Tag: crooked finger

General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Native Issues, Oregon indians, treaties, Willamette ValleyLeave a comment

All Payments at One Time, the foresight of Chief Crooked Finger

David G. Lewis, PhD

Tribal treaties are said to never have been honored by the United States. Native communities from around the continent will state this, and it is a common enough understanding of scholars of Native history. The United States has, during the past 200+ years reneged on, dissociated, or deliberately failed to follow the agreements of the treaties for all tribes that have them. Without yet proving this statement, I will detail why I believe this to be the case. Treaties are considered by legal scholars and most history experts to be part and parcel of the supreme law of the land … Continue reading All Payments at One Time, the foresight of Chief Crooked Finger

General History, Oregon indians, treaties, Uncategorized, Willamette Valley25 Comments

Molalla Chief Crooked Finger, the Battle of Abiqua and the 1851 Molalla Treaty

David G. Lewis, PhD

Crooked Finger (Loshuk), the Molalla  Chief, lived in an upland valley in the foothills of the Cascades, above present day Scott’s Mills. This area is called Crooked Finger’s Prairie even today. Loshuk received his American name Crooked Finger when as a boy he was playing with a rifle and it went off, disfiguring his hand. In his time he was renowned for speaking against the American settlement of his land and set about to harass Americans whenever he could as partial retribution for the losses his tribe was sustaining. Some reports suggest that he drank heavily of a rum from … Continue reading Molalla Chief Crooked Finger, the Battle of Abiqua and the 1851 Molalla Treaty