TA.BLE ROCK $2.50 . , . I " .. : � .. 8' '< ; ; '' ; Ten Thousand Years Ago d.�� SOUTHERN ····HISIDRICAL ==== o i OREGON_ SOCIETY · and Today §(';';J 1'14" AdministrativeStaff Depuly Director, Public Relations'Officer: JoyL. Comstock . DevelopmentDirector: Ted K Lawson Native Americans lived in the southern Oregon region for at least ten thou­ sand years before white settlement. Now their creekside villages are gone, but there is much today's residents can learn by studying the native people's suc­ cessful adaptation to their environment. The public can take advantage of an opportunity to learn from the Indians of southwest Oregon at a symposium co-sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society, Southern Oregon Anthropological Society at Southern Ore­ gon State College, American Indian Cultural Institute, and Oregon Committee for the Humanities. The symposium Living with the Land· The Indians of South­ west Oregon is scheduled for October 19-21 on the Southern Oregon State Col­ lege campus (for a complete schedule see pages 12-13 of this issue). In addition, the Society opens an exhibit, also titled Living with the Land: The Indians of Southwest Oregon, in the SOSC Stevenson Union Gallery on October 11. The exhibit runs through November 7. In conjunction with these events, this issue of the Table Rock Sentinel fea­ tures a Native American theme. Tw o symposium speakers, Dr. Thomas J. Con­ nolly and Dr. Robert Winthrop, contributed articles on the prehistory and present history of local Native Americans. Sue Wa ldron, one of the Society'S principal researchers for the exhibit, prepared a story on Chief John's role in the Rogue Indian Wars. Reflecting the spectrum of symposium presentations, the articles range in style from academic to popular. All events are free and open to the public . .. · ·#(r132c05i3 l'f()pattift�i� . }n�'I'a�!ek�Ck���iihejls. RubliSl1eCl.bi�O?thly�y.th� So;�then�()r�- · .AII;;1�hisr�served, 'pllbHc(ltioIl.• may be .. �011I'fjstoric�!l So6ietY:A:c1ministrative and men:IJershipo ffices �re . repdn�ed�vi�holl�writtel1pennissionjrom(he Society. .' �t206 N.FifthSt.;J (lck�<?l1viIIe, QR97530-0480 .Subscription is free,' > GON!RIBUTI9N-S:Addr��s all editorial cornmunications to Table .}vith ���bership.Single opies al!�back issues ar�. av(liIablefor$2.50 . Rock.Sentinel,p.O. Box48(); Jacks�nvme,OR.97530�0480. We. are · � . · · � . · . .. • • ..•. •.. ' ..•• . ..• •••.• . be ��ch . ••.. ....••..•.. • .••.. • . .••••.•.. .. • . • · happyto onsiderqueries and. contributions. All !11aterial must .. .•• . f •..••.•.. POSTi\1ASTER:Pleas� �end Change bfAddress(form\3579). .to ide?tifi�d :;vi.ththe sel1d�r'sname and address,ancl wilI be returned .. > . Southern Oregon HistoricalSociety, P.O. Box480, JacksonvilIe, OR ifsennvitii sufficientpcistage.Care is takenwith ccintributions, bu� . .. 97530:0480. .' .. " .. '., .. '.. " "1ve are not responsible fOr damage or loss, TheSocietydiscIaims G()pyrigllt©I989bySoutherrt()reg()nHistori2�1Society. ISSN responsibilityfor· facts or opinions expressedin signed c.ontributions. VOLUME 9, NUMBER 5 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1989 p.2 p. 14 p.22 2 Points, Patterns & Prehistory by Thomas 1. Connolly Archaeological digs in southern Oregon and northern California have yielded myriad artifacts belonging to a world before the encroachment of the white man. Archaeologist Thomas Connolly offers insight into the methods used to determine cultural patterns in the lives of prehistoric native peoples through examination of these artifacts. 12 Living with the Land: The Indians of Southwest Oregon A comprehensive schedule of the speakers appearing at the forthcoming Native American symposium. 14 "I am going to fight until I die": Chief John and the Rogue Indian Wars by Sue Waldron A central figure in the Rogue Indian Wars, Chief John led a small band living on the Applegate River. The struggle to retain his people's homeland was at times violent, valiant and in the end unsuccessful. 22 Persistent Peoples: Mechanisms of Cultural Survival By Robert Winthrop Contemporary Native Americans have retained their culture, traditions and identity despite years of contact and assimilation by the dominant Euro-American society. Ten Thousand Years Ago and Today (inside front cover) 30 From the Collections 31 Then and Now 32 Calendar of Events Front cover: An unidentified Native Back cover: Six miners pause for a American woman SOHS #8895 portrait, possibly at the Sterling Creek mine. SOHS #8525 hose whose profession it is to study spoke Hokan languages. ancient languages have traced vestiges of five By contrast, Athapaskan-speakingl peo­ great language families among the vanished ples occupied the Pacific coast of southern peoples who once inhabited scattered valleys, Oregon