The Southern Exploring Expedition and The Kalapuyans

The Charles Wilkes Exploring Expedition came to Oregon in August 1841. The expedition split into two parties with some of the expedition venturing up the Columbia, and a number of the scientists and naval men (The naval men were dispossessed from their duties due to the sinking of the Peacock.) traveling down the Willamette Valley and through the interior valleys into California. Wilkes’ journal is a summary of the journey but does not include all of the details from the journey as many of the officers and scientists kept their own journals. I took note of details that address the … Continue reading The Southern Exploring Expedition and The Kalapuyans

Blanchet’s Mission at the Walamette Village, 1841

The following is report from a Notice, Notice No. 4, part of a series of reports of the Catholic missionary Francois Norbert Blanchet (September 30, 1795 – June 18, 1883) from 1841 to 1842 about his missionary conversion work among the tribes of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, in the middle Chinookan area. Blanchet visits the villages at Willamette Falls, Clackamas, Vancouver, and the Cascades from May 1841 to early 1842. Blanchet had arrived in Oregon in 1839 and began holding sermons at St. Paul in the area of French Prairie, the north Willamette Valley. His first visitors would be … Continue reading Blanchet’s Mission at the Walamette Village, 1841

Blanchet’s Missions to the Clackamas, 1841

The following is a Notice, Notice No. 4, part of a series of reports by the Catholic missionary Francois Norbert Blanchet (September 30, 1795 – June 18, 1883) from 1841 to 1842 about his missionary conversion work among the tribes of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, in the middle Chinookan area. Blanchet visits the villages at Willamette Falls, Clackamas, Vancouver, and the Cascades from May 1841 to early 1842. Blanchet had arrived in Oregon in 1839 and began holding sermons at St. Paul in the area of French Prairie, the north Willamette Valley. His first visitations would be to the … Continue reading Blanchet’s Missions to the Clackamas, 1841

Tribal Environmental Health Summit 2018: presentation and video link

  I participated in the last tribal Environmental Health Summit at OSU. Tuesday, June 26, 2018 11:40-1:00 pmLunch plenary (starting at 12pm) Lunch and Regional PlenarySpeaker: David Lewis, Ethnohistory Research, LLC Title: “Traditional Land Management of the Kalapuyans”   This is not a direct link: navigate to the 2018 presentation and push the right arrow to find the video. Traditional Land Management of the Kalapuyans   Continue reading Tribal Environmental Health Summit 2018: presentation and video link

A Stable Kalapuyan Anthropogenic-Environmental Model?

It is noted that humans have had an extreme effect on the environment everywhere they have lived. These changes became much more radical some 12,000 years ago when agriculture was developed. In the Willamette Valley the tribes did not develop agriculture. They did instead participate in seasonal anthropogenic fires, and seasonal harvesting of foods, at least as far back as 8,000 years. The Kalapuyans divided their year in half with the summer season for the tribe began in the spring with movements to gathering camps for early vegetables and fruits. Their year began in autumn as stated on the 1877 … Continue reading A Stable Kalapuyan Anthropogenic-Environmental Model?