Refreshing Conversation
Too often these days our world, or community, is horribly divided and divisive. And not just by the actions of the present administration, but it seems everything and…
Too often these days our world, or community, is horribly divided and divisive. And not just by the actions of the present administration, but it seems everything and…
Encountering a Party of Kalapuya People South of the Long Tom River This encounter occurred in the Mountains Between the Willamette and Umpqua, the Calapooia
Journal of Lieutenant George Foster Emmons[1] (Officer of the Peacock) August 7, 1841-The country becoming smoky from the annual fires of the Indians- who burn
When the Grand Ronde Reservation was created some 32 tribes were moved, or resettled, onto the reservation. Conditions on the reservation were not good for
The Northwest corner of Oregon, Astoria this weekend, was very picturesque. A giant bridge silhouetted hills on the north side of the Columbia. Astoria is
This day, Friday I planned to have a number of individuals join me to visit two sites in around Salem. Lake Labish in the morning
The camas season seems done, very early this year, the flowers now turned to seeds already. I have seeds from the pods in my yard
Wapato (Sagittaria latifolia) (mamptu-Kalapuyan) is on the rise in the Salem area. Three sites are known to host the plant, Lake Labish, Minto-Brown Island Park
Wapato (mamptu- Kalapuyan) is a primary root crop of the Kalapuyans and Chinookans. It was probably the second most used food plant in the valley.
Recently, I was made aware of another alternative story of the Battle of Battle Creek. Previously, I published an essay about stories of Klamath and
In the years following the Oregon Indian wars of the 1850s, there were continuous claims by settler for losses due to Indian depredations. The claims
Joel Palmer was an extremely busy man in 1856. In the midst of traveling back and forth across Oregon, he was ordering supplies, directing employees, and negotiating with…
In the history of treaty making , there were two treaty periods for western Oregon, 1851, and 1853 to 1855. The 1851 treaties, 19 of them, were negotiated…
This year I tried to get out there into the field when the camas is beginning to erupt from the ground. I am not sure I have seen…
In 1853 Joel Palmer, newly appointed Indian Superintendent of Oregon, was working to keep the peace between the tribes and settlers in Oregon. The plan was to remove…
I have always been confused why there is a Chemawa Jr. High in Riverside CA. in recent reserahc I foudn there was a preexisting Chemawa park which predated…
A subject which has had little clarity in the past is when were the Umpqua and Southern Kalapuya, the Yoncallas, resettled to the Umpqua Reservation at Coles Valley.…
I revisited Bush Park today to tour the other areas of camas. I began at the “Picnic” area, south side of the park at its upper level and…
Today, I visited three camas areas in Salem. They present different characters and interesting contexts this spring. As I left the fields I noticed splotches of yellow on…
The Charles Wilkes Exploring expedition came to Oregon in August 1841. The expedition split into two parts with some of the expedition venturing up the Columbia, and a…
The Chetco Indians, perhaps more than nearly any other tribe on the Oregon coast, were repeatedly attacked by racist white settlers before their removal. In a previous set…
The experiences of the Grave Creek Indians of southwestern Oregon mirror those of the other tribes in the region. They however hardly survived the 1850s as most of…
In 1981 I took a job weeding onion fields out Hazelgreen Road on the outskirts of Salem, Oregon, as one of my first jobs. In the summer after…
This summer I was approached by the Bush Art Museum to do something for Native American month. Over the period of several months discussion we centered the exhibit…