The Kalapuya Who Have Lived in the Willamette Valley Since Time Immemorial
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2 Facing Statehood Curriculum Mission Mill Museum is a 5-acre historic site that houses the 1841 Jason Lee House, 1841 Willamette Mission Parsonage, 1847 John Boon House, 1858 Pleasant Grove Church and the 1896 Th omas Kay Woolen Mill. Th rough these buildings, the Museum interprets the lives of those people who have lived and worked in the Willamette Valley. Since its founding in 1964, the Museum has established a reputation as a leader in the preservation and interpretation of Oregon’s history. Th e Museum is now expanding its scope to become a premier history museum, a goal that was embodied in the award-winning Facing Statehood exhibition. Th is Curriculum Guide is designed to enhance teachers’ abilities to utilize Mission Mill Museum’s Oregon sesquicentennial exhibition, Facing Statehood, as well as the Museum’s Early Settlement Houses and Activities. Th is exhibition, which opened February 14, 2009, explores the years prior to the coming of non-Native people to the Willamette Valley up through Oregon’s entering the Union in 1859. Facing Statehood spotlights the infl uences, confl icts and actions that led to its admission as the 33rd state. Th e exhibition opens with the Kalapuya who have lived in the Willamette Valley since time immemorial. From there, the story moves into the period of drastic changes brought by explorers, trappers and missionaries. Th e initial infl ux of newcomers triggered a great migration of settlers who soon sparked the debate over the region’s political future. Finally, it explores the intrigue, disputes, agreements and actions that led to statehood. Facing Statehood is one of the largest museum exhibitions dedicated to Oregon’s sesquicentennial. In recognition of the Museum’s curatorial eff orts in researching, developing and installing Facing Statehood, the Oregon Tourism Commission and Travel Oregon honored Mission Mill Museum with their Travel Heritage Award at the 2009 Governor’s Conference on Tourism. Mission Mill Museum has many other school tour off erings and activities in addition to Facing Statehood, including: Early Settlement Tour: Focuses on the Kalapuya peoples, the Methodist Mission to the Oregon Country and early Immigration to the Oregon Territory. Oregon in the Industrial Age Tour: Uses the Th omas Kay Woolen Mill and the lives of its workers as a focal point for learning about the transition from agriculture to industry in Oregon. Th e Kalapuya Activity: Students learn through discussion and activities to better understand the fi rst people of the Willamette Valley. Pioneer Life Activity: A hands-on exploration of the lives of the early settlers in Oregon. School Days Activity: An examination of what a day was like for rural Oregon students in the mid/late 19th century. A costumed school master leads students through lesson plans of the past. Fiber to Fabric Activity: Participants discover how various natural and man-made fi bers were processed through a hands-on exploration of carding, spinning, dyeing and weaving. Power Up Activity: Th is activity introduces energy sources, including their benefi ts and drawbacks, and how they are harnessed for use. Dig It! Activity: Students discuss research design, scientifi c methods and archaeological standards while excavating boxes with items that might be found on the Mission Mill property. All of Mission Mill Museum’s Tours and Activities help teachers meet the Oregon Academic Content Standards. For more information on how Mission Mill Museum’s programs help teachers please contact us at 503-585-7012 or visit our website at www.missionmill.org. Th is Curriculum Guide was made possible through grants from the Oregon Heritage Commission and the City of Salem. Mission Mill Museum 1313 Mill Street S.E., Salem, Oregon 97301 (503) 585-7012 Online at www.missionmill.org 3 Table of Contents Section I: Oregon’s First People - The Kalapuya .....................Page 4 Section I: Pre-Visit lessons ...............................................................Page 12 Section I: Post-Visit lessons ...........................................................Page 20 Section II: When Things Changed ..............................................Page 24 Section II: Pre-Visit Lessons ..............................................................Page 32 Section II: Post-Visit Lessons ..........................................................Page 36 Section III: Steps to Statehood .....................................................Page 44 Section III: Pre-Visit Lessons............................................................Page 54 Section III: Post-Visit Lessons..........................................................Page 61 Bibliography....................................................................................................Page 69 Photos on cover, top to bottom, left to right: Portland, and later Tacoma, Washington, resident George Putnam Riley, 1833-1905 (Image from the Tacoma Daily Ledger). Th e Oregon Institute - Salem Public Library #4124. Grand Ronde Police in 1890 - Courtesy of CTGR Cultural Resources Department Archives. Fort Vancouver by Gustav Sohon -1854 (Fort Vancouver National Historic Site). Settler on his way to Oregon during the Great Depression - Library of Congress. Th e Seal of the Territory of Oregon - Oregon State Archives. 