Oregon Indian Tribes
The history of the Oregon Indians was
similar to that of the Indians of Washington. The coast tribes seem to
have been affected little or not at all by the settlements of the
Spaniards in California, and those of the interior were influenced only in
slightly greater measure by them through the introduction of the horse.
Nor were these tribes reached so extensively by the employees of the great
fur companies. Contact with such advance agents of civilization was
principally along the valley of the Columbia River, and Astoria will
always be remembered as bearing witness to the transient attempts of the
American Fur Company to establish a permanent trading organization
in this region under the American flag. As in the case of Washington,
Oregon and its tribes were first brought to the acquaintance of our
Eastern States in an intimate way by the expedition of Lewis and Clark in
1805-6.
Here also settlement was delayed until the
fixation of the International Boundary line and the rush westward
following upon the discovery of gold in California. From the middle of the
nineteenth century onward, however, the native tribes were rapidly
dispossessed, placed upon reservations, and reduced in numbers. At a later
period the decrease became less marked, but it has continued nevertheless,
partly as an actual extinction of the aboriginal population and partly as
an absorption in the dominant race. Most of the Chinookan tribes were
finally placed upon Warm Springs and Grande Ronde Reservations and on
Yakima Reservation in Washington; all of the Athapascan tribes upon the
Siletz Reservation, except the Umpqua, who went to Grande Ronde; the Kusan
and Yakonan tribes upon the Siletz Reservation; the Salishan peoples of
Oregon upon the Grande Ronde and Siletz Reserves; most of the Kalapooian
peoples upon the Grande Ronde, though a few on the Siletz; most of the Molala upon the Grande Ronde; the Klamath upon Klamath Reserve; the Modoc
mostly on Klamath Reserve but a few upon the Quapaw Reservation in
Oklahoma; the Shahaptian tribes of Oregon upon the Umatilla Reservation;
and the Northern Paiutes upon the Klamath Reservation.
Own name, significance unknown.
Also called:
French Prairie Indians, by early settlers.
Pudding River Indians, by various authors, and adopted by
Berreman (1937).
Connections. The
Ahantchuyuk belonged to the Kalapooian linguistic stock.
Location. On and about
Pudding River, which empties into the Willamette from the east about 10
miles south of Oregon City.
Population. (See
Calapooya.) Not given separately.
A corruption of
Älsé,
their own name, meaning unknown. See
Alsea Location
Meaning unknown. Often shortened to Fallatahs. Sometimes spelled Tuálati,
or Tualatin (Berreman, 1937). See
Atfalati Location
The Bannock came over into the
eastern borders of the state between Powder and Owyhee Rivers in more recent
times. (See
Idaho.)
Meaning unknown. See
Calapooya Location
Significance unknown.
Haí`luntchi, Molalla name.
Wailĕtpu, own name.
Connections. The Cayuse
were placed by Powell (1891) in the Waiilatpuan linguistic stock along
with the Molala, but this is now recognized as a branch of the
Shapwailutan family.
Location. About the heads
of Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Grande Ronde Rivers and extending from the
Blue Mountains to Deschutes River, Washington and Oregon.
History. Anciently the
Cayuse are said to have had their headquarters on the Upper Grande Ronde
but to have extended west later to the region of Deschutes River, where
they may have met the Molala. They entered the historical arena with the
expedition of Lewis and Clark and were afterward well known to explorers,
hunters, and settlers. In 1838 a mission was established among them by the
noted Marcus Whitman at the site of the present town of Whitman, but in
1847 smallpox carried off a large number of the tribe, and the Indians,
believing the missionaries to be the cause, murdered Whitman and a number
of other Whites and destroyed the mission. By 1851 they were much reduced
in numbers and had become partially merged in the Nez Perce. In 1853 they
joined in the treaty by which Umatilla Reservation was formed and made
their homes upon it from that time forward. Their language is now nearly
extinct.
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimates 500 Cayuse in 1780. In 1904, 404 were officially reported; the
census of 1910 gave 298, while the United States Indian Office in 1923
returned 337. The census of 1930 reported 199 Cayuse and Molala, and the
United States Indian Office of Cayuse alone in 1937, 370.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The Cayuse were reputed one of the most warlike tribes
of Washington and Oregon. Horses were early bred among them and an Indian
pony came to be known to the white settlers as a "cayuse." There is a
place called Cayuse in Umatilla County, Oregon.
From Shista-kwŭsta, their own name,
significance unknown. See
Chastacosta Location
Significance unknown.
