Teacher Guide for 7th-12th Grades

Teacher Guide for 7th – 12th Grades

for use with the educational DVD

Tribal Perspectives

on American History in the Northwest

The Regional Learning Project collaborates with tribal educators

to produce top quality, primary resource materials about

Native Americans and regional history.

Teacher Guide prepared by

Bob Boyer, Shana Brown, Kim Lugthart, Elizabeth Sperry, and Sally Thompson

Regional Learning Project at the University of Montana–Missoula grants teachers permission to

photocopy the activity pages from this book for classroom use. No other part of this publication

may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any

form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without

written permission of the publisher. For more information regarding permission, write to Regional

Learning Project, UM Continuing Education, Missoula, MT 59812.

First Edition

Regional Learning Project extends grateful acknowledgement

to the tribal representatives contributing to this project.

The following is a list of those appearing in the DVD Tribal Perspectives on American

History in the Northwest, from interviews conducted by Sally Thompson, Ph.D.

Lewis Malatare (Yakama)

Lee Bourgeau (Nez Perce)

Allen Pinkham (Nez Perce)

Julie Cajune (Salish)

Pat Courtney Gold (Wasco)

Maria Pascua (Makah)

Armand Minthorn (Cayuse–Nez Perce)

Cecelia Bearchum (Walla Walla–Yakama)

Vernon Finley (Kootenai)

Otis Halfmoon (Nez Perce)

Louis Adams (Salish)

Kathleen Gordon (Cayuse–Walla Walla)

Felix Aripa (Coeur d’Alene)

Cliff Sijohn (Coeur d’Alene)

Jamie Valadez (Elwha Klallam)

Marjorie Waheneka (Cayuse–Palouse)

Dick Basch (Clatsop-Nehalem)

Bobbie Conner (Cayuse–Nez Perce–Umatilla)

Joe Scovell (Clatsop-Nehalem)

George Lagergren (Chinook)

Francis Cullooyah (Kalispel)

Rob Collier (Nez Perce–Walla Walla–Wyam)

Gary Johnson (Chinook)

Edward Claplanhoo (Makah)

Janine Bowechop (Makah)

Stan Bluff (Kalispel)

Acknowledgements

Letter from the Filmmaker 1

Letter from an Educator 3

Getting Started 5

Pre-Viewing Activities 9

Chapter 1 – Introduction 11

Chapter 2 – History through Oral Tradition 17

Chapter 3 – Before Contact 25

Chapter 4 – First Contact (1791-1806) 31

Chapter 5 – Advent of the Fur Trade and its Consequences (1806-1835) 39

Chapter 6 – Missionaries and Early Settlers (1835-1851) 45

Chapter 7 – The Treaties (1851-1856) 51

Chapter 8 – Treaty Aftermath – Nez Perce Story (1856-1877) 67

Chapter 9 – Reections 73

Appendix I: Teaching Resources 77

Appendix II: Standards 83

Appendix III: DBQ Assignment 87

Appendix IV: Deep Mapping 99

Appendix V: Timeline 103

Supplements: Maps; timeline resources inside back cover

Table of Contents

Teacher Guide for 7th – 12th Grades

for use with the educational DVD

Tribal Perspectives

on American History in the Northwest

Letter from the Filmmaker

In 2001, Ken Furrow and I began work on a lm project focused on tribes along the

Lewis & Clark Trail. The underlying intention was to provide balance to the celebrations

surrounding the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial by showing how their journey and its conse-

quences are viewed by the descendants of the Indian tribes they had encountered along

the way. The stories we heard were so compelling that we decided to expand the scope

to include more tribes in the Northwest in order to produce this DVD with a focus on the

Northwest. We were awarded a grant from the National Park Service in 2005 in order to

conduct additional interviews.

The content for Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest comes from

oral histories and from visual and narrative sources covering history from tribal memory.

This history begins long before Europeans arrived and continues right up to the present

day. Working with tribal educators to identify appropriate spokespeople, we conducted

in-depth interviews with over 50 people from 15 tribes in the Northwest. Their stories

of rst contact, the fur trade, missionaries, treaties, miners, and homesteaders provide

the content, for this easy to use, chaptered format, designed as a supplement to Middle

School American history textbook subjects.

This project is undertaken in cooperation with the tribes, working with educators from

the region, and being served by a team of tribal advisors working in a design and review

capacity. We want to thank Jack and Claire Nisbet, the teachers who reviewed the draft

material, especially Shana Brown, and Denny Hurtado from OSPI in Washington State for

creating the opportunity for us to share a draft version at the WSIEA conference in 2006.

As a means to introduce differing perspectives about regional history, the voices and

thoughts expressed here will initiate productive discussions among your students. It is our

hope that the information provided by these tribal educators will result in an increased

understanding of and openness toward the many different cultures that inhabit and shape

this region, increased knowledge of regional history, and increased understanding of the

different forms of government in the Northwest.

To further your exploration of the subject matter discussed in this lm, go to

www.trailtribes.org. You’ll nd there a wealth of primary source materials to extend and

expand the content.

Sally Thompson, Ph.D.

Producer–Director

Tribal Perspectives

on American History in the Northwest

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Tribal Perspectives

on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Letter to My Colleagues

As a teacher of seventeen plus years, I’ve learned one very, very important lesson: Time

marches on, and the teaching that doesn’t become ‘entrenched’ becomes ‘tried and

true.’ You get your rhythm, catch your stride, whatever you want to call it, once you’ve

gotten it, it’s damn hard to let go of it.

Case in point: In 2002 I collected native resources for the social studies department

where I teach. I presented it to the department, got a bunch of nods, and “That’s cool”s,

and I can tell you that the materials are gathering dust on the shelf as I write. I can count

on one hand the times teachers have checked them out.

My colleagues are not bad teachers; the materials just required too much of them. I’m as

guilty as the next teacher…I go to a conference, get introduced to amazing resources, get

pumped up, and then…Monday comes. You take a look at what you’re teaching, and

you just can’t decide what to throw out to make room for that new unit.

So you don’t.

Undeterred, I took a second, third, and eighth stab at it. And then I got smart. I stopped

swimming against the current and started thinking of ways to integrate materials effort-

lessly and seamlessly into what social studies and English teachers already teach. My goal

then, as it is now, is to have at teachers’ ngertips everything they need to teach with

condence. The materials, the activity sheets, the research, where to go for further study.

And it’s for good reason.

I argue that good teachers don’t teach tribal history—or very much of it—not because

they’re racist or insensitive. It’s because they’re afraid of getting it wrong or they don’t

know how to start or where to go. The tribes in their areas, though mostly eager and

forthcoming with materials and information, can seem so inaccessible to the non-Indian.

Teachers may feel like outsiders and choose not to engage at all. That’s where we come

in.

Tribal Perspectives is comprised of a series of interviews organized in chapters that

correspond with state and US history standards and major units of study. All the

interviews are transcribed for student and teacher use, and we’ve provided reproducible

activity sheets for your students. Primary documents, like treaties and early maps,

are reproduced for reference and other student activities. And most importantly, the

interviews are beyond powerful, beyond beautiful, beyond triumphant, and beyond

heartbreaking. Tribal people nally have an unfettered voice in our region’s history.

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

I suggest two ways to use Tribal Perspectives in your classrooms. Since the lm is broken

into small chapters, use one or two chapters at a time to make complete your lessons as

you teach Lewis & Clark, Westward Movement, Native Cultures units, Contemporary

World Problems, statehood, and so on, throughout the year. Or use it as an entire unit.

As the teacher, you get to choose what ts best your classroom.

Tribal Perspectives is the most honest account of Indian existence before and after rst

contact that I’ve ever encountered, and I’ve been digging for over seventeen years. There

is no publisher’s lter through which these oral histories are muddied. There is no chance

that difcult history is obscured or trivialized. Tribal Perspectives pulls no punches when

coming to recounted memories of broken treaties, encroachment, and the subsequent

distrust in anything non-Indian. As a descendant of the Yakama Nation, I condently stand

by Tribal Perspectives’ accuracy and its respect for tribal history and tradition.

When my journey as a tribal history researcher and writer began, I visited my Auntie at

Yakama Nation Fisheries to get more materials. Her boss asked what I was doing. When

I told him I was writing curriculum, he asked, “Are you going to get it right?” Sheepishly I

nodded, “I hope so.” And then he said all that needed to be said, “You’d better.”

We did.

Shana Brown

Educator and Technology Specialist

Shoreline Public Schools, Washington

Getting Started

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest is designed for use at the

middle and high school level. It is a living document representing the traditions,

history, and wisdom of the indigenous peoples of the American Northwest.

Through the viewing of this DVD, you’ll feel like a participant in a dialogue, hearing

perspectives that are not commonly heard in today’s public classrooms.

Topics/Themes

The content is rich and multi-faceted, and covers a range of topics,

including:

the responsibilities of human beings to care for the land•

the importance of place-names on the landscape•

treaty history and the reservation experience•

the impacts of boarding schools•

the revival of native languages•

the legacy of repatriation•

Most importantly, you’ll hear participants discuss the future of the

homelands that their ancestors have cared for “since time immemorial.”

Using this Teacher Guide

We’ve designed this guide to aid you in extending and expanding your

exploration of the topics introduced. In thinking about your teaching

responsibilities, we’ve designed learning activities in keeping with National

Standards in Social Science and Language Arts (see tables in Appendix II).

Due to the density of information covered, we suggest that you rst preview

the entire DVD to determine how the material can be integrated into your

overall coursework. You may wish to review the material in the classroom

one chapter at a time, to achieve the greatest student understanding.

The Pre-Viewing Activities on page 9 can assist you in establishing context

for the history of the region. These activities include primary documents for

you to copy and distribute to the class, providing history-driven Language

Arts lessons.

Getting Started

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

The DVD (75 minutes total running time) is divided into nine chapters that

range from 3 to 27 minutes in length, listed here with time codes for each:

Chapter 1: Introduction (4:15 minutes)•

Chapter 2: History Through Oral Tradition (7:20 min)•

Chapter 3: Before Contact (6:55 min)•

Chapter 4: First Contact (10:00 min)•

Chapter 5: Advent of the Fur Trade and its Consequences (7:20 min)•

Chapter 6: Missionaries and Early Settlers (6:50 min)•

Chapter 7: The Treaties (27:00 min)•

Chapter 8: Treaty Aftermath - Nez Perce Story (5:30 min)•

Chapter 9: Reections (3:55 min) •

Features in each Chapter

At the beginning of each chapter, you will nd materials arranged as follows (where

applicable):

Pre-Viewing Activities

Key Concepts

Vocabulary Terms

Places

People

Essential Questions

Post-Viewing Activities

Transcript text (verbatim text from each chapter of the lm)

The suggested Pre-Viewing Activities for Key Concepts, Vocabulary,

Places, People, and Essential Questions are intended to deepen students’

understanding of content; Post-Viewing Activities are provided to expand the

learning opportunities presented in the lm and guide.

These features will help you orient students to the historical and cultural

concepts, new vocabulary, geography and the people of the region. Key

Concepts are highlighted as being important to the understanding of the

narrative of the interviews. The Vocabulary, Places and People offer

opportunities to further enhance overall understanding of the material covered.

The complete transcript text for each chapter is included to provide an easy

reference to the materials presented in the DVD. This text is an exact rendition

of each individual’s interview in the DVD; therefore, the text reects the

nuances of each speaker regardless of language usage and/or spelling.

The appendices in this guide provide you with a catalogued suggested reading

list, the state and national curriculum standards specic to this guide and

accompanying DVD, and complete resources for the pre-viewing activities

described on page 9.

Examples of Activities

The following activities are general suggestions and guidelines for using the

features in this guide to integrate the material provided in each chapter into your

classroom. Specic suggestions are included at the beginning of each chapter.

Key Concepts Activity 1 – Jigsaw

Divide class into equal groups.1.

Assign each group an equal number of key concepts to investigate.2.

Using the library and the internet, attempt to dene the meaning of 3.

each concept. Discuss how each concept relates to US history or

the particular unit they are presently studying.

Report your ndings to the rest of the class by answering the 4.

following questions:

Describe your understanding of the concept.•

How might this concept apply to Indian tribes in the Northwest?•

How might this concept apply to non-tribal people and groups?•

Key Concepts Activity 2 – Predicting

Have each student pick (a number) of terms from the list of key 1.

concepts.

Give the class ten minutes to free write the denition of each of the 2.

terms they have chosen. What do they think the term means?

After watching the DVD chapter, have the students review their 3.

predictions. Were they correct? What are some of the context

clues in the documentary that helped them to get the denition?

Vocabulary Terms Activity – Building Vocabulary

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, have students develop a working 1.

denition for each vocabulary word.

Optional– have students report after viewing how their vocabulary 2.

word was used in the chapter they viewed.

Optional– Have students nd real world or researched instances 3.

of the term during their study of this unit (not just its occurrence,

but how, for example, misconceptions might have affected the

President’s initial view on global warming).

Getting Started

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Places Activity

As a geographic orientation to each chapter, use the maps provided

in the pocket inside the back cover of this guide.

Use the “Base Map: USGS Northwest States” and “Northwest Tribal

Homeland Territories” maps to compare historic and contemporary

locations of Indian people.

Consider the place names provided at the beginning of each

chapter, and whether they can be located on the contemporary

or historic maps. If not, speculate on why. How are these places

important to the story being told? Can you locate each place on a

map, using a web quest if needed?

Also, please see the Deep Mapping Assignment for each chapter, in

Appendix IV of this guide.

People Activity

Consider the names of people provided at the beginning of

each chapter. Determine whether they are the names of tribes,

individuals, groups of people, etc.

