Termination of the Confederated Tribes of The
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TERMINATION OF THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE GRAND RONDE COMMUNITY OF OREGON: POLITICS, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY by DAVID GENE LEWIS A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department ofAnthropology and the Graduate School ofthe University ofOregon in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy March 2009 11 University of Oregon Graduate School Confirmation ofApproval and Acceptance ofDissertation prepared by: David Lewis Title: "Termination ofthe Confederated Tribes ofthe Grand Ronde Community ofOregon: Politics, Community, Identity" This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the Doctor ofPhilosophy degree in the Department of Anthropology by: Lynn Stephen, Chairperson, Anthropology Philip Young, Member, Anthropology Brian Klopotek, Member, Anthropology Deanna Kingston, Member, Not from U of 0 Jeffrey Ostler, Outside Member, History and Richard Linton, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies/Dean ofthe Graduate School for the University ofOregon. March 20, 2009 Original approval signatures are on file with the Graduate School and the University of Oregon Libraries. 111 © 2009 David Gene Lewis IV An Abstract ofthe Dissertation of David Gene Lewis for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy in the Department ofAnthropology to be taken March 2009 Title: TERMINATION OF THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE GRAND RONDE COMMUNITY OF OREGON: POLITICS, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY Approved: _ Lynn Stephen In 1954, one hundred years after the western Oregon Indians were removed to the Grand Ronde Reservation; the antecedent peoples were subjected to the final effort by the United States to colonize the remainder oftheir lands through Federal termination policy. The permanent Grand Ronde Reservation, settled in 1855 and established by presidential executive order in 1857, was terminated by Congress, and the tribal people lost their Federal recognition. The seven ratified treaties that ceded to the United States millions of acres ofland, most ofwestern Oregon, which was occupied by over 60 tribal nations, were nullified. These 60 tribes were declared by Congress to be assimilated, and termination was enacted to free them from continued government management and oppression. v In western Oregon, native people appeared to cease to exist, and for 29 years the Grand Ronde descendants suffered disenfranchisement and a multitude ofsocial problems. The reservation's tribal cultures, languages, and community were severely fractured and much was lost. Terminated tribal members were rejected by other tribes as having willingly sold out to the Federal government. During the post-termination era, despite all ofthe problems the tribal members faced, they found ways to survive and worked to restore the tribe. In 1983, the Grand Ronde Tribe was restored. This research gathers disparate information from political, anthropological, historical, and tribal sources to analyze and understand the termination ofthe Grand Ronde Reservation. Revealed are the many political issues ofthe 1940s and 1950s that contributed to termination. Oral histories and government correspondence and reports from the era are referenced to illuminate the reality oftribal life in the post-termination era. The research connects to historic strategies ofthe Federal government to colonize all aboriginal lands and to assimilate Indians. Finally, this study seeks to unveil the history ofthe Grand Ronde Reservation and its peoples so that the tribal people may understand and recover from the effects ofthe termination ofthe tribe. The continued effects oftermination are explored, discussed, and connected to issues oftribal identity and indigenous decolonization. Vl CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: David Gene Lewis PLACE OF BIRTH: Heidelberg, Germany DATE OF BIRTH: May 13, 1965 GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Anthropology, 2009, University of Oregon Master of Arts in Anthropology, 2000, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, 1997, University of Oregon Associate of Arts in Humanities, 1994, Santa Rosa Junior College AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Northwest Coast Indigenous Ethnography Decolonizing Anthropology PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Department Manager, Cultural Resources Department, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, 2+ years. Director/Coordinator, Southwest Oregon Research Project, Department of Anthropology, Coquille Indian Tribe, 8 years. VB Instructor, ANTH 231, Native North American Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon, 2007. Instructor, ANTH 310, Oregon Tribal Tennination, University of Oregon, Morse Center for Law and Department of