PAGE X JULY 2013 The Original Tualatins BY: MARY FRENCH for its abundance of wapato, the tubers of Although we do not know “Then Chief Ki-a-kuts (KáyaKach)Ó Ó said, he told which were an important Native staple food.” what the exact population General Palmer, “alright, General Palmer, I’ll number of Tualatin give you my land now.” Although the Tualatin Kalapuya did not have Kalapuya was before the villages in what we now consider downtown white settlers arrived, it General Palmer said, “three years you [will] Tualatin, the members probably did utilize the has been estimated that stay on your land. Then I will move you to Grand land for hunting and fishing, and paddled their “14,000 Kalapuya lived in Ronde. That’s where your land [for] all time will canoes upon the Tualatin River to places such the Willamette River Valley, be. For twenty years I will give you: cattle, horses, as Willamette Falls – one of the most important its tributary valleys, and money, guns, blankets, coats; everything you trading centers of the region. the Umpqua River tributary need.” valleys”. Tragically, these “Each summer, thousands of people came numbers were decimated “Alright, we will take your word [for it]. You are to the trade fairs. These were festive events through disease in the late an honest man, you, General Palmer. You will take where fairgoers feasted, socialized, gossiped, 1700s. Small pox, malaria, care of us.” and exchanged information. It was through and influenza took their the trade network that the Kalapuya learned toll, so much so that by “Sure, all [of it] you will get, [every]thing that I about Euro-Americans many years before they 1840 it is estimated that the said to you.” actually arrived in the region. The Indians population of all Kalapuya competed in games and foot races, gambled, was just 600 people. By ÓKáyaKach Ó [said] “[done]! – I say [it is] so.”” and held dances and ceremonies. At the 1910, just three years fairs, they also performed marriages between before the incorporation With these words, and his signature on the members of different bands or tribes. These of the City of Tualatin, Treaty with the Kalapuya, etc. of 1855, Chief unions helped create strong political, social the U.S. census records Ki-a-kuts, the Chief of the Tualatin band of the and economic ties between groups.” show the population of the Kalapuya Indians, ceded to the United States Kalapuya at 130. Wapato government the lands of his people, a portion For trading at these fairs the Tualatin Kalapuya of which in time would become the City of brought what they had in abundance on their When Chief Ki-a-kuts and the remaining car. The event will have cultural games and Tualatin. lands: wapato, camas, deer meat, feathers used Tualatin Kalapuya moved to the reservation activities for children; demonstrations of drum for adornment, and animal skins such as otter at Grand Ronde in approximately 1856, making, weaving, basketry and flint knapping; As we celebrate 100 years as a city – from its and buckskin. These items were traded for they were among the over 30 tribes and traditional music; as well as traditional foods incorporation in 1913 to the building of I-5 and things the Tualatin Kalapuya did not have, such bands removed from western Oregon to the such as fry bread for sale. Tribal canoes will beyond – let us take a moment to look at the as salmon (often pulverized and dried), and reservation. Forced to make the cultural shift land during the event and the public is invited original inhabitants of this land, the Tualatin items such as whale bone clubs and seashells, from their traditional methods of hunting to observe traditional protocols. Information band of the Kalapuya Indians. which they wore as ornamentation. and gathering of food to farming and without at www.oregonstateparks.org, search term the resources promised by General Palmer, “Champoeg Events”. The following brief description of the Tualatin As mentioned above, the Tualatin Kalapuya had the beginnings of reservation life was very Kalapuya was written by Dr. Henry Zenk, several villages around what was Lake Wapato difficult at best. But with “a sense of shared Another event is the Tribe’s Annual anthropologist: in Gaston, Oregon. The lake grew a large predicament”, and continued pressure on Competition Pow Wow which is hosted each quantity of wapato, a marsh plant with edible government agents, the Kalapuya fought on for year on the 3rd weekend of August in Grand “Tualatin was the name of a collection of tubers, which were harvested in late summer by their people and their way of life. Ronde and is open to the public. The event independent villages whose residents spoke a the Tualatin Kalapuya hosts many vendors and the days are filled dialect of Northern Kalapuya. They are also and then boiled or with Pow Wow dancing. In the evenings the known as Atfalati (at-fah-laht-ee). cooked in the fire for adjacent Plankhouse is opened for traditional eating. The tubers song, dance, and sharing. Sixteen known Tualatin villages stretched could also be dried across the Tualatin Plains (modern-day for winter use. Lake Lastly, the visitor’s center at the Tualatin River Beaverton, Hillsboro, Mountaindale, Forest Wapato today has National Wildlife Refuge has an interpretive Grove), the Wapato Valley (Gaston), and the been drained and display of the Kalapuya, their way of life, and Chehalem and North Yamhill Valleys (Newberg, replaced by farmland, examples of camas root and wapato tubers. Carlton, Yamhill). Eight villages were clustered but this is changing. around a former marshy lake at Gaston noted The U.S. Fish and Celebrating 100 years as a city, Tualatin Wildlife Service has has much to be proud of. Remembering the been purchasing land Tualatin Kalapuya, the original residents of around the former this area, gives one a sense of history and lake, and plans to understanding of the sacrifices made in this restore the habitat to land we now call home. In closing I give a its wetlands status heartfelt “Thank you!” to David Harrelson, – thus providing a part of the Cultural Resources Department place for wapato to of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde perhaps again flourish for graciously giving me his time and expert as well as providing Ki-a-Kuts Bridge, named after Chief Ki-a-Kuts of the Tualatin Kalapuya assistance. habitat for migrating waterfowl. In the meantime, to see growing Today, The Confederated Tribes of Grand The resources used for this article are listed wapato, visit the Tualatin River National Ronde has a tribal membership of over 5,000 here. For a complete bibliography, contact Wildlife Refuge in Sherwood, where it can be located throughout the country. The Tribe has me at [email protected] and I’ll be found in the parking lot bioswale. a government run by tribal member-elected happy to send you a copy. Resources: The officials and many benefits including a health Kalapuyans 2nd Edition, Mackey, (2004); The Along with wapato, an important food source of clinic, court system, and education facility. To Oregon Historical Society Website – History the Tualatin Kalapuya was camas root. Camas reconnect with the Tualatin Kalapuya and the Minutes: Tualatin, Zenk; The World of the (genus name Camassia) is a flowering perennial other bands of the Willamette Valley, please Kalapuya Rycraft Juntunen, Dasch, Bennett plant with edible roots. The Tualatin Kalapuya visit the reservation in Grand Ronde, Oregon. Rogers, (2005); Contributions to the Tualatin women harvested the roots by using “…a You can find visitor information atwww. Enthnography: Subsistence and Ethnobiology, digging stick made from serviceberry wood (a grandronde.org/visit - which includes the Zenk, (1976). very hard wood), bent in the middle; a crooked Spirit Mountain Casino, and hiking trails and deer or elk antler cross-piece was affixed to the campgrounds. upper end of the stick and held against the belly during the digging operation”. Once harvested, Closer to home: On July 20, four western Mary French is a native Oregonian the roots were roasted in a pit-oven or dried by Oregon tribes, including the Confederated who lives in Tualatin. She is a Tribes of Grand Ronde, are holding the Volunteer Naturalist with the fire and then were pressed into cakes for later Tualatin River National Wildlife use or for trading. An excellent place to see Northwest Shells & Cedar event at Champoeg Refuge, and has completed the camas in bloom each year is at the Camassia State Heritage Park. This event is free and Oregon Master Naturalist program Camas Natural Area in West Linn. open to the public; the State Park fee is $5 per with Oregon State University..