If they are names of tribes, nd historic and contemporary locations

on the maps provided, if possible. If they are names of individuals,

what can you nd out about them? (Students could start a regional

biography project.) If groups of people, how are they important to

the history being told?

Essential Questions Activity

Teacher Directions:

Before your students view each chapter, read aloud the essential

questions and have students think of their initial response to the

questions. (Optional–have them write their initial responses.)

Make individual students or student groups responsible for

becoming the ‘expert’ of the questions you have assigned them

and report back to the class after they have viewed this chapter.

Student directions:

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, focus on the essential questions your

teacher has assigned you. Think about the questions during and

after your viewing of this chapter.

Prepare a response to your assigned questions and share with your

group or class, as directed by your teacher.

Visit www.trailtribes.org, for additional information

on many of the tribes along the trails followed by Lewis and Clark.

Pre-Viewing Activities

Each chapter is self-contained with both pre-viewing and post-viewing activities included

for your convenience. In addition, we provide three acitivities here, with detailed

instructions and supplemental material supplied in appendices, to deepen and expand the

understanding of the subjects covered in the DVD.

The following activities are designed for students to investigate primary sources and learn

about some of the experiences of Native American people. The activities are designed to

provide some background knowledge for your students when viewing the accompanying

DVD Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest.

The original documents and instructions for these activities are attached in the Appendices

located at the end of this guide, as directed below. The map resources and timelines are

located inside the back cover.

Document Based Question (DBQ) assignment (Appendix III):

Students are instructed to read a primary source document. They then

answer a series of “scaffolding” questions designed to help students build

a foundation for responding to the essay question that follows.

Appendix III contains complete instructions.

Deep Mapping Assignment (Appendix IV):

Each chapter of this guide has corresponding Deep Mapping prompts to

be completed prior to viewing. Historical and contemporary maps are

provided for the completion of the assignment. Students may create their

own maps, reecting the historical and geographical variances of the

history of the American Northwest.

Appendix IV contains complete instructions.

Timeline Assignment (Appendix V):

Native peoples of the Americas continue to utilize traditional methods

for keeping their tribal histories. Oral traditions and various time-keeping

methods such as Winter Counts on the Great Plains, or Time Balls in the

Northwest are such examples. This activity is designed for students to

reect upon their own stories about who they are and where they live.

Appendix V contains complete instructions.

Pre–Viewing Activities

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

This chapter argues that the ability to tell one’s own history is vital in getting a well-

rounded picture of a particular event.

Suggestion: integrate this content into the beginning of your Manifest Destiny unit, or

any lesson where primary documents are used.

Pre-Viewing Activities (20-40 minutes)

Key Concepts

written history and the power of dening people

political identity – United States history and Tribal history

oral tradition: Indian values and beliefs

expansion of the Northwest

Predicting Activity

Break students into four groups, with each group taking one 1.

of the concepts provided above. Ask each group to predict

how their concept relates to US history.

Report back to the class, and make sure each group focuses 2.

on revisiting their key concept after the viewing of this

chapter.

Vocabulary Terms

ideology myths

misconceptions animosity

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, have students develop a working 1.

denition for each vocabulary word.

Optional– have students report after viewing how their 2.

vocabulary word was used in the chapter they viewed.

Optional– Have students nd real world or researched 3.

instances of the term during their study of this unit (not just

its occurrence, but how, for example, misconceptions might

have affected the President’s initial view on global warming.)

Essential Questions (make this a part of the student transcript handout, if you wish)

Why is it important for any group, ethnic, cultural, or 1.

otherwise, to be able to exercise their own voices in telling

their history the way they know it?

What might be some lasting effects, both individually and 2.

collectively, in telling one’s own story – especially if it differs

from the ‘authority’s’ perspective?

Chapter 1

Chapter One: Introduction

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Why is ‘truth’ a relative term?3.

Why do many mainstream groups tend to distrust or discount 4.

oral tradition as a valid account of the past?

What does Lewis Malatare mean when he refers to the 5.

“glorious accounts of what occured, which actually didn’t

occur” in Washington and Montana state history? How did

non-Indians who came West suffer?

Teacher Directions:

Before your students view this chapter, read aloud the •

essential questions and have students think of their initial

response to the questions. (Optional–have them write their

initial responses.)

Make individual students or student groups responsible for •

becoming the ‘expert’ of the questions you have assigned

them and report back to the class after they have viewed this

chapter.

Student directions:

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, focus on the essential questions •

your teacher has assigned you. Think about the questions

during and after your viewing of this chapter.

Prepare a response to your assigned questions and share with •

your group or class, as directed by your teacher.

Viewing (4:15 minutes)

i. Teacher transcript

ii. Student transcript, complete with essential questions (at

the beginning), spaces for notes and personal reections.

Post-Viewing Activities (20-30 minutes)

Allow students to nish their notes and reections.1.

Ask how, if at all, their perspectives about the validity of oral accounts 2.

of history have changed.

If appropriate, ask the question, “How does this chapter relate to 3.

what we are studying now in our social studies class?”

Optional– Discuss, debate, ponder, write on the following question: 4.

“Is oral history a valid account of history?”

Optional– Create a graphic in response to one or more of the 5.

assigned questions (this would probably be homework or extra credit).

For Further Study: See Appendix I sections for Stereotypes in General, Indian

Mascots, and Languages and Dialects.

Transcript

Chapter 1 – Introduction

(4:15 minutes)

Note: Transcript text is an exact rendition of each

interview, without corrections for grammar, etc.

Julie Cajune – Salish

There’s a huge political amount of capital in the

telling of history. Alan Munslow said that history is

never innocent storytelling. It’s a primary vehicle

through which power is distributed and used.

And so the whole notion of political identity and

ideology and who the United States is as a nation

plays into how the story is told, and who has

gotten to tell the story. And so the idea of letting

Indian people tell that story themselves, I think, is

powerful and progressive.

Lewis Malatare – Yakama

Allow us to give the history of our people the

way we want it to be told. Not the way it was

written in the books. Not the way it’s portrayed

in newspapers of the past, magazines, and other

media. We need to be able to show the people

who we really were, are, what we are going to be

tomorrow.

Lee Bourgeau – Nez Perce

Nobody can tell our story like we can. We have

a lot of oral traditions and oral history that has

come down that hasn’t been written anywhere,

and a part of that is our values.

Allen Pinkham – Nez Perce

Indian people have never had voices in

interpretation of the expansion of the Northwest,

simply because we were never considered

experts. There are a lot of myths; there are

misunderstandings, misconceptions about Indian

people. We need to clarify what we are and who

we are in our terms.

Lewis Malatare – Yakama

If we go back to the people of non-Indian decent

and ask them how they eventually came to our

country, they have many hidden stories that they

Notes

Chapter 1 Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

don’t want to talk about. Because you read

the history books - Washington State history,

Montana State history - you will see a glorious

account of what had occurred, which actually

didn’t occur. So I can understand some of the

animosity of the non-Native American people

when it comes to this point. So when Lewis &

Clark Bicentennial came to the Yakama nation,

we said this should be a time of healing on both

sides, the non-Indians as well as the Indian, so

that we may be able to better understand the

sufferings of both sides.

Julie Cajune – Salish

To a lot of people in America it’s really

disconcerting to look at American history

in a very different way. And I know that it’s

unsettling because we like to believe that

people are good, we want to believe that our

leaders are good, we want to believe that their

intentions are good, and we want to feel good

about that, but we can’t always look at history

and feel good. But I think it’s really important

for America to become honest about that. We

need to rethink how we relate to other people

and how we treat other people, and being

honest about that in telling our story. I think

that’s important for America to come of age

in that way. And so I think that this is one way

that we can start to do that - by telling the truth

about how this country evolved, about how this

country came to be, and who paid the cost.

Notes

“Chief Charlo, Secretary Gareld and their sons”, Aug., 1907 (Bitterroot Valley, Montana)

K. Ross Toole Archives and Special Collections

Chapter 1 Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Chapter Two: History Through Oral Tradition

This chapter presents the widespread Indian belief that they did not migrate to this

continent, but that they originated here. It also continues discussion about the accuracy

of oral tradition and the commerce system of Plateau and Coastal Indian nations.

Suggestion: integrate material introduced here into the beginning of your US history

class.

Pre-Viewing Activities (20 minutes)

Key Concepts

land bridge theory

multi-perspective nature of oral tradition

oral tradition as an indicator of time

continuity of culture

places of origin: creation vs. migration

Predicting Activity (Key Concepts)

Break students into ve groups, assigning a key concept 1.

to each, and ask each group to predict how their concept

relates to US history.

Report back to the class and make sure each group focuses 2.

on revisiting their key concept after the viewing of this

chapter.

Vocabulary Terms

continuity bilingual

migration

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, have students develop a working 1.

denition for each vocabulary word.

Optional–have students report after viewing how their vocabulary 2.

word was used in the chapter they viewed.

Optional–have students nd real world or researched instances 3.

of the term during their study of this unit (not just its occurrence,

but how, for example, misconceptions might have affected the

President’s initial view on global warming.)

Places

Columbia River Country Celilo (Oregon)

Dalles (Oregon) Lolo Trail (MT and ID)

Southern Nez Perce Route (MT and ID)

What do you know about these places? What can you learn about them from

this chapter? What is important about these places?

Chapter 2

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Essential Questions (make this a part of the student transcript handout, if you wish)

How can language play a role in forming one’s own cultural 1.

and ethnic identity?

How can language maintain cultural values and traditions?2.

How might oral tradition be more accurate than written 3.

accounts of historical events? Can you think of examples

from history as well as your own experience?

What kind of societies were in the “bare space” Otis 4.

Halfmoon refers to?

What denes a civilization? How did the bare spaces on 5.

the earliest maps of the area t that denition? Why were

Indians regarded as “uncivilized” in the early contact period?

Teacher Directions:

Before your students view this chapter, read aloud the •

essential questions and have students think of their initial

response to the questions. (Optional–have them write their

initial responses.)

Make individual students or student groups responsible for •

becoming the ‘expert’ of the questions you have assigned

them and report back to the class after they have viewed this

chapter. Also mention that the once commonly believed

theory that tribes migrated to North America via the Land

Bridge has been challenged and arguably disproved on

a number of occasions by fossil and other archeological

evidence.

[See 1491 by Charles C Mann; The Atlantic Monthly, Mar 2002,

Vol. 289, Iss. 3, pg. 41, David Burton’s “The Bering Land Bridge

Theory Collapsing”; Vine DeLoria, Jr.’s Red Earth, White Lies:

Native Americans And The Myth Of Scientic Fact.]

Student directions:

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, focus on the essential questions •

your teacher has assigned you. Think about the questions

during and after your viewing of this chapter.

Prepare a response to your assigned questions and share with •

your group or class, as directed by your teacher.

Viewing (4:15 minutes)

i. Teacher transcript

ii. Student transcript, complete with essential questions (at

the beginning), spaces for notes and personal reections.

Post-Viewing Activities (20-30 minutes)

Allow students to nish their notes and reections.1.

Ask how, if at all, students’ perspectives about the land bridge theory 2.

and their own conceptions of how Indian tribes use to live have

changed.

If appropriate, ask the question, “How does this chapter relate to 3.

what we are studying now in our social studies class?”

Optional– Discuss, debate, ponder, write on the following 4.

statement: “The creation beliefs of Indian nations in this area are

just as valid as other groups’ creation beliefs.”

Optional– Create a graphic in response to one or more of the 5.

assigned questions (this would probably be homework or extra

credit).

For Further Study: See Appendix I sections for General Teaching about Pacic

Northwest Tribal People, and Spirituality and Culture (Bering Land Bridge Theory,

and Kennewick Man section).

Also see the website www.trailtribes.org – Since Time Immemorial sections for each

tribal group.

Chapter 2

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Transcript

Chapter 2 – History Through Oral

Tradition (7:20 minutes)

Note: Transcript text is an exact rendition

of each interview, without corrections for

grammar, etc.

Tribes of the region speak many different

languages, follow unique traditions, and

have their own distinct histories. These

histories have been passed down orally,

through the generations.

Pat Courtney Gold – Wasco

When I contrast the 10,000-year history of

the Wasco people, with the 230 some odd

years of the United States it’s really difcult

to get the concept across of how the history

denes who I am. What my history reects

is a continuity of a language, a continuity of

a culture. And it’s really difcult to try to get

this concept across to someone from a culture

that’s so young.

Maria Pascua – Makah

All the older people, what they always have

said is we’ve been here since the beginning of

time, since the rst daylight.

Armand Minthorn – Cayuse/Nez Perce

There is no migration story. We were created

here. We did not cross any land bridge. We

have our creation story here. It would take

me three days to tell you that story, but we

were created here, we’ve always been here.

Our traditions and our language, specically,

has not changed. We have songs, we have

customs that are handed down generation to

generation. And because of that we’ve been

able to maintain a way of life that has been

carried for thousands of years. And when we

can go back and say this spot and this spot

and this area was used at this time by these

people, that’s what continues for us a way to

keep our past a part of our everyday life.

Notes

Chapter 2 – Transcript

Cecelia Bearchum – Walla Walla/

Umatilla

You know how oral history is really done,

years ago, what they would do is if there

were several of them that experienced the

same thing, whatever happened, a ght,

or whatever, they would all sit down and

each person would tell their version of what

happened. And then the next person would

do the same thing, and they’d go clear

around, and then all of them would put it

together the way they thought it actually

happened. And that was oral history.

Allen Pinkham – Nez Perce

We traveled this whole continent, and we

called it an island. We called the United

States, the northern, western, hemisphere

here an island. Well how do we know that?

How do we know that there was water all

the way around? Because we went there.

Very simple. Very simple and direct. That’s

why we called this continent an island

because there’s water to the south, there’s

water to the west, there’s water to the east,

and there’s a great lake to the north of us.