Anthropology, Eugene, 2007. Instructor, ANTH 310, Oregon Native History and Culture, University of Oregon, Department of Anthropology, Eugene, 2006. Instructor, ANTH 310, Indigenous Stories of the Americas, with Lynn Stephen, University of Oregon, Department of Anthropology, Eugene, 2006. GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS: Higher Education Fulltime Graduate Scholarship, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, 2007. Community Grant, Southwest Oregon Research Project: Phase Three, Coquille Indian Tribe, 2006. Smithsonian Institution Research Fellowship, Washington D.C., 2006. Jacobs Research Fund Award, Whatcom Museum, 2006. Morse Fellowship Teaching Award, University of Oregon, 2006. Department of Anthropology Teaching Award, University of Oregon, 2006. American Indian Graduate Studies Fellowship, American Indian Graduate Center 2004. Higher Education Fulltime Graduate Scholarship, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, 2002. Gary E. Smith Summer Research Grant, University of Oregon, 2003. Achievement Award, Office of Multicultural Affairs, University of Oregon, 2002. Honors, 2002 Honoring Nations Award, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Southwest Oregon Research Project, SWORP Researcher & Coordinator, 2002. V111 Joel Palmer Award: Honorable Mention "Ourigan; Wealth of the Northwest Coast." Oregon Historical Quarterly Summer 2001, 101(2), with R. Scott Byram. Oregon Historical Society, 2001. Department of Anthropology Conference Reimbursement Award, University of Oregon, 200 I. Graduate School Research Reimbursement Award, University of Oregon, 2000. American Indian Graduate Studies Fellowship, American Indian Graduate Center, 1999. Higher Education Fulltime Graduate Scholarship, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, 1999. Graduate School Research Reimbursement Award, University of Oregon, 1998. Smithsonian Institution Research Fellowship, Washington D.C., 1998. Laurel Award for Graduate Studies, University of Oregon, 1997. Higher Education Fulltime Graduate Scholarship, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, 1997. Higher Education Fulltime Undergraduate Scholarship, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, 1995. UMASJ Laurel Award for Juniors, University of Oregon, 1995. Doyle Grant, Santa Rosa Junior College, 1992. Dean's Highest Honors, Santa Rosa Junior College, CA, 1992. Dean's High Honors, Santa Rosa Junior College, CA, 1991. Dean's Honors, Santa Rosa Junior College, CA, 1991. ix PUBLICAnONS: Byram, R. Scott and David G. Lewis 2001 Ourigan; Wealth of the Northwest Coast, Oregon Historical Quarterly, 101(2), Oregon Historical Society, Portland. Erlandson, Jon and Jason Younker, David G. Lewis 2002 University of Oregon Anthropology: Building Bridges with Pacific Northwest Tribes, Anthropology at the University of Oregon, Department of Anthropology. Lewis, David G. 2008 Indian War in 1855 Changes Plans for Wholesale Removal to Coast Reservation. In Smoke Signals. Grand Ronde: Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. 2008 Coast Reservation's Boundaries Fluctuate During Its Formation. In Smoke Signals. Grand Ronde: Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. 2007 Tribal Members Were Jammin': At the Grand Ronde and Siletz reservations, canning industry flourished for several decades. In Smoke Signals. Grand Ronde: Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. 2002 Kalapuya Calendar. In Smoke Signals, Grand Ronde: Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. 2002 Native Experiences and Perspectives as Revealed in the Indian Correspondence in the SWORP Archival Collection. Changing Landscapes, Volume 3. Coquille Indian Tribe, North Bend, Oregon. 2003 The Southwest Oregon Research Project: A Source for Oregon Indian Ethnohistory, Current Archaeological Happenings in Oregon. 26(3). Association of Oregon Archaeologists, State Museum of Anthropology, Eugene. 2001 Southwest Oregon Research Project: Inventory to the Archival Collection. University of Oregon Library System, Eugene. 2001 The Tolowa Deeni Fish Camp Nomination and its Meaning to Public Anthropology. University of Hawaii-Manoa Edition, Public Anthropology: the Graduate Journal 2. 2001 Ethnographic Histories of a Tolowa Deeni Fish Camp. Changing Landscapes, Volume 2. Coquille Indian Tribe, North Bend, Oregon. x 2000 Tolowa Deeni Fish Camp: a Traditional Cultural and Archaeological Property Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Master's of Arts Paper, University of Oregon, Department of Anthropology, Eugene. Lewis, David G. and Deanna Kingston 2007 Oregon Native Language Archival Resources. in: Teaching Oregon Native Languages: Chapter 4, Joan Gross, Editor, Oregon State University Press. Tveskov, Mark and Jason Younker, David G. Lewis, Eds. 2001 Changing Landscapes. Volume 2. Coquille Indian Tribe, North Bend, Oregon. xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First ofall,