Tag: BIA

Anthropology, columbia river, Grand Ronde Reservation, Kalapuya, Native Issues, Oregon indians, Umpqua Valley, Willamette ValleyLeave a comment

Indian Implements acquired by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1873

David G. Lewis, PhD

Contemporaneous with the now famed Summers Collection, the Bureau of Indian Affairs was also collecting traditional implements from the tribes on reservations in the 1870s. The Summers Collection is today a collection of some 600 articles from the tribes of Oregon. At least 300 of the articles are directly from the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. Reverend Robert Summers, an Anglican minister was located in the 1870s in Mcminnville Oregon and extended his reach into the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. There, Summers spend many days becoming friends with the Grand Ronde tribal people and purchasing traditional objects that they had and … Continue reading Indian Implements acquired by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1873

General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon indians, Siletz Reservation3 Comments

Mott’s Special Report on Grand Ronde and Siletz in 1858

David G. Lewis, PhD

In the first few years of the Western Oregon reservations, the Coast and Grand Ronde reservations, the federal government was still working to develop a good system of Indian administration. Many of the Indians were just recently arrived from a war, and were envisioned as being potentially violent.  On the reservations, there were murders, and many Indians became alcoholics, while the Indian agents tried to get access to funding, and feed and care for the tribes. Funding was tough to come by so much of the provisioning came from credit accounts. Then provisions and food was early on being sent … Continue reading Mott’s Special Report on Grand Ronde and Siletz in 1858

Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon indians, Siletz Reservation, Termination, Uncategorized1 Comment

To Improve the Status of Our First Citizens: The Irony and Fraud of Tribal Termination

David G. Lewis, PhD

“To improve the status of our first citizens” Oregon Governor Douglas McKay, July 14, 1950 Introduction McKay’s comment, is meant to be a statement of assurance and commitment to the tribes from the Oregon State government. However the irony is that the agreement reached did not honor the promises implied. The tribes were not treated as first citizens, and were in fact lied to by federal officials. There was no improvement of the status of these native peoples, because native people generally were an outcast minority and treated very similar to how Blacks and Latinos were treated. Other non-terminated tribes … Continue reading To Improve the Status of Our First Citizens: The Irony and Fraud of Tribal Termination