We spoke of a country that was hot all year

long. Well how did we know that? We must

have been there. And we speak of these

traveling stories, just little bits and pieces of

information, that tells me quite a bit. A Nez

Perce went so far south he seen an animal

he never seen before and he called it <Nez

Perce> which means imitator, which is the

monkey. So those little bits and pieces of

information carry a lot of signicance.

Vernon Finley – Kootenai

There were always individuals who went

outside of the aboriginal territory. For

example, there was knowledge in the stories

of the east coast, of the ocean on both

coasts. In fact one of the traders that came

through right around 1800 and right before

then, one of the Kootenai women helped

guide them out to the west coast. So they

were aware of the entire continent.

Notes

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Otis Halfmoon – Nez Perce

I know from reviewing some of the maps

of years ago of what Lewis & Clark and all

them studied before their westward journey

and there’s nothing but a bare space.

And that’s how many people perceive the

country as a bare space. It was not at all.

It was tribes everywhere going to and fro -

commerce. You had trader tribes and things

of this nature. And that’s just how they got

along. You had to get along that way.

Maria Pascua – Makah

It was common especially for the men who

did the trading to know more than one

language. Both my grandparents on my

dad’s dad’s side and my dad’s mother’s side

spoke at least ve languages, plus.

Otis Halfmoon – Nez Perce

And there are two major passes into the

buffalo country <Nez Perce>, and that’s

now called Lolo trail, another one was the

Southern Nez Perce Route. And so that

went down to another lifestyle of the buffalo

hunting people. And also too you go west

from there, you go to the Columbia River

country.

Pat Courtney Gold – Wasco

The Columbia River was also equivalent of a

freeway. People traveled up and down the

river, not only to visit, but that was one of

our main activities was the commerce, the

trading.

So the people upriver in the tributaries

would come down to roughly the Dalles

area. Nicloidi was one of the main trading

areas, Celilo and Nicloidi. So that area was

very important to our lifestyle, and all of

our legends were based on the geography

of that area. And the geography was really

interesting because it was all basalts and

we had all these basalt cliffs. And we also

had lava along the Columbia River, and this

was before the dams were built, you could

see the texture of lava. So we had stories

relating to the texture of these lavas, and we

Notes

Chapter 2 – Transcript

had stories relating to the different valleys

through the basalt cliffs.

Maria Pascua – Makah

If you compared our place names with

say a state map, the amount of names that

we have for our area is immense. Every

little creek that’s too small to be on maybe

someone else’s map, we have a name for it.

Armand Minthorn – Cayuse/Nez Perce

So our histories that we have about our past

have a lot to do with the environment and

nature’s elements, whether they be water,

snow, rain, even heat, droughts. Those are

the indicators that we use within our oral

histories to help gauge us with the time.

Nez Perce Chiefs, by Nicolas Point, ca 1845 Courtesy of Loyola Press, Chicago.

Notes

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Before Contact

This chapter discusses the benets of trade among Indian nations and non-Indian traders

and trappers and its deadly consequence of disease and famine.

Suggestion: integrate materials introduced here into the Epidemics, Revolution (trade

routes), and/or Manifest Destiny units of your US history class, or when reviewing First

Nations units from earlier grades.

Pre-Viewing Activities (10-15 minutes)

Key Concepts

diffusion of horses, guns and disease

universal language

Predicting Activity (Key Concepts)

Ask students to write or discuss how the diffusion of horses, 1.

guns, and disease might have affected tribal nations in this

area.

Ask students to dene for themselves the concept of 2.

“universal language.”

Vocabulary Terms

misconception mobility

decimated epidemics

famine European technology

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, have students develop a working 1.

denition for each vocabulary word.

Optional– Have students report after viewing how their vocabulary 2.

word was used in the chapter they viewed.

Optional– Have students nd real world or researched instances 3.

of the term during their study of this unit (not just its occurrence,

but how, for example, misconceptions might have affected the

President’s initial view on global warming.)

Places

Straits of Juan de Fuca (Washington)

Nisqually (Washington)

Vancouver (Washington)

Columbia River

(Upper) Missouri River

Locate these places on the USGS Northwest States map (provided in the back of this

guide).

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

People

Nez Perce Pueblo Navajo

Comanche Apache Shoshone

Cayuse Salish Walla Walla

Couer d’ Alene Blackfeet Kootenai

Klallam Yakima

If possible, locate these tribes on the map of Northwest Tribal Homeland Territories.

If unable to locate on this map, try a web quest to determine location and

understand why they are not on the northwest map.

Essential Questions (make this a part of the student transcript handout, if you wish)

How did the advent of horses and rearms through trading 1.

with non-Indians change Indian societies?

How did disease epidemics predate initial contact with non-2.

Indians?

Compare the advent of horses and rearms (see Otis 3.

Halfmoon’s excerpt) to the current proliferation of nuclear

weapons worldwide. Will societies, regardless of ethnicity or

culture, always respond to weaponry this way?

Teacher Directions:

Before your students view this chapter, read aloud the •

essential questions and have students think of their initial

response to the questions. Optional– Have them write their

initial responses.

Make individual students or student groups responsible for •

becoming the ‘expert’ of the questions you have assigned

them and report back to the class after they have viewed this

chapter.

Student Directions:

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, focus on the essential questions •

your teacher has assigned you. Think about the questions

during and after your viewing of this chapter.

Prepare a response to your assigned questions and share with •

your group or class, as directed by your teacher.

Viewing (6:55 minutes)

i. Teacher transcript

ii. Student transcript, complete with essential questions (at

the beginning), spaces for notes and personal reections.

Post-Viewing Activities (20-30 minutes)

Allow students to nish their notes and reections.1.

Ask students if they believe these accounts of trade and disease. Are they 2.

more or less believable than what they would read in a textbook or online?

Why?

If appropriate, ask the question, “How does this chapter relate to what we are 3.

studying now in our social studies class?”

Optional– Discuss, debate, ponder, write on the following question: “Is it 4.

important to declare English the ofcial language of the United States? What

are the potential unintended consequences for non-native speakers?”

Optional– Create a graphic in response to one or more of the assigned 5.

questions (this would probably be homework or extra credit).

For Further Study: See Appendix I section for Language and Dialects.

Also see the website www.trailtribes.org – Traditional Culture sections for each

tribal group.

Chapter 3

"American Falls" on the Snake River, with the Three Buttes in background, from Report of Fremont's Exploring Expedition 1843-'44.

Courtesy University of Montana's Manseld Library, K. Ross Toole Archives.

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Transcript

Chapter 3 – Before Contact (6:55

minutes)

Note: Transcript text is an exact rendition of each

interview, without corrections for grammar, etc.

Long before Indian people of the Northwest

saw Europeans, they knew of them. The

“moccasin telegraph” carried the news to

distant places, and aspects of European

culture preceded the actual arrival of these

new people.

Louis Adams – Salish

The people were pretty happy when they rst

run onto the white man because they thought

he come from the light. But even before that, I

used to hear some of the old people say when

Columbus landed on the coast. See, the universal

language was sign language, so when they rst

landed the communication was pretty fast. Pretty

soon they found out that somebody had landed

on the shores of this great country. And they used

to say, when they rst landed the Indians laid out

beaver pelts and bear hides and buffalo robes and

whatever they valued for him to walk on because

they thought he was something special.

Before ever seeing a white man, many native

peoples were exposed to European technology,

such as guns, and to other things they desired,

such as horses. And they were exposed to things

they dreaded – smallpox and other contagious

diseases.

Otis Halfmoon – Nez Perce

Trade was very, very important to the people,

again to gain certain things, the coming of the

horse, the metal, the ries, things of this nature. I

know some of the history books state that the Nez

Perce received the horses in 1720, 1730 and I

dispute that. I believe the Nez Perce got it maybe

1680s, maybe even 1690. Consider, the Spanish

that came up there with their horses among the

Pueblos, the Navajos, and the Apaches, and the

Comanche’s. It is like a brand new weapon on the

block. Like even today, everyone wants nuclear

Notes

weapons, and back in those days word must have

spread so fast about this new creature, it makes

life so easy.

Kathleen Gordon – Cayuse/Walla Walla

The Shoshones came with ponies and then the

Cayuses got a couple of those ponies and they

started breeding Cayuse ponies. They were small

and they were really fast and so it was just what

they needed, a small fast horse. So they just kept

breeding Cayuses and they had thousands of

Cayuse horses at one time.

Felix Aripa – Coeur d’Alene

<Native language> Said, when we got horses it

opened up for us to go, that’s when they can go

buffalo hunting. They can go all different places,

they can go visit their neighboring tribes, you

know, to the <Native language>. Said, Oh gee,

that was accommodating.

Cliff SiJohn – Coeur d’Alene

In most cases our enemies were the Blackfeet.

They had guns and we didn’t have any, and we

began trading for guns. That’s what we wanted.

Vernon Finley – Kootenai

Prior to David Thompson arriving in 1800,

there was…the Blackfeet had rst traded with

Thompson and rst traded with the traders, so

they had guns. The Kootenais just had bows, and

so they knew the value of the guns because it

had been introduced but they didn’t have a lot

of them. And so it was kind of a pretty uneven

match, you know, with trying to war with the

Blackfeet who were invading the territory and

they had guns.

Julie Cajune – Salish

And people have a misconception that we always

lived on this side of the mountains, but that’s

incorrect. And that decision for all of the bands to

move on this side of the mountains was really due

to several factors.

You know, horses of course increasing mobility,

and the likelihood of people encountering

other tribes, some of them might be hostile. The

competition for resource in our hunting grounds

Notes

Chapter 3 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

and the acquisition of rearms by enemy tribes

before us. And the traders, you know, were

held hostage by the Blackfeet in particular, and

threatened that they’d be skinned alive, I think in

one journal I read, if they gave guns to the Salish.

You know, not only will we kill you, but it won’t

be a pleasant death, you know.

And so that military power imbalance that

happened, you know, if you think of a modern

gun back then, you know, versus a bow and

arrow or a war club, it had a huge impact on

a tribe that had already been decimated by

smallpox. I think people have said at least a third

of our community, or of the Salish tribe, were

lost to smallpox. There were two big epidemics.

Jamie Valadez – Elwha Klallam

The diseases hit before the ships came into the

Straits of Juan de Fuca around 1790. Already

villages were ravaged because of Vancouver.

And so it came through Nisqually, through the

interior that way, because there was trading clear

down to Nisqually, the tribes, they traveled far in

their trading and so they had already known that

another culture, another people were coming,

coming west.

Lewis Malatare – Yakama

In the 1780s, there was great, great famine.

There was great diseases that came down the

Columbia River. Our people died from fever

and scars upon their face, and wasn’t able to

eat, wasn’t able to drink water. We couldn’t

cool their bodies down, and villages totally

disappeared along the Columbia River.

Vernon Finley – Kootenai

And all the trade came up the Missouri, so when

the small pox epidemic started to wipe people

out down in Missouri the trade among Indian

tribes brought it up long before the white people

ever arrived, and so there were epidemics before

they came along. When Lewis and Clark come

along and they speak in their journals about

deserted villages, they weren’t deserted. They

had been wiped out by the smallpox that had

preceded them.

Notes

Chapter Four: First Contact

This chapter discusses the perceptions and encroachment of non-Indians onto Indian

lands before the treaty era.

Suggestion: integrate into the Manifest Destiny units of your US history class.

Pre-Viewing Activities (20 minutes)

Key Concepts

native perspectives of westward expansion as an “invasion”

genocide

redistribution of wealth in tribal societies

Predicting Activity (Key Concepts)

Ask students to write about why tribes view Westward 1.

Expansion as an invasion.

Ask students to dene what qualies as or constitutes 2.

“genocide.”

Vocabulary Terms

genocide generosity

humanity arrogance

connive pilfer

longhouse

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, have students develop a working 1.

denition for each vocabulary word.

Optional– Have students report after viewing how their vocabulary 2.

word was used in the chapter they viewed.

Optional– Have students nd real world or researched instances 3.

of the term during their study of this unit (not just its occurrence,

but how, for example, misconceptions might have affected the

President’s initial view on global warming.)

Places

Neah Bay (Washington)

Freshwater Bay (Washington)

Discovery Bay (Washington)

If possible, locate these places on the USGS Northwest States map (provided in the

back of this guide). Try a web quest for those you cannot locate.

Chapter 4

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

People

Manuel Quimper

Captain Vancouver

Celiast

Gobaway (Comowol)

Lewis & Clark

French Voyaguers

Ask students to listen for these names in this chapter and pay attention to what

impact each had on the tribes in the area.

Essential Questions (make this a part of the student transcript handout, if you wish)

What were Russians, Japanese, Spanish and English doing on 1.

the Northwest Coast of North America? How did non-Indians

learn to nd food and get around in the Oregon country?

Again, perspectives play a key role in the telling of history. 2.

How might the Spanish, for example, have recounted Maria

Pascua’s story of the Spanish people’s rst encounter with

Pacic Northwest people?

Discuss the Spanish perspective that the villages they 3.

encountered were “abandoned,” versus the reality that the

villages were decimated by European disease, or seasonally

abandoned.

Compare and contrast the perspectives of European contact 4.

with Indian people as “westward expansion” vs. “invasion”

from the east.

Why don’t we see the word “genocide” associated with the 5.

cultural, racial and spiritual decimation of tribal people?

Teacher Directions:

Before your students view this chapter, read aloud the •

essential questions and have students think of their initial

response to the questions. Optional– Have them write their

initial responses.

Make individual students or student groups responsible for •

becoming the ‘expert’ of the questions you have assigned

them and report back to the class after they have viewed this

chapter.

Student Directions:

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, focus on the essential questions •

your teacher has assigned you. Think about the questions

during and after your viewing of this chapter.