Also called:
Long Tom Creek Indians.
Connections. The
Chelamela belonged to the Calapooya dialectic division of the Kalapooian
linguistic stock.
Location. On Long Tom
Creek, a western tributary of the Willamette River.
Population. (See
Calapooya.)
Significance unknown.
Also called:
Api'nefu, or Pineifu, by the other Kalapuya.
Marys River Indians, the official and popular name.
Connections. The
Chepenafa belonged to the Calapooya dialectic division of the Kalapooian
linguistic stock, and were sometimes regarded as a subdivision of the
Luckamiut.
Location. At the forks of
St. Marys Creek, near Corvallis.
Population. (See
Calapooya.) The census of 1910 returned 24.
Own name, meaning "close to the
mouth of the stream." See Chetco
Location
From their own name, Guithla'kimas, significance unknown.
Also spelled Tltkimish, and called:
A'kimmash, by the Atfalati Kalapuya.
Gita'q!emas, by the Clatsop.
Nsekau's or Ns tiwat, by the Nestucca.
Tu'hu tane, by the Umpqua.
Connections. The
Clackamas belonged to the Chinookan linguistic stock and to a dialectical
division to which they have given their name.
Location. On Clackamas
River, claiming the country on the east side of Willamette River from a
few miles above its mouth nearly to Oregon City and east as far as the
Cascade Mountains. (See also Washington.)
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimates that the Clackamas numbered 2,500 in 1780. In 1806 Lewis and
Clark set down their probable number as 1,800. In 1851 there were 88; the
1910 census returned 40; and United States Office of Indian Affairs in
1937, 81. The census of 1930 reported a total of 561 Indians in the
Chinookan stock.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The name Clackamas is perpetuated by a river, a county,
and a town in Oregon.
Significance unknown.
Also spelled A`látskné-i,
Clackstar, Klatskanai, Tlatskanai, etc.
Connection. The
Clatskanie belonged to the Athapascan linguistic stock.
Location. According to
Gibbs (1877) the Clatskanie at one time owned the prairies bordering
Chehalis River, Washington, at the mouth of Skookumchuck River, but on the
failure of game, crossed the Columbia and occupied the mountains about
Clatskanie River, their best-known historic seat. For a long time they
exacted toll of all who passed going up or down the Columbia.
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimates 1,600 Clatskanie in 1780. In 1851 they were reduced to three men
and five women. The census of 1910 returned three. (See Chastacosta.)
Connection in which they have
become noted. Like the Kwahlioqua, the Clatskanie are noted for their isolation from other branches of the
Athapascan stock. Their name is preserved by Clatskanie Creek and
Clatskanie town in Columbia County, Oregon.
From a native word meaning "dried
salmon." See Clatsop Location
Significance unknown. Phonetically GiLā'wēwalamt.
Also called:
Fall Indians,
Tumwater Indians, popular names.
Willamette Indians,
Willamette Falls Indians, popular names.
Connections. The
Clowwewalla belonged to the Clackamas division of the Chinookan linguistic
stock.
Location. At the falls of
Willamette River.
Subdivisions. The
Clowwewalla may have included the Cushooks, Chahcowahs, and Nemalquinner
of Lewis and Clark.
Population. The
Clowwewalla, or a part of them, were called Cushook by Lewis and Clark,
who estimated that they numbered 650 in 1805-6. On this basis Mooney
(1928) estimated there might have been 900 in 1780. They were greatly
reduced by the epidemic of 1829 and in 1851 numbered 13. They are now
apparently extinct.
Own name, significance unknown.
Also called:
Applegate River Indians, from their habitat.
Nǐ'ckitc hītclûm,
Alsea name, meaning "people far up the stream."
Ts'û-qûs-li'-gwûût-me'
tunne, Naltûnnetûnne
name.
Connections. The
Dakubetede belonged to the Athapascan linguistic stock, using a dialect
identical with that of the Taltushtuntude.
Location. On Applegate
River.
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimates the Dakubetede, the Nahankhotane (part of the Umpqua), the
Taltushtuntude, and the Umpqua to have numbered 3,200 in 1780. They are
nowhere separately enumerated. (See Chastacosta.)
Own name, significance unknown.
Connections. The Hanis
formed one dialectic group of the Kusan linguistic family, the other being
Miluk. It is probable that this stock was connected with the Yakonan.
Location. On Coos River
and Bay.
Villages. Anasitoh, on
the south side of Coos Bay. Melukitz, on the north side of Coos Bay.
