The Trail of Broken Histories

  The exhibit “Their Hearts are in this Land: Native Resilience In Western Oregon” at Lane County Historical Society will be up for the remainder of the year. The following is the original text for my statement for the exhibit. Dr. Deana Dartt (professor/curator) informed me on several occasions that her students in museum studies, Spring Term 2017  (UO) were greatly inspired by my writings on ndnhistoryresearch and this informed a good part of the exhibit and exhibit panels. In fact, the title of the exhibit is inspired by one of my OHS talks “Our Hearts are on this Land,” … Continue reading The Trail of Broken Histories

Memorial on behalf of the Indians of California, 1850

The appeal below, suggests the reservation system for the tribes of California. Pastor Woodbridge’s detailed memorial addresses what scholars today are discovering about the 19th century tribes. The Tribes were not simply savages as suggested for some 100 years of histories written about the region, but instead they were losing resources and food sources and would periodically, forced by hunger, raid the American farms and ranches for food. They were undergoing massive environmental changes and cultural adjustments. At the same time they were being starved, they were under a constant barrage of attacks from the Americans who killed indiscriminately. The … Continue reading Memorial on behalf of the Indians of California, 1850