Prepare a response to your assigned questions and share with •

your group or class, as directed by your teacher.

Viewing (9:50 minutes)

i. Teacher transcript

ii. Student transcript, complete with essential questions (at

the beginning), spaces for notes and personal reections.

Post-Viewing Activities (20-30 minutes)

Allow students to nish their notes and reections.1.

Ask students how these stories affect their study of Manifest Destiny.2.

Discuss the role perception has on the recounting of history and its accuracy.3.

If appropriate, ask the question, “How does this chapter relate to what we are 4.

studying now in our social studies class?”

Optional– Discuss, debate, ponder, write on the following statement: “The 5.

United States committed genocide among the tribal people of this continent.”

Optional– Create a graphic in response to one or more of the assigned 6.

questions (this would probably be homework or extra credit).

For Further Study: See Appendix I sections for General Teaching about Pacic

Northwest Tribal People, and Spirituality and Culture.

Also, see the website www.trailtribes.org – See the rst pages listed under

Relationship with the U.S. sections for each tribal group.

“Contact” Painting by George Lagergren.

Chapter 4

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Transcript

Chapter 4 – First Contact

(9:50 minutes)

Note: Transcript text is an exact rendition of each

interview, without corrections for grammar, etc.

For tribes of the Northwest, rst contact came

to coastal tribes from the sea in the •

1790s

to some interior tribes from Lewis & •

Clark in 1805-1806

to other interior tribes from David •

Thompson’s party in 1808-1811

Pat Courtney Gold – Wasco

When you think about our culture when it’s like

10,000 years old, I think there probably was a

stability for literally thousands of years. A stability

in the language, a stability in how we shed

and processed our food. And the real change,

upheaval came in probably the 1800s with the

meeting of Europeans along the coast and then

the meeting of Americans from the east. And

suddenly there was this tremendous change. I

mean it was just an accelerated change.

Maria Pascua – Makah

When we rst saw the new people that came to

our area, we called them <Makah language>,

and it comes from the word house <Makah

language>. <Makah language> means house

on the water, because we had canoes, many

different sizes of canoes and types of canoes, but

these people lived on their house on the water. So

in our oral traditions we’ve had several different

people groups come by here. We had a shipwreck

from a group of Russians and that was one of

the early contacts. I think that was in the 1800s.

And then another later in the 1830s, a Japanese

shipwreck that came through here. But I’d say

even earlier than that. Probably maybe one of

the earlier contacts would have been the Spanish

because they came here in the 1790s, and they

actually built a fort here in Neah Bay. We had 5

villages and one of the villages the people used to

take down the long house boards and transport

Notes

them in between two canoes and move a whole

residence to a shing camp to be closer either

to the halibut banks or the whaling grounds, and

so they would move to another village for that

season, to a seasonal village. And so when the

Spanish came here it looked like an abandoned

village in a way because a lot of the long house

planks were removed, and they just moved in

because it was a good location, of course, where

our permanent village was located. And so that

was one of the rst encounters, they more or less

moved into our space.

Jamie Valadez – Elwah Klallam

Manuel Quimper in 1790 stopped at Freshwater

Bay and canoes came out to greet him and

brought fresh berries and salmon. And then

Captain Vancouver also stopped at the village at

Discovery Bay. But when he stopped, and men

were sent to shore, people had died and they

could tell it was from the diseases.

Julie Cajune – Salish

Indian people from the beginning of invasion

were gracious, were humane, were hospitable,

were generous. What elders and ancestors said

about meeting, you know, these white men

coming through with this large entourage of

people, and it was very curious to me but it was

also familiar to me how Indian people are and

how they treat other people. And I guess the

capacity for their generosity and humanity almost

to a fault and to their detriment and sometimes

to their genocide. And that’s a common story,

that’s a common story that doesn’t get told in US

history.

Marjorie Waheneka – Cayuse/Palouse

Because it was the Indian people that they

interacted with, it was the Indian people that

they got food and horses as transportation. There

was groups that showed them how to make

canoes, how to navigate the rivers, what country

was more erce than the next and they showed

them how to survive out here because they

didn’t have any idea. And that’s what we want

people to know is that the Indians played a very

big part in the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Notes

Chapter 4 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Richard Basch – Clatsop/Nehalem

Celiast, my great, great grandmother, was born

in 1801, and was four years old when Lewis

and Clark arrived in 1805. Her father Comowol,

or Gobaway, as our family called him, was the

neighbor to the fort, the one that Lewis and Clark

looked to for trade, for support, and they had a

very important relationship. They arrived at the

wrong time of year. They were in a hard place.

We supported, traded with them, and treated

them as neighbors, sometimes friendly neighbors

sometimes not so friendly neighbors. Our people

found Lewis and Clark to be kind of a pathetic,

motley group. They were…didn’t have much

food, their clothes were just about rotting right off

of them. They didn’t have a lot to trade. We had

been used to trading with ships that had been

coming into the mouth of the Columbia River

and were used to pretty expensive goods, and

Lewis and Clark really didn’t have a lot to offer

by the time they got to us.

Pat Courtney Gold – Wasco

Lewis and Clark saw how the Native people

ate and dressed but they stuck to what they

knew. To me they were very much like arrogant

American tourists. They only spoke their own

language. They would not try different food.

They were used to eating meat, but if they ate

the way the Chinook people ate they would have

gotten all of the minerals their body needed from

sea vegetables and from the salmon. And this

sort of surprised me because they had French

voyaguers traveling with them, and the French,

in the Missouri area, they adopted a lot of the

Native ways. They learned the languages, they

even married, intermarried with the people, but

Lewis and Clark were a different breed.

Richard Basch – Clatsop/Nehalem

They describe us as inquisitive in that we pilfered

a lot, and I think we found them to be conniving.

Pat Courtney Gold – Wasco

When you read the journals they refer to us as

savages. Throughout the journals we’re savages.

And since they think of us as savages and not

Notes

human, they could walk into our dwellings just

like they could walk into a bear’s den or some

animal’s den. It never donned on them that we

are humans and we had our way of doing things

as a community.

Bobbie Conner – Cayuse/Nez Perce/

Umatilla

They were talking to and about people that

have had a continuous presence in this place

for millennia. And it hasn’t changed that much.

We’re connected to that point in time not by

years and dates and facts and gures in their

journals, although their journals remind us of

things, but we have a cultural continuity here

on this river that we share that people should

understand has been going on for a lot longer

than when they wrote it down. The stick games

that they try to describe and the bone game

they try to describe, those have been a method

of redistributing wealth for a long time. And to

our way of thinking, we’re still using gaming to

redistribute wealth. The continuity of the tule

mats, the bulrush, the tules are still here. The

animals, most of them are still here. There are

some that have been decimated, the sage grouse,

some species of salmon. The time that they came

through the reasonable estimates are probably

between 16 and 20 million sh came up that

river, home to our tributaries and drainage

systems. And now a million to ve million,

people think is a lot. Abundance was a different

measurement then, our well being was measured

differently then.

Cliff SiJohn – Coeur d’Alene

We had met Lewis & Clark. We met them on the

river south of us. Clark wrote in his journals when

they met with the <native language> people.

What our people say that they were told, “We

have heard about you. We have heard about

how you have come across and met all these

other tribes saying you are their friend, but yet

your men do some terrible things. So you will not

meet the Coeur d’Alenes. We will not let you.”

Yeah, we met Lewis & Clark, but their reputation

preceded them with our chiefs.

Notes

Chapter 4 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Chapter Five:

Advent of the Fur Trade and its Consequences

This chapter discusses the perceptions and encroachment of non-Indians onto Indian

lands before the treaty era.

Suggestion: integrate into the Epidemics or Manifest Destiny units of your US history

class.

Pre-Viewing Activities (20 minutes)

Key Concepts

Ask students to write about how the following might have affected the tribal people

in this area:

fur trade

natural resources

smallpox

diversity of population

Vocabulary

Discuss the idea of labeling people “half breed” or “breed.”

What are the connotations of “breed”? (Animals)•

What might be the purpose of labeling someone as “half-•

breed”? (Diminishing the individual’s power, identity, and

therefore the ability to resist challenges to power.)

Places

Salish House / Thompson Falls (Montana)

Spokane House / Spokane (Washington)

Fort Nisqually (Washington)

Victoria (British Columbia)

Chimakum Village (Washington)

Ozette Village (Washington)

Puget Sound (Washington)

If possible, locate these places on the USGS Northwest States map (provided in the

back of this guide). Try a web quest for those you cannot locate.

Chapter 5

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

People

Hudson’s Bay Co. Northwest Fur Co.

Samuel Hancock

Ask students to listen for these names in this chapter and pay attention to what

impact each had on the tribes in the area.

Pointed Heart Spokane

Clatsop-Nehelem Makah

Chinook

Locate these tribes on the map of Northwest Tribal Homeland Territories (back of

guide).

Essential Questions (make this a part of the student transcript handout, if you wish)

In what ways did fur trading affect the lives of tribal people?1.

What are the most stunning examples of these effects?2.

Where were fur trade posts located? What inuenced the 3.

decision to establish these posts in these locations? How do

these locations compare to modern settlements?

Teacher Directions:

Before your students view this chapter, read aloud the •

essential questions and have students think of their initial

response to the questions. Optional– Have them write

their initial responses.

Make individual students or student groups responsible •

for becoming the ‘expert’ of the questions you have

assigned them and report back to the class after they have

viewed this chapter.

Student Directions:

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, focus on the essential questions your •

teacher has assigned you. Think about the questions during and after

your viewing of this chapter.

Prepare a response to your assigned questions and share with your •

group or class, as directed by your teacher.

Viewing (9:50 minutes)

i. Teacher transcript

ii. Student transcript, complete with essential questions (at

the beginning), spaces for notes and personal reections.

Post-Viewing Activities (20-30 minutes)

Allow students to nish their notes and reections.1.

Discuss, debate, ponder, write on the following statement: “The fur trade 2.

should have been stopped when it was discovered that it was decimating the

Indian populations in the Northwest.”

Optional– Create a graphic in response to one or more of the assigned 3.

questions (this would probably be homework or extra credit).

For Further Study: See Appendix I sections for General Teaching about Pacic

Northwest Tribal People, and Spirituality and Culture.

Also see the website www.trailtribes.org – Fur Trade pages for each tribal group.

Fort Vancouver of 1845, painting by Richard Schlecht National Park Service, Fort Vancouver

Chapter 5

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Transcript

Chapter 5 – Advent of the Fur Trade

and its Consequences

(7:20 minutes)

Note: Transcript text is an exact rendition of each

interview, without corrections for grammar, etc.

Ed. note: Soon after Lewis and Clark’s

journey, trading forts were established

throughout tribal lands.

Julie Cajune – Salish

The immediate impact of the success of the Lewis

& Clark expedition, being able to go do this huge

trans-continental trip, talk about all the wealth

and resource along the way, and be able to return

and then the explosion of the fur trade.

Cliff SiJohn – Coeur d’Alene

Hudson Bay Company made contact with us,

some of their trappers, their early trappers.

It wasn’t until 1809 that the Northwest Fur

Company established themselves on what was

called Indian Meadows, our campground. They

also gave us “Pointed Heart,” the name

Pointed Heart. When they established their fur

trading house the rst customers that came in

were Pointed Hearts. Sixteen canoes full of furs

and pelts arrived to trade and traded thereafter

for about a year and a half. And then the Salish

House was opened up in what is now called

Thompson Falls, and we would trade there, go

that far. A few years later the Northwest Fur

Company opened up with the cooperation of

the Pointed Hearts to show them the way down

to the Spokane Falls to meet with the Spokane

Indian people and there the Spokane House was

established.

Around 1830 we were hit with small pox. At

that time it was estimated by the fur company,

Northwest Fur Company, that there was 5,000

Coeur d’Alene’s in that area. We were hit with

smallpox. It devastated the people.

Joe Scovell – Clatsop/Nehalem

People that were coming in, in the 1830s they

Notes

saw just bodies, literally piles of bodies of dead

Indians. The American Indians didn’t have the

resistances to European diseases because it

wasn’t a part of their living history.

Jamie Valadez – Elwha Klallam

The rst big fur trading post that the Klallams

had contact with was down at Fort Nisqually.

And then later there was a fort at Victoria and

that had a huge impact right across from where

we’re located. It was during that time with the

fur trading that there was just a lot of lawlessness,

that wild west image. Not only with interactions

between whites and Indians but between tribes.

And it was because of the way that the economy

was changing, people were hunting to sell the

furs. Villages were disappearing either by disease

or because of the war. Like actually the village of

Chimakum, there was such a small population

from diseases and all the changes going on that

there was one war against them, two tribes

attacking Chimakum, and they became extinct.

Maria Pascua – Makah

Back in 1852 or 53, we had a trader that was

here, his name was Samuel Hancock and he had

a trading post. So at that time in his journal he

documents how many hundreds and hundreds

of people died that he was an eyewitness to, and

how many weeks that that epidemic went on

and on. And then several years later there was

another epidemic but on our Southern side at

the village of Ozette. There was a ship that went

by later, I think in 1859, it was called the Good

Cheer and they had an epidemic of small pox

aboard that ship and it was due to the people

on the Good Cheer throwing items overboard

and some of those clothes and blankets had the

disease on it, and I think they were just trying to

get rid of the disease.

Jamie Valadez – Elwha Klallam

There was introduction of alcohol which had

never been here before fur trading and that had

a huge impact on communities.

Julie Cajune – Salish

And then you see this huge, huge impact on

animal communities. By 1830, I was reading

Notes

Chapter 5 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

traders’ report, that the beaver were gone

from Rocky Mountain streams. It was

shocking. It was shocking to me when I think

about ancestors said how just the abundance,

and it’s hard for us to imagine that. I can’t

really imagine it, what kind of abundance

there was. But how, in a very short period of

time, you know, whole animal populations in

regions were just completely gone.