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimates that the Hanis and the Miluk together numbered 2,000 in 1780. In
1805 Lewis and Clark estimated 1,500 Hanis. The census of 1910 returned 93
for the entire stock and that of 1930, 107, while, again for the stock,
the United States Office of Indian Affairs reported 55 in 1937.
A word of uncertain origin but
probably used first by Columbia River or other outside tribes. Their own name is máklaks,
meaning "people," "community." See Klamath Location
Significance unknown. See Kuitsh
Location
Signifying "those living in the uplands."
Also called:
Walumskni, by the Klamath.
Connections. With the
Takelma proper, the Latgawa constituted the Takilman linguistic family
which, in turn, was probably affiliated with the Shastan stock.
Location. On Upper Rogue River eastward about Table Rock and Bear Creek
and in the neighborhood of the present town of Jacksonville.
Village. Sapir (1915)
records one village belonging to this tribe known by the tribal name and
also called Latgauk.
Population. See Takelma.
Significance unknown. (See Paiute, Northern.)
Connections. Reported as
a band of Shoshoneans which entered Oregon at a late period.
Location. On Willow
Creek, a southern affluent of the Columbia.
Population. In 1870 the
number of Lohim was reported as 114, but the name has not appeared in
recent official reports. They have generally been regarded as renegades
belonging to the Umatilla Reservation, and Ray's (1938) informants denied
the presence of Shoshoneans here, asserting that the name was applied to
Yakima.
Lakmiut.
Significance unknown. See
Luckiamute Location
Significance unknown;
also called Lower Coquille.
Connections. The Miluk
spoke the southern of the two dialects of the Kusan linguistic family, and
were related more remotely to the Yakonan stock.
Location. At the mouth of Coquille
River.
Villages.
Miluk or Mulluk, on the north side of the Coquille River at the
site of the present
town of Randolph.
Nasumi, on the south side of Coquille River on the coast of Oregon,
near the site
of the present Bandon.
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimated 2,000 in 1780 for the Miluk and Hanis together. In 1910 they
numbered 93. (See Hanis.) In 1937 the population of the "Kus" Indians was
given as 55.
Significance unknown;
also called Lower Coquille. See
Mishikhwutmetunne Location
From Móatokni, meaning
"southerners." See Modoc Location
Derived
from the name of a creek in the Willamette Valley from
which one of their bands drove the original inhabitants.
See Molala
Location
Significance unknown. See
Multnomah
Location
A small
Athapascan tribe between the Tututni and Chetco, apparently, included by
later writers under the former.
They
extended into northeastern Oregon. (See
Idaho.)
These
people occupied the southeastern part of Oregon and
formerly extended far enough north to include the valley
of Powder River and the upper course of John Day River
of which they were dispossessed by Shahaptians. (See
Nevada.)
Significance unknown.
Also called:
Aha'lpam, by the Atfalati Kalapuya.
Connections. The Santiam
belonged to the Calapooya dialectic division of the Kalapooian linguistic
stock.
Population. (See
Calapooya.) In 1906 there were 23 Santiam on Grande Ronde Reservation. The
census of 1910 returned 9.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The name Santiam is perpetuated in Santiam River, a
branch of the Willamette.
The
Shasta extended at least into the territory watered by
Jenny Creek from their main seats in California.
The Shasta extended at least into the territory watered
by Jenny Creek from their main seats in California.
Siletz. Significance unknown.
Also called:
Tsä Shnádsh
amím, Luckiamute Kalapuya name.
Connections. The Siletz
belonged to the Salishan linguistic stock.
Location. On Siletz
River.
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimates the population of all of the Salishan tribes of Oregon as 1,500
in 1780. They are not now separately recorded, but in the census of 1930,
72 Salishan Indians were returned from Oregon besides the Tillamook.
Connections in which they
have become noted. The Siletz are of note as having been the
southernmost of the Salishan linguistic family. Siletz River and a post
village, both in Lincoln County, Oreg., preserve the name.
Significance unknown. See
Siuslaw
Location
The Skilloot occupied part of Oregon opposite the mouth of
Cowlitz River. (See
Washington.)
See Northern Paiute under
Nevada.
Own name, meaning "those dwelling along the river." See
Takelma Location
Own name, meaning unknown.
Also called:
Galice Creek Indians, from their habitat.
Kû-līs'-kitc_hītc'lûm, Alsea
name.
Connections. The Taltushtuntude belonged to the Athapascan linguistic
stock, and spoke the same dialect as the Dakubetede but culturally had
become assimilated with the Takelma.
