Native American people have lived in the area “now known as Oregon …
Native American people have lived in the area “now known as Oregon since time immemorial (long predating European contact and beyond human memory). During the era of colonialism— and even into the 21st century—non-Native people often portrayed the North American continent as a vast wilderness that was virtually unpopulated when they arrived. This could not be farther from the truth. In Oregon alone there were dozens of tribes, each with its own ancestral territory and rich cultural history. There was not a single region of Oregon that did not have an Indigenous tribe or band living within it. Despite disease, genocide, forced assimilation, and cultural suppression, many of these tribes managed to survive, and they continue to carry their cultural traditions forward as sovereign tribal nations. To survive, however, required giving up vast areas of their ancestral territory, sometimes by way of treaties and sometimes as a result of force. The two activities in this lesson will give students an essential understanding of the rich diversity of Native American tribes that existed in Oregon prior to European settlement, the current territory of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon, and the inseparable bond between Native people and the land.
This lesson will give students a foundational awareness of the Indigenous, sovereign …
This lesson will give students a foundational awareness of the Indigenous, sovereign people groups who live in what is now known as Oregon—their history, their culture, and the issues that continue to impact them today. When undertaking the study of Indigenous people, it is important to begin with their long history on the land. Indigenous people have lived in Oregon for thousands of years, in established communities, with established social structures, languages, and cultures. They were—and are—deeply and inextricably connected to the land. It is also important to increase students’ awareness of the continued presence of Indigenous people groups in Oregon and to explore what it means to be a sovereign nation within the United States. This lesson will also help students begin to think about how the story of the American West (e.g., the Oregon Trail, westward expansion) has typically been told from a white settlers’ perspective and to consider how that history might look from the perspective of those whose ancestors were here for thousands of years before the settlers arrived. Finally, this lesson will enable students to identify the nine tribes in Oregon that are currently recognized by the federal government and to understand that all of Oregon was and still is Indian Country.
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