Jamie Valadez – Elwha Klallam

Before they didn’t hunt to sell and so some of

the animals became extinct in our area.

Maria Pascua – Makah

Once they realized that the sea otter fur from

our area was really valued by the Chinese,

they could trade and get furs here and then

hike up the price by quite a huge margin. As

the demand for it became more, I think we

tried to meet the demand, but eventually the

sea otter became over-hunted.

George Lagergren – Chinook

Those men were working for the Hudson

Bay trading and they traveled then from

here down to San Francisco and back. And

that’s the days when the native oysters were

harvested and transported down by little

sailing ships that came into the bay here.

There was no women here except the young

Indian women, and so when they came along,

you see they tied in together with the young

Indian girls, and so that’s what happened to

my grandmother and my great grandmother.

Kathleen Gordon – Cayuse/Walla Walla

My father was born of a union from the

Hudson Bay Company. Those trappers, fur

trappers that came down with the Hudson

Bay Company, some of them married into

the Indian tribes to tribal women. People

that were born of these unions were called

breeds or half-breeds. They weren’t very well

accepted either by the non-Indian community

or the Indian community.

Notes

Chapter Six: Missionaries and Early Settlers

This chapter discusses the effects of missionaries and early settlers on the lives of

Northwest tribal people.

Suggestion: integrate into the Manifest Destiny unit of your US history class.

Pre-Viewing Activities (20 minutes)

Key Concepts

Ask students to write about how non-Indian and Indian cultures might have

conicted (everyday customs, traditions, etc.).

conict of cultures

“uncivilized” tribes

introduction of European agricultural practices

Predicting Activity (Key Concepts)

Ask students to dene what qualies as or constitutes 1.

“uncivilized.”

Ask students to list the practices of European agriculture 2.

(clearing land, cultivating, planting, etc).

Vocabulary Terms

Protestant missionaries

Catholic missionaries

Jesuit missionaries

Discuss or list the goals of religious missionaries.

Places

Rathdrum Prairie (Washington)

St. Ignatius (Montana)

Stevensville (Montana)

Lapwai (Idaho)

Neah Bay (Washington)

If possible, locate these places on the USGS Northwest States map (provided in the

back of this guide). Try a web quest for those you cannot locate.

Chapter 6

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

People

Whitmans Circling Raven

Jesuits Bloods

Piegans Blackfeet

Kalispell Pend ‘Oreille

Plateau people

Ask students to listen for the names of people and tribes in this chapter and make

notes about what they learn about them.

Essential Questions (make this a part of the student transcript handout, if you wish)

How did the introduction of agriculture impact Plateau 1.

people?

Why did Christian religion impact tribal people so heavily 2.

during this era?

What was the perspective of non-Indians on traditional male 3.

and female roles in tribal society? Why would they view the

men as “lazy”?

Why is it important to view historical events from multiple 4.

perspectives? How is the Pacic Northwest mission era a

prime example of what can happen when one perspective is

favored over another?

Teacher Directions:

Before your students view this chapter, read aloud the •

essential questions and have students think of their initial

response to the questions. Optional– Have them write

their initial responses.

Make individual students or student groups responsible •

for becoming the ‘expert’ of the questions you have

assigned them and report back to the class after they have

viewed this chapter.

Student Directions:

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, focus on the essential questions your •

teacher has assigned you. Think about the questions during and after

your viewing of this chapter.

Prepare a response to your assigned questions and share with your •

group or class, as directed by your teacher.

Chapter 6

Viewing (6:50 minutes)

Teacher transcript•

Student transcript, complete with essential questions (at the beginning), •

spaces for notes and personal reections.

Post-Viewing Activities (20-30 minutes)

Allow students to nish their notes and reections.1.

Ask students how these stories affect their perceptions of present day 2.

missionaries.

Conduct a Socratic Seminar on essential questions. (How to organize a 3.

seminar in your classroom: http://www.middleweb.com/Socrtic.html and

http://studyguide.org/socratic_seminar.html)

Optional– Create a graphic in response to one or more of the assigned 4.

questions (this would probably be homework or extra credit).

For Further Study: See Appendix I sections for General Teaching about Pacic

Northwest Tribal People, and Spirituality and Culture.

Also see the website www.trailtribes.org – Missionaries/Settlements/Emigrants pages

for the tribal groups: Lower Chinook & Clatsop; Umatilla, Walla Walla & Cayuse;

Northern Shoshone & Bannock.

“View of the new mission establishment in 1846 among the Pointed-Hearts” [Coeur d’Alenes], by Jesuit missionary Nicolas Point, 1846

Washington State University Libraries

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Transcript

Chapter 6 – Missionaries and Early

Settlers (6:50 minutes)

Note: Transcript text is an exact rendition of

each interview, without corrections for grammar,

etc.

Ed. note: First Protestants, then Catholic

Missionaries established missions

throughout the region bringing this new

religion to the tribal inhabitants.

Marjorie Waheneka – Cayuse/Palouse

It was just a conict, you know, a conict of

cultures. They didn’t understand one another.

It’s the Indian custom that the land provides

everything that they had. Well they see Whitman

put these little seeds in the ground, and then

pretty soon these foods start coming up –

watermelons, peas, corn, potatoes. And one time

a couple of the young Indians at the mission

site wanted to see what the watermelons tasted

like and Whitman did do things for protecting

his property, just like putting the arsenic in the

watermelons. And then also Whitman, he had

cattle and he had sheep at the mission, what

he did was he poisoned some meat to get the

wolves and the coyotes to get that instead of the

good stuff. And it just so happened that one time

the Indians see this meat hanging up, and so

then, here they got a hold of it and they got sick.

The Whitmans were killed on November 29th

1847. Their mission was only in existence for

eleven years before all of this came to a head.

Cliff SiJohn – Coeur d’Alene

1840s the missionary arrived, the Jesuit. He was

foretold the coming of this man by a chief named

Circling Raven in the late 1700s. He told the

Indian people, the <native language> people,

that there would be a man coming in a black

robe carrying the cross stick. And that he would

bring us words that would give us two trails to

the heavens: our original way with our <native

language> our old people and this additional

way.

Notes

This man arrived on Rathdrum Prairie with some

Flathead Indian people one day. And he was

taken to the big camps and there he established

himself because of two reasons: Number one,

Circling Raven told of his coming and number

two, in order for him to stay he promised guns

to the Coeur d’Alene. And we were battling then

and protecting our area with the encroachers of

the Blood, the Piegan, and the Blackfeet.

Francis Cullooyah – Kalispel

The priests when they rst came into this area

was in about 1842 which is long before the

establishment of our reservation. The people at

that time wanted us to become farmers. I call us

the Kalispel people or the Pend d’Oreille people

as one of the “uncivilized tribes” because we

never were meant to be farmers, I don’t think.

We were put in this place and the growing

season was short and the winters very severe.

The Kalispel, Pend d’ Oreille people adapted

themselves pretty well to Catholicism and they

followed. And I don’t mean to be disrespectful to

the Catholic Church, but when someone comes

in and tells you that you’re going to spend the

rest of your time in hell, and if you don’t do

this and if you don’t do that. And when they

were doing that is when they wanted to move

the St. Ignatius mission, the very rst St. Ignatius

mission, it was established here on the Kalispel.

The church was moved to which is now St.

Ignatius, Montana. And I know that at one point

or another when they were wanting to move,

they wanted all the Indian people to move with

it. And to me that sounds a little shy.

Rob Collier – Nez Perce

I think it was really hard for the Plateau people

to learn farming when the missionaries rst came

in, both down here at Stevensville and over

at Lapwai, because the Plateau people, only

women could put their hands in the earth. Men

couldn’t put their hands in the earth and farm,

we couldn’t even dig roots because men had

blood on their hands because we’re hunters and

warriors, takers of life. But the women are givers

of life and they’re pure so they can put their

hands in the earth. And that’s a concept that

Notes

Chapter 6 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

was really hard for Plateau people to come to

grips with because it had been so ingrained for

thousands of years that men don’t do that.

First white settlers that came out thought, “Oh,

these guys are really lazy. They’re really lazy.”

The women are out there digging those roots

and bending over and working hard all the time,

but they didn’t realize the cultural implication of

a man putting his hands into the earth.

Cliff SiJohn – Coeur d’Alene

Many of the Coeur d’Alenes, mostly the southern

group, became excellent farmers. They accepted

this change immediately. They embraced the

Jesuit and his words. And there were those who

refused. And those who refused were punished

by the missionary. It was like the missionary did

not want us to have two ways to the heavens. It

was this one is no good, this one is the only one.

Maria Pascua – Makah

One of the oral histories about the rst

missionaries, one of the rst stories that was

told and translated here was about Noah and

the ood, and how it rained for 40 days and

40 nights. And if you live in Neah Bay, it can

do that in the winter 40 days and 40 nights and

then some. So I think hearing that story for a rst

one, they didn’t nd it out of the ordinary.

Notes

Chapter Seven: The Treaties

This chapter explores the multiple interpretations of treaty negotiations and meaning.

Suggestion: integrate into the US Constitution or Manifest Destiny units of your US

history class.

Pre-Viewing Activities (20 minutes)

Key Concepts

Indian grapevine

misinformation through translation and interpretation (treaty councils)

Predicting Activity (Key Concepts)

Ask students to play a game of “Electricity” or “Phone Line,” where one

student whispers a message to another, and the message is repeated

throughout the class. The end meaning is often very different than the

original message.

How does this game exemplify the problems inherent in translating 1.

into other languages?

How might have these communication problems affected Northwest 2.

tribal treaty negotiations and entering into treaties in the rst place?

Vocabulary

treaty treaty rights

ratify Great White Father

Alone, in pairs, or in groups, have students develop a working 1.

denition for each vocabulary word.

Optional– Have students report after viewing how their vocabulary 2.

word was used in the chapter they viewed.

Places

Washington locations:

Tansy Point Medicine Creek

Point No Point Port Gamble

Ozette Port Townsend

Wada Island (location of Klallam Village of Kah Tai)

Tatoosh Island Quinault Indian Reservation

Walla Walla

Umatilla Reservation (OR), Warm Springs Reservation (OR), Council Grove (near

Missoula, Montana); Mullan Road (from Ft. Walla Walla, Wa., to Ft. Benton, Mt.)

Listen for these place names as you view the lm, and make notes about their

importance in this chapter about treaties.

Chapter 7

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

People

Anson Dart

Isaac I. Stevens

Joel Palmer

Chief Chetzemoka

Chimakum

Chief Victor

Chief Charlo

James Gareld

Captain Mullan

Clatsops

Nehelems

Tillamooks

Chinooks

K’lallams

Colvilles

Ask students to listen for the names of people listed above in this chapter, and pay

attention to what role they played in treaty-making.

Locate the names of tribes on the map of Northwest Tribal Homeland Territories

(back of guide).

Essential Questions (make this a part of the student transcript handout, if you wish)

How did the “Indian grapevine” affect treaty-making?1.

There is no written evidence to support the story of bombing the 2.

K’lallam village to force agreement during the treaty negotiations.

Does this mean that it didn’t really happen? Why might this

bombing be unrecorded?

Cliff Sijohn recounts that though they had signed treaties to protect 3.

what land and rights they had left, Congress had already planned

to build a military road through the middle of Coeur d’Alene

country. What might this say about the United States’ views of the

treaty agreement into which they were entering? How might this set

the stage for conict and war?

Put yourself in the shoes of the Indian people signing the Anson Dart 4.

treaties in 1851. Would you expect the other side to keep its part

of the agreement? Do you think they understood the ratication

process? Should someone from the government have reported back

to them when the Senate failed to ratify? How willing would you be

to make treaties with the whites and trust they would be honored?

Was Issac Stevens honest with the tribes about why the United 5.

States wanted to enter into these treaty agreements? What were the

reasons for entering these treaties?

Skokomish

Ozettes

Makahs

Quinaults

Quilliuts

Cowlitz

Umatillas

Walla Wallas

Yakamas

Cayuse

Kootenai

K’sanka

Coeur d’Alene

Palouse

Nez Perce

Viewing (27:00 minutes)

Teacher transcript•

Student transcript, complete with essential questions (at the beginning), •

spaces for notes and personal reections.

Post-Viewing Activities (20 - 30 minutes)

Allow students to nish their notes and reections.1.

Divide students into four groups and have each group respond to essential 2.

questios 1-3 and 5. Share responses with the class.

Discuss and debate essential question 4.3.

You’ve heard the stories of the treaty making era from the perspective of the 4.

native tribes involved. Have students break up into groups, each tell what s/

he saw and heard; come up with the agreed upon version, then write a short

song about it.

Optional– Create a graphic in response to one or more of the assigned 5.

questions (this would probably be homework or extra credit).

For Further Study: See Appendix I section for Treaties and Tribal Sovereignty.

Also see the website www.trailtribes.org – Making Treaties pages for

the tribal groups.

“Arrival of the Nez Perce Indians at Walla Walla Treaty, May 1855” from watercolor by Gustavus Sohon.

Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma

Chapter 7

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

1854 Lambert, John. “Map of Washington Territory showing the Indian Nations and Tribes”. Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma.

Transcript

Chapter 7 – The Treaties

(27:00 minutes)

Note: Transcript text is an exact rendition of

each interview, without corrections for grammar,

etc.

With the opening of the Oregon Trail

in the 1840s and the discovery of gold

in California in 1848, the population of

emigrants exploded.

The territories of Oregon and Washington

were established and plans were made

to obtain land from the Indians, reserving

areas for their exclusive use.