Location. On Galice Creek.
Population. In 1856, 18 Taltushtuntude were reported living on the Siletz
Reservation. Under the name "Galice Creek" 42 Indians were reported in
1937.
Significance unknown. See
Tenino Location
A Chinook term meaning "people of Nekelim (or Nehalem).
See Tillamook Location
Meaning unknown. See Tututni
Location
Significance unknown.
Also spelled Attayes, Iyich, Ta-ih, Thy, Tyh,
etc.
Teéχtkni, or Télknikni, Klamath name.
Tsĕ Amínĕma, Luckiamute Kalapuya name.
Connections. The Tyigh belonged to the Tenino branch of the Shahaptian
division of the Shapwailutan linguistic stock.
Location. The country about Tygh and White Rivers.
Subdivisions and Villages.
No names are recorded.
History. The history of the Tyigh was identical with that of the Tenino.
Population. With the other Oregon tribes of the Tenino group, the Tyigh
numbered 1,400 in 1780 according to Mooney's (1928) estimate. In 1854 they
were said to number 500 and in 1859, 450; but both of these figures must
be overestimates. They are not now enumerated separately from the Warm
Spring Indians, placed at 550 by the census of 1910.
Connection in which they have
become noted. Tygh Creek and a place called
Tygh Valley in Wasco County, Oregon, bears the name of the Tyigh.
Significance unknown.
Connections. The Umatilla belonged to the Shahaptian division of the
Shapwailutan linguistic stock.
Location. On Umatilla River and the banks of Columbia River adjacent to
the mouth of the Umatilla.
Population. Mooney (1928) estimates this tribe and the Walla
Walla together
at 1,500 in 1780. The census of 1910 returned 272, the United States
Indian Office Report for 1923, 145, and the Indian Office Report for 1937,
124.
Connections in which they have become noted. An Indian reservation has
received the name Umatilla, and it has also been applied to a river, a
county, and a post village, all in Oregon; also to a place in Lake County,
Fla.
Significance unknown. See
Umpqua
Location
The Wallawalla extended somewhat into northeastern Oregon.
(See Washington.)
Significance unknown. Commonly called Snakes. A part
of the Northern Paiute. (See under
Nevada.)
From a native word wacq!ó, "cup or small bowl of horn," the
reference being to a cup-shaped rock a short distance from the main
village of the tribe; from this the tribal name Gałasq'ó, "those
that have the cup," is derived and variations of it frequently appear in
the literature. See Wasco
Location
Significance of word is unknown. See
Watlala Location
One of the two chief peoples in
Oregon belonging to the Northern Paiute division of the Shoshonean and therefore
Uto-Aztecan linguistic stock. (See
Nevada.)
Significance unknown, often spelled Yam Hill.
Also called:
Ychă-yamel-amirn, by the Atfalati Kalapuya.
Connections. The Yamel belonged, along with the Atfalati, to the northern
dialectic division of the Kalapooian linguistic stock.
Location. Yamhill
River.
Subdivisions.
Gatschet (1877) records these as follows:
Andshankualth, on a western tributary of the Willamette.
Andshimmampak, on
Yamhill River.
Chamifu, in the forks of Yamhill River.
Chamiwi, on Yamhill River.
Champikle, on Dallas (La Creole) Creek.
Chinchal, on Dallas Creek.
Population. (See Calapooya.) The census of 1910 returned 5 Yamel.
Connection in which they have become noted. The name of the Yamel, in the
form Yamhill, is perpetuated by an affluent of the Willamette and by the
county through which it flows.
Significance unknown. See Yaquina Location
From Ayankeld, or Tch'Ayanke'ld, "those living at
Ayankeld," own name.
Connections. The Yoncalla
were the southernmost tribe of the Kalapooian linguistic stock, forming
one of the three dialectic divisions.
Location. On Elk and
Calapooya Creeks, tributaries of Umpqua River.
Subdivisions. According to
Gatschet (1887), there were two bands, called Chayankeld and Tsantokayu by
the Luckiamute, but it seems likely that the former name (Tell' Ayanke'ld)
is merely the native tribal name.
Population. (See Calapooya.)
The census of 1910 returned 11 Yoncalla.
Connection in which they have become
noted. Yoncalla, a post village of Douglas County, Oregon,
preserves the name.
Additional Oregon Indian Resources
Notes About the Book:
Source: The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, 1953, Bureau of
American Ethnology, Bulletin 145, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing
has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual
output.
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