Alexander Phimister Proctor in Oregon

Alexander Phimister Proctor (1860-1950), is born in Canada and becomes one of the most famed American sculptors of his time. He worked extensively in the American West and especially in Oregon. He studied in France under the Master Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and thereafter sought to exemplify the traditional philosophy of his teacher of Simplicity, Nobility, and Dignity.  The other major influence was Proctor’s personal experiences in the American West. He first travels to Montana in 1897 and again in 1914 to capture images of Native peoples in their natural state. Thereafter, Proctor gains a steady stream of commissions to produce … Continue reading Alexander Phimister Proctor in Oregon

Chafin Band Reservation and Village 1855

The Chafin (Chifin, Chafan)  Band of Kalapuya Indians lived in and around the Eugene-Springfield  to the Coburg area.  Their main village was likely on the Willamette River at the base of the Coburg Hills. This area includes the Coast Fork Willamette River (now MacKenzie) and included creeks and braided waterways as the river meandered through the valley. Jacob Spores arrived in Oregon in 1847 and is one of the first settlers in the area along with Eugene Skinner (at Eugene) and Elijah Bristow (at Pleasant Hill) Spores had a 640 acre DLC next to the Chafin village and later developed a ferry … Continue reading Chafin Band Reservation and Village 1855

The Mohawk Band of Calapooia Reservation 1855

In 1855, after the tribes of the Willamette Valley signed the Kalapuya Etc. Treaty (1/22/1855) they were resettled by Indian Superintendent Joel Palmer on temporary reservations in the valley. Local farmers were recruited and assigned as Special Indian Agents to take care of the tribes. They were able to get some money and supplies to take care of and feed the tribes, mainly Kalapuya, Clackamas and Molalla Indians. The tribes at this time were very few individuals, the most populous, likely the Santiams with about 250 people or a few more. One tribe, the Mohawk Calapooians lived within the Mohawk … Continue reading The Mohawk Band of Calapooia Reservation 1855

Native Community History of Eugene Area

Original Peoples The earliest history of Native people in the Eugene-Springfield area is that of the Kalapuya tribes from the area, Chifin, Winefelly,  Pee-u (Mohawk), and Chelamela tribes. These people signed a treaty with the United States in 1855, and were removed to temporary reservations in the Willamette valley. The Yoncalla, in the Umpqua valley, and in the Calapooia Mountains just south of Cottage Grove were removed to the Umpqua reservation after they signed the Kalapuya and Umpqua treaty in 1854. The tribes in the Eugene area of the Willamette Valley were taken to Spores farm to live for a … Continue reading Native Community History of Eugene Area

An Issue of Cultural Appropriation in Context

Over the past five centuries every manner of negative action was taken against Indigenous peoples. Murder, genocide, holocaust, slavery, indentured servitude, theft, extortion, kidnapping, deliberately introducing diseases, wiping out the food sources of the people, total war, razing of cities … Continue reading An Issue of Cultural Appropriation in Context