First Chinook Treaties negotiated – 1851

Gary Johnson – Chinook

The rst of the treaties, they were called the

Anson-Dart Treaties, and there were a whole

series of them written with the different tribes.

Joe Scovell – Clatsop/Nehalem

It provided the signers, the Clatsops, the

Nehalems, and also the Tillamooks in general,

they could select a certain site for hunting and

shing. That treaty was not fullled. The chiefs

and headmen of the tribes signing felt that they

had a deal with the United States government

and that the United States government would

honor their rights and, and at the same time, the

people, the immigrants that wanted to come in

and take over the land would be given the land.

Richard Basch – Clatsop/Nehalem

We had a treaty that was called the Tansy Point

Treaty where the Clatsop, the Chinooks, all the

different tribes of the Chinook nation signed

treaties at Tansy Point, ceding our territory.

Dened in those treaties were little reservations

in what is now Clatsop county, Pacic county.

And the non-Indians moved in, they started

farming, shing, cutting down the timber, but

that document which was signed by us went

Notes

Chapter 7 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

to Washington and was never signed by the

President, was never ratied by Congress. That

document that we thought was going to be the

terms of agreement and was going to be our

future, turned out to be worthless. We ended

up being lost in our own country. Many of us

had to move away from there, we were pushed

out.

Isaac I. Stevens and Joel Palmer, Governors

of Washington and Oregon respectfully,

negotiated a series of treaties with many of the

tribes in the area in 1854 & 1855.

Otis Halfmoon – Nez Perce

There was a man by the name Governor Isaac

I. Stevens who was sent over here by the Great

White Father here to make treaties with the

tribes knowing that there was going to be a

railroad put through the area, and so he wanted

the tribes put into certain areas.

Treaties of 1854-1855

Point No Point Treaty – January 26, 1855

Jamie Valadez – Elwha Klallam

In 1855 Governor Stevens was traveling around

western Washington with a team to have these

treaties signed. And so he would try to gather

multiple tribes together to sign under one treaty,

and was successful.

The rst one was Medicine Creek and the

second one was Point No Point and they met

over by the Port Gamble area. There they

brought together the Skokomish, the Klallams

and the Chimakum. They are all separate,

different tribes, and they were successful in

signing the treaty around January 26, so it was

during the winter. They brought all the sub

chiefs together and they appointed one main

chief from the Port Townsend Klallam village of

Kah Tai, his name was Chetzemoka. Governor

Stevens met with the tribal chiefs and explained

each article of the treaty, one by one, with an

interpreter, and they also used the Chinook

jargon, and that night they talked amongst

themselves about it, and at rst they did not

want to sign. Many of the sub chiefs spoke out

Notes

to say that they wanted to make sure they had

their shing and hunting grounds, because they

moved around to sh and hunt, they didn’t stay

in one place, and gathering. And so that was

very important that that was an article. Then that

night the village was bombed. There was a ship

out in the harbor and a lot of people were killed.

That bombing had to do with threatening the

chiefs to sign the treaty for one, but it also had

to do with some other incident that happened

before, like a retaliation.

So the next morning when they were to meet

with Governor Stevens again, the sub-chiefs

came with white ags and gave up and signed.

One of the stipulations was that all of the

Klallams, Chimakum would go and live on the

Skokomish reservation. And there was one

attempt at moving a village and it was the village

at Port Townsend, Kah Tai. They gathered up all

the people that lived there and their canoes and

tied them behind a steamboat, canoe to canoe,

so it’s a long chain, all their belongings they

could gather in the time they had, and then they

saw their houses, their village being burned as

they were leaving.

Treaty of Neah Bay, January 31, 1855

Maria Pascua – Makah

When they came our population was so

depleted compared to what it was. Just two to

three years prior to the signing of the treaty one

village was completely wiped out by smallpox

other than a mother and a son that were left

behind, and being outgunned and outmanned

and everything. And also the “Indian grapevine”

or the way that native people travel about and

hear what’s going on in the world, there was a

big network like that. And so our people were

expecting the treaty party is what I was told,

and when they came they set up a meeting and

some of our head people that were here went

out by canoe to their schooner and they had a

discussion the night before the treaty signing and

they wanted to have other tribes come to Neah

Bay and also our village of Ozette, which was

furthest away, our people told them it would

take another day before the Ozettes could come

Notes

Chapter 7 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

and of course the treaty party wanted things

done faster than that, but that’s the reality of the

times, everyone had to come by canoe or boat.

The translation was a three-way translation. The

people spoke English, the government people,

and then there was a man who interpreted that

into Chinook jargon, which is a limited trade

language vocabulary that most of the tribes

here used as well as the traders, but it doesn’t

convey all of the legal implications of the treaty

of course. But to the best of their ability I think

they tried to get across some of the points

in the treaty and I also think a lot was lost in

translation.

Edward Claplanhoo – Makah

The main thing he would tell me, my dad would

tell me is that you don’t look at the treaty itself,

you look at the minutes of the treaty. And if

you can digest the minutes of the treaty you’ll

know what all of the wording that’s in the treaty

means. So I’ve maintained that all my life that if

you’re going to understand our treaty you better

get the minutes so you can understand what

our forefathers went through to get that, and

the meanings that they were looking for as they

were negotiating.

Maria Pascua – Makah

In the minutes we say that they want our

original locations and hunting and shing

places and we had villages on Wada Island and

Tatoosh Island. And yet in the actual treaty itself

it says that we will cede our islands. But it was

not made clear in the negotiations, and so we

didn’t get our islands back until 1980, 1980s.

Janine Bowechop – Makah

So our reservation is now just about 38 square

miles, but previously of course we had control

of a much bigger area of land and even more

importantly than our control of that land would

be access to and control of the ocean resources.

So during the treaty negotiations with the

Federal Government prior to 1855, our people

made it very clear that we needed to access the

ocean to continue our way of life.

Notes

So the treaty signers, the treaty negotiators,

made sure that we had access to our traditional

shing and hunting grounds on the water

because of course sea mammals and sh and

shell sh have always been really important to

us and really still are. So we agreed to take a

pretty small piece of land to live on, but insisted

on maintaining access to a pretty large body of

water.

Chehalis River Treaty & Treaty of Olympia

February 24-27, 1855

Gary Johnson – Chinook

The early treaties, they rst wanted to push

or send all the Indian people to eastern

Washington, which is a totally different climate,

you know, none of the rivers or the water,

and asking people to leave their ancestors and

their villages, and people wouldn’t go, didn’t

want to go. So there was a treaty, the Chehalis

River Treaty in 1855. They asked people to go

up north and they didn’t specify an area, but

it turned out to be near the Quinault Indian

Reservation. Multiple tribes were there and none

of them would agree to the terms. Governor

Isaac Stevens, you know, left the treaty grounds

and everyone went home without a treaty

signed.

And that followed with the following year, what

was called the Treaty of Olympia, which was

signed only with the Quinault and Quileute

tribes, and none of the other lower river tribes,

tribes down here, signed that. By presidential

proclamation, that reservation was expanded

from 10,000 acres to 220,000, and the

Chinooks, and the Cowlitz, and Chehalis, and

Shoalwater, many other tribes were then given

land on the expanded reservation.

Walla Walla Treaty Council, June 9, 1855

Otis Halfmoon – Nez Perce

Isaac I. Stevens came to Walla Walla country to

meet with the Umatillas, Walla Wallas, Cayuse,

Yakamas, Palouse, and Nez Perce. All of the

tribes gathered there. It was a great gathering

Notes

Chapter 7 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

there in Walla Walla what the Nez Perce call

<Nez Perce >. <Nez Perce> is a name for

the Walla Walla country. And we…the Nez

Perce came in force. It was said it was marked

through history there by Sohon who was with

Isaac I. Stevens. The Nez Perce came back

and rode down the warriors and they were

singing their songs, and they came down and

they were war whooping and yelling around.

It must have been quite a sight to behold. But

again once they sat down and going through

the translations, and you had to go through a

bunch of translators and I believe much of that

was lost.

Marjorie Waheneka – Cayuse/Palouse

One of the things about the treaty council that

people don’t know, is that when Stevens was

making that he was only going to establish two

reservations, the Yakama and the Nez Perce.

But it was our leaders here on the Umatilla

that fought and said, “No. We don’t want to

be that far removed from our homeland.” And

so they fought and they negotiated for a third

reservation, which became the Umatilla.

Armand Minthorn – Cayuse/Nez Perce

The tribes here, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and

Cayuse, signed a treaty in 1855 with the

Federal Government. When we signed that

treaty we gave away 6.4 million acres, but we

retained our right to gather, hunt and sh.

When the treaty signers signed that treaty

they had a foresight for future generations

to continue with the way of life, which is

dependent on those resources, dependent on

a traditional way of life. To continue to hunt,

sh, gather roots and berries and medicines.

Otis Halfmoon – Nez Perce

I remember reading there were one of the, I

believe he was Cayuse, and he got up and he

said what was on everyone’s mind. He got up

and he stood there before the council and he

said, “Does the Earth know what is happening

to it? Does the Earth even know that these

lines are being drawn across it? Does the earth

Notes

Signature page from the 1855 treaty with the Umatilla, Walla Walla,

and Cayuse tribes. Tomastslikt Cultural Institute

know it, does it realize these things? Who is

going to speak for the Earth?”

Those words are very, very strong, not only

for all the tribes but for everyone that is across

this land here today. We all are going to have

to speak for the earth now as far as what is

happening to it, the exploitation that’s taken

place. It’s enormous. The forests are being

destroyed, our atmosphere is being changed.

We all have to speak for the earth. We have

to think back to that time period of 1855 the

wisdom of that man.

Lee Bourgeau – Nez Perce

The attitude is, with treaties, is that the Federal

Government gave the Nez Perce tribe in the

treaty of 18[5]5. They didn’t give us anything.

They didn’t give us anything, they took. They

took from us, a lot.

And what we did as a people is we reserved,

through those treaties, some rights. You know,

hunting and shing and gathering. We reserved

those rights. And I just can never say it enough,

I am so thankful for the wisdom of our elders

in negotiating our treaties, because I know that

there are other tribes that are not as fortunate as

us.

The Dalles Treaty Council, June 25, 1855

Pat Courtney Gold – Wasco

We signed a treaty here in the Dalles and

we gave up a lot of our land and a lot of our

shing rights and we were pretty much forced,

we didn’t have a say, but we were pretty

much forced to move to the Warm Springs

Reservation.

Our ancestors started moving in the late 1880s.

And during that move I think a lot happened

to the ancestors when they moved. First of all

it was physically a real shock. You just have to

imagine what it would be like for you to be

forcefully moved out of your house and your

community into an area that you didn’t know

very well. And we were known for our trade, for

our salmon shing, the food was always with us.

Notes

Chapter 7 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

We were moved, you know, south to a semi-

arid area, totally isolated, there were no people

to trade with. And I think what happened was

the ancestors were focusing on just surviving.

The Hellgate Treaty Council, July 16,

1855

Vernon Finley – Kootenai

The band that lived in this area and that signed

the treaty here at Council Grove is the K’sanka

band, which was the band that lived in the area

that is referred to today as Montana.

And as the Europeans began to move in and

the ways of life changed and the buffalo were

wiped out, the people, as happened with all

tribes, became less dependent upon the natural

resources to live and more dependent upon

the trade goods. And with that came poverty

when those things weren’t available. And

it progressively got worse and worse, and it

became more and more difcult for people just

to stay alive.

And by the time 1855 rolled around, when

Governor Stevens right here on this ground

wanted to meet with the different tribes to sign

treaties with them, the Kootenais were in a

pretty bad way. They were hungry and starving

and it was hard times.

And so when the chief came down to meet

with Governor Stevens, one of the things he

had in mind was to be able to stop the wars,

stop the killing and for the <Ak-smuk-nik> to

still be able to go throughout the places they’ve

always gone and to gather the foods and the

medicines and everything they’ve always done

before.

Julie Cajune – Salish

The tribal leaders at that time, you know,

believed that language that said, “This land is

set aside for the exclusive use and benet of

these Indian people,” and they believed that

was forever.

Notes

Vernon Finley – Kootenai

The idea of owning the land, if you can think

about the world view, about the perspective

that took place and how we as human beings,

what our place is in all of creation, and where

us as an individual, what our place is in all of

this, to have the gall or the audacity to assume

that we could own all the rest of this, it’s some

of our possessions. That was a foreign concept.

It was just something that couldn’t be grasped.

But from the Western perspective owning the

land is everything. You know, they assumed

that, “Well if this tribe is camping here, in

the fall they’re camping somewhere else, and

in the winter they’re camping somewhere

else, they must not own this land so we can

claim it and say it’s ours.” Well, that idea of

property ownership was one of the largest

misunderstandings among the two worldviews.

And, so when Governor Stevens told the

Kootenais, “You have to give up all of your

aboriginal territory, everywhere where you’ve

gone before, you don’t own that anymore.

What you will own will reserve a smaller part of

it, up here. And we’ll call it the reservation and

that will be yours. That will be preserved, you

will own that part.”

The idea was strange to the Kootenai chief, and

so what he said was, “Okay. You can say that

you own all of this. You can go ahead and say

that if we can always go where we’ve always

gone, always collect the foods we’ve always

collected, always done the things we’ve always

done, everywhere we’ve gone and done that in

the past.”

You know, he was trying to gure out a way

we can both meet our needs here. You can go

ahead and say you own the land but this earth

has been here for thousands and thousands

of generations and you’re, you know, in a few

short years, you’re not even going to exist. But

you can say the idea that you would own a

piece of it is absurd, but if you want to say that

you own it, go ahead and say that you own it

as long as we can do what we do. You do what

you want to do, we do what we want to do.

Notes

Chapter 7 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

And as long as those things are in agreement

and you stop killing us, then this can work.

