oregon as an official U.S. territory.  It is probable that he is the model for the figure of Chief Multnomah fictionalized by Frederick Balch in his book … Continue reading Encounters with Chief Kiesno of the Columbia

General History, Native Issues, trade2 Comments

How the Trade and Intercourse Acts Aided Colonization of Native Lands

David G. Lewis, PhD

Foreword As an instructor in Native Studies and anthropology, I get bombarded with having to explain why native peoples on the reservations live the way they live. People just do not understand why Native peoples live in such poverty and simply remain, seeming victims of their own culture. Students are surprised to discover that tribal people are not allowed to have an industry or commerce unless they gain approval from Congress to trade their goods beyond the reservation borders. Some tribes in the past have gained approval, Menominee and Klamath for Timber products, and Osage for oil are some of … Continue reading How the Trade and Intercourse Acts Aided Colonization of Native Lands

Anthropology, General History, Kalapuya, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, trade, Willamette Valley1 Comment

Ethnography of Oregon Indians 1841: Horatio Hale of the U.S. Exploring Expedition

David G. Lewis, PhD

Horatio Hale’s created what may be one of the earliest ethnographies of the tribes of the Pacific Coast. Remarkable as it is, Hale’s ethnography is both interesting and disappointing. Much of his analysis of the Native peoples of Oregon shows … Continue reading Ethnography of Oregon Indians 1841: Horatio Hale of the U.S. Exploring Expedition

General History, Oral History, Oregon indians, trade, Willamette Valley3 Comments

The Mills, Second Buildings at Chemeketa-Salem

David G. Lewis, PhD

In the earliest lore of the City of Salem, the location was an Indian village named Chemeketa, next to Chemeketa Creek. Before this village was known by Americans, by this name, in 1812, William Wallace and others of the Pacific Fur Traders built a trading post just north of the village of Chemeketa which they called Wallace house. The fur trading post allowed the fur traders to trade furs from local tribes, trap the area about the fort, and hunt about the fort for deer and elk to be taken by canoe to Astoria. The other fur traders at Astoria, … Continue reading The Mills, Second Buildings at Chemeketa-Salem

colonization, columbia river, dart, General History, Kalapuya, Native Issues, Oregon indians, trade, Willamette Valley1 Comment

Stingy American Settlers of the Willamette Valley

David G. Lewis, PhD

  The Kalapuyan tribes of the Willamette Valley have lived here for more than 10,000 years, some 500 generations of people. The whole of the valley was owned by these tribes who had distinct yet overlapping territories. A few sections of the valley were owned by relative newcomers, the Molallans, who lived in the foothills and parts of the northeast valley. The northern part of the valley, where the Willamette River flowed over 35 foot falls, was occupied by The Clackamas tribes, who settled thickly along the upper  Willamette, Clackamas, and parts if the Columbia rivers. These tribes lived in … Continue reading Stingy American Settlers of the Willamette Valley