The People Are Dancing Again
The History of the Siletz Tribe of Western Oregon
CHARLES WILKINSON
To be published in November by the University of Washington Press!
Book website here. Book trailer here.
Here’s the blurb:
The history of the Siletz is in many ways the history of many Indian tribes: a story of heartache, perseverance, survival, and revival. The history of the Siletz people began in a resource-rich homeland thousands of years ago. Today, the tribe is 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 practices, saw their languages almost wiped out, and experienced poverty, ill health, and humiliation. Again and again, the federal government took great chunks of the magnificent, timber-rich tribal homeland, reducing their reservation from the original allotment of 1.1 million acres-which reached a full 100 miles north to south on the Oregon Coast-to what is today several hundred acres of land near Siletz and 9,000 acres of forest. 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.
Turtle Talk 