Julie Cajune – Salish

In the Hellgate Treaty there is a provision for

the survey of another reservation because

Victor, who was a principle leader at that

time, had no intention of moving from the

Bitterroot Valley. You know, he recognized

this was the Pend d’Oreille, the Upper Pend

d’Oreille were occupying this area. And yes,

we’re relatives, but that he had no intention

of leaving the Bitterroot. And so the survey

of the Bitterroot was supposed to be done. It

was promised and guaranteed in the Hellgate

Treaty but it was never really done.

And so Victor died, I believe in 1872, and

so then his son, who people are more

familiar with, and referred to as Chief Charlo,

became the principle leader of the Bitterroot

Salish. He stayed. He knew his father never

intended to leave. And that was a solemn

obligation. And when James Gareld was

sent out to convince him to move, you know,

he had no intention and he was unwilling.

And then Gareld produced a document in

Washington D.C. that supposedly had his

mark on it as if he said, “Okay. I’ll gather

everybody together and we’ll move now.”

And he was very bitter, and to the day he

died said he never agreed to leave. And they

stayed in the Bitterroot until 1891. And I

think poverty and pressure from the settlers

forced them. I guess they were doing very

poorly. And that’s a very sad, very sad…I

think he died probably of a broken heart

having to move and then having to see

allotment, you know. And then I think he

died the year they opened the reservation up

to homesteading in 1910.

You know, after ceding over 22 million acres

and the reservation was allotted in 1904,

and then unallotted lands were declared

surplus and opened to white homesteaders

in 1910, we lost over 60 percent of this small

sanctuary of land base, and have been buying

it back at a premium for decades. And so we

Notes

have now recovered over 300,000 acres of land

that was lost. That’s a remarkable story.

Spokane Treaty Council,

December 5, 1855

This council failed to accomplish the goal

of establishing one additional reservation

for the Spokane, Colville and Coeur

d’Alene.

Felix Aripa – Coeur d’Alene

They didn’t want to be told what to do I guess.

Some of the generals wanted to put the Coeur

d’Alenes into the Colvilles. They didn’t want

that. Why leave up here and go over there,

we couldn’t make a living. Here we know

how to make a living. We have our lakes, our

mountains. We have everything. We know how

to live here.

Cliff SiJohn – Coeur d’Alene

Up through the 50s, more and more people

started drifting in here and drifting in here.

And the army met with the Coeur d’Alenes

and promised that they would help the Coeur

d’Alenes and keep these people out of their

lands.

The treaty that was made with the Yakamas,

and the Umatilla, and the Cayuse and the Walla

Walla, and part of the Nez Perce, was made in

’55. Right after that there was a treaty supposed

to be made with the Coeur d’Alenes to name

the areas that we did not want white people to

come into.

Little did we know, that even at that time when

they were promising to help keep the settlers

out of our area, they were already appropriating

in Congress money to build a road right through

the middle of our country...and to open up this

country with this military road they called the

Mullan Road.

Notes

Chapter 7 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Nez Perce (Nee-me-poo) National Historic Trail National Park Service

Chapter Eight:

Treaty Aftermath - The Nez Perce Story

This chapter explores the immediate ramications of treaty-making in the Northwest.

Suggestion: integrate into the US Constitution and Manifest Destiny units of your US

history class and your state history class.

Pre-Viewing Activities (20 minutes)

Key Concepts

demise of buffalo herds

Nez Perce ight of 1877

discovery of gold

miners and homesteaders

shrinking reservation

Indian concept of land as “the bones of their ancestors”

Predicting Activity (Key Concepts)

Ask students to write about how reservations might ‘shrink.’1.

Create a drawing entitled “The Land is the Bones of Their 2.

Ancestors.”

Vocabulary

exile

fractionalized

Ask students to look up the terms and check for understanding.

Places

Nez Perce Reservation (Idaho)

Wallowa Valley (Oregon)

Bear Paw Battleeld (Montana)

Indian Territory (Oklahoma)

Find the rst two locations on the USGS Northwest States map provied in back

pocket of this guide.

Optional– For the second two locations, do a webquest to nd the areas. Where

are they in relation to the rst two places listed?

Chapter 8

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

People

Chief Joseph Looking Glass

Whte Bird Old Joseph

Ask students to listen for these names in this chapter and pay attention to what tribe

they belong to, and what else they learn about each of these people.

Essential Questions (make this a part of the student transcript handout, if you wish)

Create a scenario that puts you in the shoes of the Nez Perce 1.

after the treaty they signed in 1855. What would be your

understanding of the treaty?

Optional– Has the U.S. Government honored the treaties?2.

Viewing (5:25 minutes)

Teacher transcript•

Student transcript, complete with essential questions (at the beginning), •

spaces for notes and personal reections.

Post-Viewing Activities (20-30 minutes)

Allow students to nish their notes and reections.1.

In groups or individually, have students express their responses to essential 2.

question 1.

Optional– Research the “Indian War of 1856” on the Columbia Plateau.3.

Optional– In researching the War of 1877, nd as many differing accounts as 4.

possible, compare language used, and draw conclusions about the validity of

each.

Ask students to write about how reservations might “shrink.”5.

Create a drawing entitled “The Land is the Bones of Their Ancestors”.6.

For Further Study: See Appendix I sections for General Teaching about Pacic

Northwest Tribal People.

Also see the website www.trailtribes.org – Shrinking Reservations pages for

each of the tribal groups.

Transcript

Chapter 8 – Treaty Aftermath; The

Nez Perce Story (5:25 minutes)

Note: Transcript text is an exact rendition of

each interview, without corrections for grammar,

etc.

End of the buffalo

Miners and Homesteaders

Shrinking Reservation

Flight of 1877

Rob Collier – Nez Perce

The buffalo, when it became extinct, that

was within what, three years? They went

from thousands and thousands in big, huge

herds to none - to absolutely none. And how

disheartening it must have been for the Indian

people to go out on the plains and see rotting

carcasses. I mean they didn’t even take the meat.

They take the skins or even just shot them for

sport and leave them there to rot.

So it must have been very hard culturally, and

that was what the men did at that time. They

were hunters. They were the hunters. And when

you don’t have anything to hunt anymore, that’s

like being red from your job.

Otis Halfmoon – Nez Perce

In 1855 the land that was set aside to our

people, a lot of things happened to that piece

of ground and it’s really a sad story as far as you

look at our land base today. The land when

they came by they told us that no white man

would be allowed to come on our reservation

without our endorsement or authorization or our

blessing.

In 1860 they discovered gold, discovered gold

on our reservation and white people go crazy

over gold. Next thing you know you got gold

miners coming in every which way to our

reservation. But they didn’t leave. They started

homesteading around the area and squatting on

the land. The government found themselves in

the position now what are we going to do, we

have got all these Anglo people all over the Nez

Notes

Chapter 8 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Perce reservation which we told them we wasn’t

going to allow, and all of sudden well what are

we going to do? Well, make another treaty.

In 1863 another treaty was made and it divided

the land even smaller. And it also divided

many of the Nez Perce people. It divided us

completely because some of them, they would

not sign it, and some of the leaders did sign it.

The ones that signed this piece of treaty were

ones that were within those boundaries and in

fact it’s pretty much the present day boundary

of what we have today, and they were Christian

leaders.

The ones outside the reservation did not sign

it, people like Joseph, Looking Glass, White

Bird, <Nez Perce > and many others that were

outside the boundary area. And they wouldn’t

sign it, and as far as they were concerned as far

as tribal government if they didn’t agree with it,

they didn’t have to abide by it.

And the soldiers or the treaty commissioners

says, “The majority of the Nez Perce signed it, so

therefore you all have to abide by it.” That was

a different form of law as far as the Nez Perce

were concerned. And thus the war of 1877.

Rob Collier – Nez Perce

At the battle of Bear Paw when <Native

language>, Chief Joseph, surrendered, the

people were taken to Indian Territory in

Oklahoma and it was a real bad experience and

that’s were my grandpa was born. Grandpa he

wouldn’t, he wouldn’t talk about it, he would

not.

Lee Bourgeau – Nez Perce

Being a descendent of what everybody calls the

Chief Joseph band, even though it was several

bands that were in the Flight of 1877. I have

great grandfathers who were in that Flight and a

part of that. During the ight there was a lot of

death and I can remember mother talking about

the elders and how distressing it was that they

had to bury our people in such shallow graves

to keep going. And now to listen to the elders

talk about how sacred that land is. All of that

Notes

Chapter 8 – Transcript

land along that whole Flight is sacred because

everywhere there, there’s bodies of our people.

And when I think about the reasons why our

people fought for the land and the Flight of 1877,

why they didn’t want to give up the Wallowa

Valley, why they didn’t want to give up the

Salmon River area, all of those places that were so

important to our people. There is one thing that’s

written in books, but my mother said is really true

that Joseph’s father, Old Joseph, told him not

to ever sell the bones of your mother and your

father.

Bobbie Conner – Cayuse/Nez Perce/Umatilla

And by 1871 when Old Joseph dies, we’re already

fractionalized and split amongst our relatives

and our friends by Christianity, by treaties, by

government intervention, by alcohol, by trappers

and traders. The division and fractionalization

has already become part of a way of life. And

by 1877, when they go into exile, it is a mere

distance in time from when the expedition came

through, and for us it’s only a couple generations

ago that that exile began.

Notes

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Chapter Nine: Reections

This chapter addresses Indian survival after Manifest Destiny and U.S. attempts at

assimilation.

Suggestion: integrate materials introduced here into the Manifest Destiny unit of your US

history and state history class.

Pre-Viewing Activities (20 minutes)

Key Concepts

“Kill the Indian, Save the Child” – US Government policy and assimilation

the existence of Indian people “from time immemorial”

culture as a universe

covenant with the Creator vs. modern jurisdictions

Predicting Activity (Key Concepts)

Explore the implications of the “Kill the Indian, save the child” 1.

philosophy of the U.S. government after the treaty making era.

Dene “time immemorial.” What does this mean regarding the 2.

existence of tribal people on this continent?

What might “culture as a universe” mean?3.

Vocabulary

perseverance covenant

generation reections

termination perseverance

heritage

Ask students to dene the terms and pay attention to how they are used throughout

the chapter.

Essential Questions

Ask the students to pay attention to the ideology presented in this chapter, that

tribes feel a deep responsibility to maintain lifeways and the land that sustains

those lifeways.

Bobbie Conner states that their “Covenant with the Creator...1.

transcends modern jurisdictions.” What is she expressing in

this statement?

Chapter 9

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Swans in moonlight Ken Furrow photograph

Viewing (3:55 minutes)

Teacher transcript•

Student transcript, complete with essential questions (at the beginning), •

spaces for notes and personal reections.

Post-Viewing Activities (20-30 minutes)

Allow students to nish their notes and reections.1.

Discuss or conduct a Socratic Seminar on the following question: “What does 2.

the ability to tell your own history accomplish? For whom?”

Explore the implication of the “Kill the Indian, save the child” philosophy of 3.

the U.S. government after the treaty making era.

Dene “time immemorial.” What does this mean regarding the existence of 4.

tribal people on this continent?

What might “culture as a universe” mean? 5.

For further study see the website www.trailtribes.org

Transcript

Chapter 9 – Reections (3:55 minutes)

Note: Transcript text is an exact rendition

of each interview, without corrections for

grammar, etc.

Gary Johnson – Chinook

It’s also important too, that the story is told

about what happened to the land, how people

in my father’s generation, my grandmother’s

generation, were taken and sent to Indian

schools. And the government policy was clearly

stated, “Kill the Indian, save the child”.

And it was really tough times for people to live

through, and to try to maintain their culture and

try to maintain their family connections.

Kathleen Gordon – Cayuse/Walla Walla

Our heritage is from a very, very strong people.

I’m very grateful to still be here as a human

being after all our people were really put

through, and I have a deep feeling of gratitude

for the strength of our people to be able to

withstand what they had to withstand.

Stan Bluff – Kalispel

We are unique people. We have a story and we

have a tradition. And I think this to me is the

most important thing - to know who we are and

know our history. To know that we have existed

here from time immemorial, and that we are

going to maintain, we are going to survive.

And we’ve survived a lot. The terminations, the

treaty days, reservation days, we’ve survived

them. We’re still here. The perseverance that

our elders, our leaders, have had, the foresight

they had, is why we are here today.

Edward Claplanhoo – Makah

So I have to admire what our forefathers left us

and they left us a lot. We look at our treaty and

the things they left in our treaty you have to

marvel at.

Notes

Chapter 9 – Transcript

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Gary Johnson – Chinook

And seeing that the old ways of protecting the

resources and living closely with, on the water,

and on the land, seeing the importance of that

is why we work so hard today to maintain the

tribe. Our culture is the whole universe and

we need to build it and maintain it.

Marjorie Waheneka – Cayuse/Palouse

A lot of our things are disappearing today. But

we still have a strong belief, that as long as we

take care of the land, as long as we practice

the treaty, have that treaty piece of paper in

our hand, that’s our legal documentation.

And that gives us the right to use accustomed

areas. And something that our elders instilled

in us, and it’s up to us today to practice that

and also tell our younger people, our children,

our grandchildren, this is how we’re going to

survive.

Bobbie Conner – Cayuse/Nez Perce/

Umatilla

And our covenant with the creator, for giving

us this place to live and for the animals and

the plants here agreeing to sustain us, if we

would protect them, transcends all of those

modern jurisdictions.

Clean air, clean water, clean land, a good

place to live, those things are things we should

all mutually embrace.

