The People Are Dancing Again
The People Are Dancing Again

Author: Charles Wilkinson

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages: 576

ISBN-13: 0295802014

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The history of the Siletz is in many ways the history of all Indian tribes in America: a story of heartache, perseverance, survival, and revival. It began in a resource-rich homeland thousands of years ago and today finds a vibrant, modern community with a deeply held commitment to tradition. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians�twenty-seven tribes speaking at least ten languages�were brought together on the Oregon Coast through treaties with the federal government in 1853�55. For decades after, the Siletz people lost many traditional customs, saw their languages almost wiped out, and experienced poverty, killing diseases, and humiliation. Again and again, the federal government took great chunks of the magnificent, timber-rich tribal homeland, a reservation of 1.1 million acres reaching a full 100 miles north to south on the Oregon Coast. By 1956, the tribe had been �terminated� under the Western Oregon Indian Termination Act, selling off the remaining land, cutting off federal health and education benefits, and denying tribal status. Poverty worsened, and the sense of cultural loss deepened. The Siletz people refused to give in. In 1977, after years of work and appeals to Congress, they became the second tribe in the nation to have its federal status, its treaty rights, and its sovereignty restored. Hand-in-glove with this federal recognition of the tribe has come a recovery of some land--several hundred acres near Siletz and 9,000 acres of forest--and a profound cultural revival. This remarkable account, written by one of the nation�s most respected experts in tribal law and history, is rich in Indian voices and grounded in extensive research that includes oral tradition and personal interviews. It is a book that not only provides a deep and beautifully written account of the history of the Siletz, but reaches beyond region and tribe to tell a story that will inform the way all of us think about the past. Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEtAIGxp6pc

Coquelle Thompson, Athabaskan Witness
Coquelle Thompson, Athabaskan Witness

Author: Lionel Youst

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9780806134482

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"While captain of the tribal police, Thompson was assigned to investigate the Warm House Dance, the Siletz Indian Reservation version of the famous Ghost Dance, which had spread among the Indians of many tribes during the latter 1880s. He witnessed the sense of empowerment it brought to some on the reservation. Thompson became a proselytizer for the Warm House Dance, helping to carry its message and performance from Siletz along the Oregon coast as far south as Coos Bay."--BOOK JACKET.

Assimilation's Agent
Assimilation's Agent

Author: Edwin L. Chalcraft

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2004-01-01

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 9780803215160

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Assimilation?s Agent reveals the life and opinions of Edwin L. Chalcraft (1855?1943), a superintendent in the federal Indian boarding schools during the critical periodøof forced assimilation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Chalcraft was hired by the Office of Indian Affairs (now known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs) in 1883. During his nearly four decades of service, he worked at a number of Indian boarding schools and agencies, including the Chehalis Indian School in Oakville, Washington; Puyallup Indian School in Tacoma, Washington; Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon; Wind River Indian School in Wind River, Wyoming; Jones Male Academy in Hartshorne, Oklahoma; and Siletz Indian Agency in Oregon. In this memoir Chalcraft discusses the Grant peace policy, the inspection system, allotment, the treatment of tuberculosis, corporal punishment, alcoholism, and patronage. Extensive coverage is also given to the Indian Shaker Church and the government?s response to this perceived threat to assimilation. Assimilation?s Agent illuminates the sometimes treacherous political maneuverings and difficult decisions faced by government officials at Indian boarding schools. It offers a rarely heard and today controversial "top-down" view of government policies to educate and assimilate Indians. Drawing on a large collection of unpublished letters and documents, Cary C. Collins?s introduction and notes furnish important historical background and context. Assimilation?s Agent illustrates the government's long-term program for dealing with Native peoples and the shortcomings of its approach during one of the most consequential eras in the long and often troubled history of American Indian and white relations.

The New Trail of Tears
The New Trail of Tears

Author: Naomi Schaefer Riley

Publisher: Encounter Books

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 1641772271

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If you want to know why American Indians have the highest rates of poverty of any racial group, why suicide is the leading cause of death among Indian men, why native women are two and a half times more likely to be raped than the national average and why gang violence affects American Indian youth more than any other group, do not look to history. There is no doubt that white settlers devastated Indian communities in the 19th, and early 20th centuries. But it is our policies today—denying Indians ownership of their land, refusing them access to the free market and failing to provide the police and legal protections due to them as American citizens—that have turned reservations into small third-world countries in the middle of the richest and freest nation on earth. The tragedy of our Indian policies demands reexamination immediately—not only because they make the lives of millions of American citizens harder and more dangerous—but also because they represent a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong with modern liberalism. They are the result of decades of politicians and bureaucrats showering a victimized people with money and cultural sensitivity instead of what they truly need—the education, the legal protections and the autonomy to improve their own situation. If we are really ready to have a conversation about American Indians, it is time to stop bickering about the names of football teams and institute real reforms that will bring to an end this ongoing national shame.

Living in the Great Circle: The Grand Ronde Indian Reservation 1855-1905
Living in the Great Circle: The Grand Ronde Indian Reservation 1855-1905

Author: June L. Olson

Publisher:

Published: 2011-12

Total Pages: 546

ISBN-13: 9781467502603

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Life and death, tradition and survival: a family directory from Adams to Young. Finding little published about the early history of the original people in Western Oregon and inspired by her Kalapuya and Paiute grandmother, the author turned to official Bureau of Indian Affairs reports, journals, and the reminiscences of Indian people to better understand what life was like for the first generation to call the Grand Ronde Reservation home. In writing their story, she leans heavily on their worldview. In this way, it can be said this is a story both by the people and in honor of the people. Living in the Great Circle describes the problems on the reservation and the people who faced them. The author offers this book with the hope that it will prove to be a useful reference tool for others. "June has worked many hard long years researching this data. Through her work, she has thereby created a tribal family tree. This book is a must read for each and every tribal member." -Kathryn Harrison, twenty-two years on Council for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, first woman Chair, and esteemed Tribal Elder

The Navajo
The Navajo

Author: Peter Iverson

Publisher: Infobase Publishing

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 1438103751

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Examines the history, culture, and changing fortunes of the Navajo.