Tag: warm springs

eastern oregon, General History, Oregon indians, treatiesLeave a comment

Warm Springs Speeches 1876

David G. Lewis, PhD

It is well known that the Coast Reservation was reduced in 1865 and 1875 to make way for white settlement. A similar threat was posed by the federal government in 1876 to the tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation.  In the following speeches, they clearly did not want to remove, again. The speeches are remarkable in that they reveal that not everyone agreed with the hereditary chief of the reservation. They reveal that at least one chief colluded with the Indian agents to disempower the tribe. This would have been very easy to do in the early reservation system because … Continue reading Warm Springs Speeches 1876

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

education, General History, Oregon indians1 Comment

A Botanist Documents Tribal Traditions: Martin W. Gorman, Oregon Botanist

David G. Lewis, PhD

Martin W. Gorman was a botanist in Oregon at the turn of the 20th century. He worked extensively in Alaska and British Columbia among many tribes in those areas, and was based in Portland Oregon. His work was financed by a Portland Bank and so he operated as an independent researcher for much of his career. He appears to have been funded for at least one expedition a year into Alaska for some 20 years beginning in the 1880s. When in Oregon he traveled along the Columbia River, around the Portland Metro basin, through the Tualatin Valley, along the Oregon … Continue reading A Botanist Documents Tribal Traditions: Martin W. Gorman, Oregon Botanist

columbia river, eastern oregon, General History, Native Issues, Oregon indians, treaties, UncategorizedLeave a comment

This Place is as My Heart: The 1855 Wasco-Deschutes Treaty

David G. Lewis, PhD

In 1855, Joel Palmer met with the Wasco and Deschutes tribes to convince them to sign the treaty and remove to the proposed Warm Springs Reservation. The chief of the tribes spoke powerfully about their love of their land, calling their fish, gathering and hunting places  like the parts of their heart. The tribes knew they had to move and get out of the way of the gathering horde of Americans. Palmer told then that the Americans had the privilege of claiming any lands except for the reservation. The Tribal chiefs assembled did not know much of the reservation lands … Continue reading This Place is as My Heart: The 1855 Wasco-Deschutes Treaty

General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon indians, Siletz Reservation, Uncategorized1 Comment

Chaos in the First Year: Oregon Reservations

David G. Lewis, PhD

In the first year of the Oregon Reservations, Grand Ronde, Warm Springs, and the Coast reservation, 1856-1857, there was a change in leadership in the office of the Indian Superintendent. Joel Palmer was replaced in August 1856 by Absalom F. Hedges, over complaints that Palmer was too supportive of and lenient with the tribes, and located the warlike Rogue Rivers near the Willamette settlements. There was great fears that the tribes would rise up on the reservations and attack the settlers. These fears were unfounded as long as the federal government kept its promise to the tribes to care and … Continue reading Chaos in the First Year: Oregon Reservations