Tag: Willamette Falls

columbia river, General History, Kalapuya, Oregon indians, Willamette Valley5 Comments

Drucker’s Records of Clackamas Villages

David G. Lewis, PhD

The Clackamas (Tlakamas) lived along the Clackamas River and along the lower Willamette. Their villages and associated territorial claims extended from Willamette Falls to the Willamette Slough. Scholars still debate the full reach of the Clackamas territory. At Willamette Falls there were villages on both sides of the river below the falls, one village above the Falls at Canemah and one village down by where the Tualatin River enters the Willamette. There were additional villages near the Clackamas estuary and at Milwaukee. There was a village on an island in the Willamette. Some of these villages at the falls are … Continue reading Drucker’s Records of Clackamas Villages

Anthropology, columbia river, General History, Kalapuya, Oregon indians1 Comment

Native Kinships and Wealth among the Middle Chinookans

David G. Lewis, PhD

Native kinships are incredibly complex. They do not follow the nice neat patterns of kinship that Americans have adopted from their European ancestors. Native peoples did not marry inside their own tribes, but were influenced by societal norms to marry someone from outside of the tribe. People born of royalty were encouraged to or arranged to marry royalty in other tribes and in this manner leadership roles and genealogies were kept within certain families. It can safely be said that all of the tribes in a particular region are all interrelated with one another by Native laws of marriage. But … Continue reading Native Kinships and Wealth among the Middle Chinookans

Oregon indians, Uncategorized, Willamette Valley1 Comment

Location of the Campement Du Sable

David G. Lewis, PhD

The much-storied Campement du Sable (Sandy Camp) was established originally by Pacific Fur Traders in 1812,  but soon after became the property of the North West Company Fur Traders. Its purpose was primarily for hunting for the Astorians and fur trade with the natives. PFT sold out to NWFC before their property could be taken by the British in the War of 1812.  Later Hudson’s Bay Company utilized the encampment as a port on the Willamette River. The location of this camp is much debated. Various historians have located the camp at Champoeg while others locate this camp at least … Continue reading Location of the Campement Du Sable

columbia river, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon indians, Uncategorized, Willamette Valley2 Comments

Dispossessed of Tribal Traditions, the Fishery at Clackamas Village 1860s

David G. Lewis, PhD

A letter addressed to J. W. Huntington, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon in 1862.   The letter was from John Campbell who had worked for John McLaughlin and was making an appeal to grant the Clackamas Tribe rights to return to their traditional village and fish for salmon. He writes, “An Indian named George of the Clackamas is here and is very anxious to be permitted to come here during the fishing season and bring his family” “The Clackamas village is on Mr. Cason’s land, immediately opposite Mr. Wm. Buck’s Saw Mills. I understand  from Mr. Buck that Mr. … Continue reading Dispossessed of Tribal Traditions, the Fishery at Clackamas Village 1860s

columbia river, General History, Oregon indians, Uncategorized, Willamette Valley2 Comments

People Above The Falls: Canemah Village

David G. Lewis, PhD

Canemah is now a neighborhood of Oregon City, but in the 1850s Canemah was a tribal village situated above the Willamette Falls on the eastern bank. The neighborhood today is steeped in history with a number of streets named for the native families who lived at the village, like ‘Apperson’. There native people would help portage canoes and supplies down the side of the falls  to Oregon City. The location has an important shipbuilding history, of constructing sternwheelers, that by 1856 would ply the upper Willamette River as far as Eugene. Canemah may have been the furthest south for any … Continue reading People Above The Falls: Canemah Village