Some just asked me if I can see the camas tips now, to which I replied: Meaning, Yes! Camas is doing well at Minto-Brown, the majority of the camas grows in the open field and we are getting some good density in some areas. One stretch of the paths is under full tree overstory and … [Read more…]
Recent work on correcting histories of settlers’ societies has been highly popular. The 2019 Exhibit at Five Oaks Museum, Washington County by Stephanie Littlebird Fogel (Grand Ronde) “This IS Kalapuyan Land” – with some help from me- has presented a way to respond to settler-derived histories in interesting and important ways. The issue at play … [Read more…]
Recently, I was made aware of another alternative story of the Battle of Battle Creek. Previously, I published an essay about stories of Klamath and Kalapuya warriors involved in the Battle Creek incident. But, as this history has been well revisited by newspaper editors and other writers over the last 180 years, there are additional … [Read more…]
The settlement of Eugene and the whole southern valley settlement centers was guided by advice from the Kalapuyans and the presence of seasonal wetlands on the plains. Two of the first noted settlers Eugene Skinner (Eugene) and Elijah Bristow (Pleasant Hill) both made important decisions based on the environmental factors they saw in the prairies … [Read more…]
The Tualatin Plains The Tualatin Plains was a vast oak savanna. From General Land Office survey field notes there was noted a large number of oaks and oak brush on the Tualatin plains. The whole of the area would have been in the model of an oak savanna with inclusions of other environments, similar to … [Read more…]