4 Facing Statehood Curriculum Section I: Oregon’s First People - The Kalapuya Theme To illustrate to students the vast changes the Kalapuya people experienced, beginning in the late 1700s through February 14, 1859, when Oregon became a state. Students explore the complex issues facing Kalapuya society, from surviving diseases to living through their removal to reservations in the 1850s. Program Objectives After students have completed this curriculum guide, visited the Facing Statehood exhibition, and/or the Methodist Mission/Early Settlement Homes, and/or participated in the Kalapuya Activity, they should be able to: •List at least three things that impacted Native life from 1800-1859, and discuss how their lives and culture adapted. •Retell how the arrival of non-Native settlers and the diseases they brought affected the Kalapuya. •Retell four things, positive or negative, that occurred for Native Oregonians between 1800-1859. •Describe the “lifestyle” and “culture” of the Kalapuya. •Concisely summarize the arrival of the earliest settlers and the impact they had on Oregon’s, specifically the Willamette Valley’s, First People. Introduction Th e Kalapuya lived in the Willamette Valley since time immemorial. Th eir culture was vibrant and complex. Th ey were a semi-nomadic people who hunted and gathered their food and lived in small bands. With the arrival of the “White Man,” diseases and “Manifest Destiny,” life for the Kalapuya (and other Native Americans in Oregon) would be forever changed. Th eir population would experience a dramatic and devastating decline, their lands would be taken and claimed by outsiders, past hunting and gathering grounds would be declared off -limits to them, and a way of life would be lost for generations. Th is period of drastic changes culminated in the forced removal of the Kalapuya to the Grand Ronde Reservation in 1856. Th e removal to the reservation, and the fact that more than 26 distinct and disparate groups and bands were forced to live together, would continue to have a lasting impact on Native culture into the present day. Language According to linguist Henry Zink, each Kalapuya group spoke a distinct dialect that can be broken into three language families: the Tualatin- Yamhill, Santiam and Yoncalla. Th e Tualatin-Yamhill was the most northern language family, followed by the central Santiam and then the southern Yoncalla. Even though each tribe spoke its own distinct dialect, they could converse with their neighbors. Th e Pacifi c Northwest was a rich trade area, with Chinuk Wawa being used as Th is engraving from a sketch by Alfred T. Agate the common trade language. Th is trade language would be a critical depicts a Kalapuya man dressed in pre-contact asset to Native Peoples when many diff erent groups were confederated clothing. University of Washington Library, onto Oregon’s nine reservations. At Grand Ronde there were more Special Collection, NA #4005. than 26 diff erent bands sent to live together on the 69,000 acre 5 reservation located at the headwaters of the South Yamhill River in Polk County, on the eastern side of the Coast Range. In 1887, it was whittled to 33,000 acres; in 1901, it was about 7,000 acres; at one point reaching a low of roughly 500 acres. Today, the reservation is approximately 10,300 acres. Each of the groups on the reservation had its own language and culture. Chinuk Wawa allowed them to communicate during a very Section i: diffi cult time. Oregon’s First Hunting-Gathering Culture People Th e Kalapuya people were hunters and - The gatherers. Th ey worked hard during spring, Kalapuya summer and fall, hunting and gathering when food was plentiful, and then they spent much of the winter months, when food was much more scarce, in their plank homes. Winters were a time for telling their history and passing it on to younger generations through spoken traditions/oral histories. Th e Kalapuya did not have a written language and some of these oral histories could take days to tell. Th ese oral histories contained important information, such as their creation Native American Language Map: Western Oregon story, their belief system and ethics, their community and family histories, and stories that illustrated acceptable behavior and morality.