Tag: Coquille

General History, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, Siletz Reservation, treaties1 Comment

Battle Rock the First Colonization on the Southern Oregon Coast

David G. Lewis, PhD

In July 1851, Captain William Tichenor decided to begin his project to colonize and claim the Port Orford area. He envisioned that the establishment of a town at Port Orford would be an entry point for gold miners into SW Oregon. Tichenor originally hired his band of men from Portland, O.T., promising them that the Indians in the region were peaceful. Tichenor convinced his men that they did not need much armament and that arms would only provoke the Natives. He said he had visited the area many times and the Indians were always welcoming. Still his engages choose to … Continue reading Battle Rock the First Colonization on the Southern Oregon Coast

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

Surviving Oregon Native Languages; Online Sources and Links

David G. Lewis, PhD

  Oregon Tribal Languages have been endangered for over 100 years. From an original base of some 100 languages and dialects, the number of surviving languages with speakers has dwindled to about eight. Most tribes do not have many elder speakers and the language programs are constantly searching for funding to help the languages survive to the next generation. At least five tribes have active language stabilization and restoration programs and several tribes teach their language (s) in community groups. A few tribes have a language taught in regular school classrooms. The most advanced by far is the Chinuk wawa … Continue reading Surviving Oregon Native Languages; Online Sources and Links

General History, Native Issues, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Uncategorized1 Comment

Coquille Massacre Narratives

David G. Lewis, PhD

The Massacre Narrative is a specific type of story where is documented as a traumatic event in history. Generally, dozens if not hundreds die. massacres occur because of conflicts between cultures. One culture is working to destroy the competing culture. This is not something that Americans like to believe in their country. For the Coquille River people, they lived in this location for thousands of years and had there own set of laws and ethical codes of behavior. They are inter-related to their neighbors in many ways and even spoke dialects in the same language family as many neighbors. Occurrences … Continue reading Coquille Massacre Narratives

General History, Oregon indians, Willamette ValleyLeave a comment

Anson Dart’s Report of November 7, 1851: Contextualized

David G. Lewis, PhD

Anson Dart’s Report of November 7, 1851, Transferring 13 Treaties to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: Annotated with Contextual Comments Here begin the full text of the Report of Anson Dart. I have worked to include every word transcribed, there … Continue reading Anson Dart’s Report of November 7, 1851: Contextualized

Archival Development, education, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon indians, Siletz Reservation, Uncategorized9 Comments

20 Years of the Southwest Oregon Research Project

David G. Lewis, PhD

  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 Tribes of Oregon. It was amazing to see all of these national figures in anthropology and the university and local tribes attend and receive their gifts. I did not known much about the project then, nor did I view the collection. It wasn’t until 1997 … Continue reading 20 Years of the Southwest Oregon Research Project