The 19th century conflicts between Settler Americans and Native peoples, that in popular culture are termed Cowboys and Indians, did not end. Hollywood paints a picture of an imagined past of heroic Americans in the frontier of the west seeking their fortunes in a lawless land. Gun battles and skirmishes between American cowboys and Indians are … [Read more…]
As I re-discover the early history of athletics in Oregon, and find out that these early years were full of native people participating in the early rules and policies of numerous intramural sports, and contributing to the early successes of college athletics. I also found that native athletes were very prominent in sports. Men like … [Read more…]
This past year I have spent a fair amount of time researching subjects at Willamette University and Willamette Heritage Center. At the university their collections are very good for the local area and politics. Their Chemawa records are beyond most other archives in the area, especially their yearbook collection and photographs. I have contributed to … [Read more…]
The Molalla tribes, North, Santiam, and Umpqua valley (southern), were traders between the Chinookans to the north, the Klamaths to the south and the Paiutes to the east and the Kalapuyans in the west of their territory. Their name is a corruption of the Chinook Wawa word “ulali” meaning berry or huckleberry.
Much is still not known about how marriages were arranged among the Kalapuya-Mollala-Clackamas tribes. Hints appear in ethnographic literature that still needs to be tracked down to greater specificity. Generally, it is known that many marriages were arranged by the tribal chiefs and headmen. These arranged marriages were along political and economic lines of reasoning. … [Read more…]