and northern California at the begin­ ranges and basins in southwestern Oregon ning of the historic period. Far to the north, and northwestern California. These five fam­ in central Alaska and throughout most of ilies can be assigned to two groups: those western Canada, native inhabitants spoke who have been in the area for many millen­ related Athapaskan languages. Linguists who nia, and those who have been in the area for have studied these languages believe that 8000 years or less. Pacific Athapaskan speakers separated from Tracing the words these mysterious inhabi­ their northern linguistic relatives between tants spoke helps to identify them in a very 1,500 and 1,000 years ago, and subsequently broad sense. Now archaeologists are examin­ migrated to their historic position within the ing the physical evidence of the Native last 1,000 years. Americans' past that has been excavated The two blocks of Pacific Athapaskan lan­ from sites in the region to see how - if at guages in the Klamath Mountain region were all -the arrowheads, scrapers, mortars and separated by the Yu rok and Wiyot in the other artifacts identify the ancient peoples lower Klamath River/Humbolt Bay region. in a more particular sense. The Yu rok and Wiyot languages are distantly Does the physical evidence support the related to the Algonquin languages of east­ theories of changing cultures suggested by ern North America, and have been classified the differences the linguists have discovered? together with them in the Algic language The answer is incomplete, but intriguing. family. Like their Athapaskan-speaking Speakers of languages which linguists neighbors, the Yurok and Wiyot are consid­ believe have great antiquity in the region ered to be relatively late arrivals to the area occupied the interior portions of southwest (after about AD 900). Oregon and northern California. Linguists The relative recency of the Athapaskan­ have assigned historic Native American lan­ Algic presence in southwest Oregon and guages in this region primarily to two impor­ northern California has motivated anthro­ tant groups: the Penutian and Hokan. pologists to think about the possibility of Pockets of Penutian languages once existed identifying an immigrant population in the from British Columbia to Central America, archaeological record. Could it be possible a scattered distribution that implies they were to identify evidence for an ancient spoken in western North America for many indigenous cultural tradition in the region, thousands of years. The Oregon Ta kelma and then pick out cultural elements that are rela­ California Wintu spoke languages classified tively more recent as evidence that other peo­ as Penutian. Some linguists believe that the ples intruded on the ancient ones? Beyond Hokan presence may be even more ancient. this, what does the archaeological record say The Shasta and Karok, who occupied the about such changes in prehistoric culture for Klamath River Valley of northern California, which there are no linguistic clues? (a) he artifacts of any society-whether notched, corner-notched and basally­ clothing, house architecture, or com­ notched projectile points (Gunther Series), mon kitchen utensils - change over metates (flat grinding stones) and occasional time. Among the most fundamental tasks of ceramics (called Siskiyou Utility Ware). 3 archaeology is to map such changes using the Olivella shell and pine-nut beads are also fre­ material remains of past human societies. In quently associated with these assemblages. investigating a prehistoric site, archaeologists Many Siskiyou Pattern sites can be charac­ prefer to identify discrete periods of occu­ terized as villages, and contained circular pation, so artifacts from a specific period can houses covered with conical bark-and-timber be compared and contrasted with those from roofs. Sites of the Siskiyou Pattern are con­ another time. At some sites the artifacts are centrated in the interior regions of northern considered together as being more or less California and southwest Oregon (middle contemporaneous. At other sites, however, Klamath and upper Rogue River areas), and different periods of occupation can be dis­ have associated radiocarbon dates that fall cerned. A collection of artifacts from a site, within the last 1,700 years. or from a single discernible period within a The third group of sites represents the site, is called an assemblage. Glade Tradition, which is distinguished by Archaeologists have recently attempted to broad-necked side-notched and stemmed classify assemblage from 38 sites in south­ projectile points, willow leaf-shaped points west Oregon and northern California into (serrated and unserrated), shouldered con­ meaningful cultural units. The first group of tracting stem points, stone bowl