Song sung by Roger Jackson – Quileute

Notes

Appendix I

READING LIST & RECOMMENED WEBSITES

General Teaching about Pacic Northwest Tribal People

Tips on how to evaluate Native American Resources, go to the University of Arizona’s

site on “Techniques on Evaluating American Indian Web sites” http://www.u.arizona.

edu/~ecubbins/webcrit.html

University of Washington essay on the history of Lushootseed, or Pacic Coastal people,

as well as an amazing digital collection of Pacic Northwest Coast Indians http://content.

lib.washington.edu/aipnw/thrush.html

Experiential Lesson of Federal Indian Policy since rst contact: “Colonization Effects From

First Encounter through US Federal Policy.” Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute.

25 August 2005. http://www.evergreen.edu/nwindian/curriculum/federalpolicy.html

Up to date information about Indian Country. The Native American Times. http://www.

nativetimes.com/index.asp

State by state events and tourism information: http://www.500nations.com/500_Places.

asp

Seattle Times article on the canoe journey to learn more about cultural revitalization.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002415582_canoe02e.html

Washington State tribal information: http://www.goia.wa.gov/Tribal-Information/Tribal-

Information.htm )

Read Fighting Alcohol and Substance Abuse among American Indian and Alaskan Native

Youth. ERIC Digest: http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9221/indian.htm

“Indians of Washington State.” Ofce of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Olympia, WA: 1988 (reprinted October, 2000). Available through OSPI, Contact Joan

Banker, assistant to Denny Hurtado, Indian Education, Title I Program Supervisor E-Mail:

[email protected], Phone: (360) 725-6160

Slapin, Beverly and Seale, Doris, editors. Through Indian Eyes. New Society Publishers:

Philadelphia, PA, 1992. (Available for purchase: http://www.books.aisc.ucla.edu/toc/

thrueyes.html )

Stereotypes in General

Detecting Indian bias in books—a bibliography and list of books to avoid by the American

Indian Library Association: http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/ailabib.htm

Essays on Stereotyping in media and literature: http://www.hanksville.org/sand/

stereotypes/

Appendix 1

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Bigelow, Bill and Peterson, Bob, editors. Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years.

Rethinking Schools, Ltd.: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1998. Available for purchase:

< http://www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/columbus/columbus.shtml >

How to teach and use the Cornell note-taking system: Center for Learning and Teaching.

Cornell University. 5 September 2005. < http://www.clt.cornell.edu/campus/learn/

SSWorkshops/SKResources.html >

How to set up a Socratic seminar in your classroom: “Socratic Seminars.” Study.org. 28

August 2005. < http://www.studyguide.org/socratic_seminar.htm >

Treadway, Linda. “Socratic Seminars: Engaging Students in Intellectual Discourse.”

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 28 August 2005. < http://

www.middleweb.com/Socratic.html >

Information on how to organize and write the PSA: “Preparing Public Service

Announcements.” Community Tool Box. 05 Sepember 2005. < http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/

en/sub_section_main_1065.htm >

Also see Press Writing: < http://www.press-release-writing.com/newsletters/t54-psa.htm >

Treaties and Tribal Sovereignty

“Treaty Trail.” Washington History Online. < http://washingtonhistoryonline.org>

Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, Wa.

Pevar, Stephen L. The Rights of Indians and Tribes: The Basic ACLU Guide to Indian and

Tribal Rights, 2nd Edition. American Civil Liberties Union, United States, 1992.

Canby, Jr., William C. American Indian Law in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition. West Publishing,

Co: St. Paul, MN, 1988.

Furse, Elizabeth. Indian Tribes Rights and Responsibilities. Institute for Tribal Government.

Portland, OR, 28 August 2005. <http://www.tribalgov.pdx.edu/resources.php >

Federally Recognized Tribes of the Columbia-Snake Basin. Publication DOE/BP-2946. U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, U.W. Bureau of Reclamation, Bonneville Power Administration,

editors. (Available in pdf format on: http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?osti_

id=578448&queryId=4&start=0)

Craig, Carol. Understanding Tribal Sovereignty. Pamphlet from Yakama Nation Fisheries

Program: Toppenish, WA, 2005. Carol Craig makes presentations from kindergarten

through college level classes and civic organizations for a better understanding to treaties.

Contact her at the Yakama Nation Fisheries Program, P.O. Box 151, Toppenish, WA

98948. (509)865-5121. [email protected].

“Questions & Answers on Treaty Rights.” National Coalition to Support Treaty Rights.

HONOR, Inc, Milwaukee, WI: 1993. Available for .75 per copy at: http://www.

schoolnet.ca/aboriginal/resource/18-e.html

“Treaty Indian Fisheries and Salmon Recovery.” Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

Streamline Video. 13 August 2004. < http://www.nwifc.wa.gov/newsinfo/streaming.asp

“The Institute for Tribal Government.” Portland State University. 05 September 2005.

<http://www.tribalgov.pdx.edu/resources.php >

Centennial Accord/Millennium Agreement. Governor’s Ofce of Indian Affairs. 2005.

28 August 2005. <http://goia.wa.gov/Government-to-Government/Government-to-

Government.htm >

Sever, Jill. The State We’re In: Washington, Your Guide to State, Tribal, & Local

Government. The League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund: Seattle, WA,

2004.

Pacic Northwest Artistry

Entwined With Life: Nataive American Basketry. The Burke Museum, University of

Washington. 28 August 2005. <http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/baskets/

index.html

Gifting and Feasting in the Northwest Coast Potlatch. Harvard College, 1999. 28 August

2005. http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/potlatch/default.html

Arts and Artistry, see Trail Tribes, Center for Lifelong Learning, University of Montana. 28

August 2005. <http://www.trailtribes.org/index.html >

“Tribal Museums.” Governors Ofce of Indian Affairs. Olympia, WA. 28 August 2005.

<http://www.goia.wa.gov/Tribal-Information/Tribal-Information.htm >

Anderson, Ross. “Still Standing.” The Seattle Times. 2003. 28 August 2005. <http://

seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacicnw/2003/0302/cover.html >

Tribal Languages and Dialects

Have students research American English dialects here in the Pacic Northwest to

impress upon them the impact of regional geography and tradition on language:

http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/pacicnorthwest/

Explore the “Native Languages” website to nd out what people are doing to revive and

save endangered tribal languages of the Americas: http://www.native-languages.org/

Sahaptin language dictionary: http://www.native-languages.org/sahaptin.htm

Fishing and Salmon Recovery

“Treaty Indian Fisheries and Salmon Recovery.” Northwest Indian Fisheries

Commission. Streaming Video. 13 August 2004. http://www.nwifc.wa.gov/newsinfo/

streaming.asp

Preview: “Through Salmon Eyes.” Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. Streaming

Video. 13 August 2004. http://www.nwifc.wa.gov/newsinfo/streaming.asp

Obtain and preview ““Yakama Nation: Our Valley in Transition.” KIMA Television DVD.

Appendix 1

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

KIMA Television: Yakima, WA, 2003. Contact Quentin Coulter, Production Manager,

KIMA TV29, [email protected] Phone: 509.575.0029, ext. 210, fax: 509.248.1218.

“Salmon Homecoming” portion of the NWITFC site: http://www.nwifc.wa.gov/

salmonhomecoming/index.asp and reproduce some of the “Activities for Kids” for students

to complete. There are word-nds, crosswords, and other fun activities that address the

importance of salmon. These activities are for elementary and middle school grades,

though all the information is suitable for high school students.

“Sacred Salmon: A Gift to Sustain Life.” Salish Kootenai College and the National

Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Videocassette. Yakama Tribal Fisheries

Program and KSKC: Pablo, MT, 2004. Obtain the 32 minute VHS or DVD copy of PBS’s

“Sacred Salmon: A Gift to Sustain Life” from http://www.montanapbs.org/SacredSalmon/

to explore ways tribes are working with non-Indians to protect the salmon. Also includes

rare video footage of Celilo Falls before the building of dams along the Columbia River

destroyed it.

Teach the lesson: “The Importance of Saving Salmon From Extinction” by the NIARI

Curriculum Project at Evergreen College: http://www.evergreen.edu/nwindian/curriculum/

salmon.html

Quiz students on how much they know about tribal shellsh harvesting on private

property: http://www.nwifc.wa.gov/shellsh/faq.asp

Update students on Makah Whaling. Two perspectives:

National Marine Fisheries: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/PR2/Conservation_and_

Recovery_Program/makah_EA.html

Makah Tribe: http://makah.com/whaling.htm

Spirituality and Culture

Burial Sites and Treatment of the Dead:

Potlatching and giving: http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/potlatch/default.html

Tse whitzen” http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/local/klallam/

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s Views of Tse Whitzen: http://tse-whit-zen.elwha.nsn.us/

Burial customs: http://www.trailtribes.org/fortclatsop/disease-and-burial-customs.htm

Bering Land Bridge Theory, and Kennewick Man

“1491” by Charles C Mann; The Atlantic Monthly; Mar 2002; Vol. 289, Iss. 3; pg. 41, 12

David Burton’s “The Bering Land Bridge Theory Collapsing”, Vine DeLoria, Jr.’s Red Earth,

White Lies: Native Americans And The Myth Of Scientic Fact

Kennewick Man http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/kman/virtualexhibit_intro.htm

Umatilla Perspective on Kennewick Man: http://www.umatilla.nsn.us/ancient.html

Other Spiritual Information:

Naming Ceremonies: http://www.trailtribes.org/lemhi/naming-ceremonies.htm

Great Circle: http://www.trailtribes.org/lemhi/great-circle.htm

Readings on Cultural Respect: http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/r-explt.html# (This page,

part of the Midwest Treaty Network, offers essays and poetry that discuss the non-Indian

“appropriation” of native spiritual ways. Sometimes irreverent, this site would be a great

place to discuss why even well-meaning individuals who try to experience native spirituality

can be unwittingly offensive.

Appropriation of tribal spiritual ways: http://mytwobeadsworth.com/Indianrealties405.html

Indian Education & Boarding Schools

See images and lessons about government residential schools on: http://memory.loc.gov/

learn/lessons/01/indian/teacher.html

Governor Gregoire’s a promise to promote tribal education for all of our children. See:

http://www.niea.org/media/news_detail.php?id=12&catid

Teach the Library of Congress’s lesson on Boarding Schools: http://memory.loc.gov/learn/

lessons/01/indian/teacher.html

Indian Mascots

Students can discuss or research the Indian mascot controversy in college sports as well

as in their own areas. There are numerous web sites on the topic. Consider showing the

three-minute video entitled, “I Am Not a Mascot,” available at: http://www.retirethechief.

org/notamascot.html

Also see Michael Dorris’s essay entitled, “I Is Not for Indian,” with study questions crafted

by Marquette University’s America’s First Nations Collection: http://www.marquette.edu/

library/neh/dunne/I.htm

Worthwhile resources not used in this unit

“1855: Yakima Treaty Chronicles.” Yakama Indian Nation Review. Toppenish, WA,

1978 (reprinted 2004). Available for $7.50 per copy 509.865.3150/2673, P.O. Box 310,

Toppenish, WA 98948.

“Beneath Stilled Waters.” Videocassette. Interview of Ed Irby by Kirby Brumeld, ca

1970. Available through the Yakama Indian Nation library, 509-865-2255. This video

shows rare color footage of Celilo Falls before it was destroyed by hydroelectric dams.

Bill, Willard. “Breaking the Sacred Circle.” Ofce of the Superintendent of Public

Instruction. Olympia, WA: 1987 (reprinted February, 2000). Available through OSPI,

Contact Joan Banker, assistant to Denny Hurtado, Indian Education, Title I Program

Supervisor E-Mail: [email protected], Phone: (360) 725-6160

Boyd, Robert. People of the Dalles: The Indians of Wascopam Mission. University of

Nebraska Press: Lincoln, NE, 1996.

Appendix 1

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

“Everything Change, Everything Change: Reections of Ida Nason.” Videocassette.

University of Washington, 1986. Video available through the University of Washington

and Yakama Nation libraries. Interview with tribal elder about life at the turn of the

century.

“Indians of Washington and the Environment.” Project Learning Tree. Olympia, WA,

1986.

Kickingbird, Kirke and Lynn. Indians and the U.S. Constitution: A Forgotten Legacy.

Institute for the Development of Indian Law, Inc., Washington, DC, 1987.

“Yakama Nation: Our Valley in Transition.” KIMA Television. DVD. KIMA Television:

Yakima, WA, 2003. For your own copy, contact Quentin Coulter, Production Manager,

KIMA TV29, [email protected] Phone: 509.575.0029, ext. 210, fax

LaFrance, Joan. “The Unwritten Chapters: An American Indian Comments on American

History.” Ofce of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Olympia, WA, 1987 (reprinted

2000). Available through OSPI, Contact Joan Banker, assistant to Denny Hurtado, Indian

Education, Title I Program Supervisor E-Mail: [email protected], Phone: (360)

725-6160

Pambrun, Andrew Dominique. Sixty Years on the Frontier in the Pacic Northwest. Glen

C. Adams: Faireld, WA, 1979.

Appendix II

Tribal Perspectives–Northwest satises the following National Social Science Standards

for detailed information please visit: www.education-world.com/standards/national/soc_sci/index.shtml

US History Geography Economics Civics

Benchmark 9-12.4 - Examination of the relationship of the United States to other nations and to world affairs.

NSS EC-9-12.4 Role of Incentives NSS EC-9-12.5 Gain from Trade

NSS G.K-12.1:

The World in Spa-

tial Terms

NSS-G.K-12.2:

Places

and Regions

NSS-G.K-12:3:

Physical

Systems

NSS-G.K-12.4: Hu-

man

Systems

NSS-G.K-12.5:

Environment

and Society

NSS-G.K-12.6: The

Uses of Geography

NSS-USH.5-12.1:

Era 1 -

Three Worlds

Meet

NSS-USH.5-12.2:

Era 2 - Colonization

and Settlement

(1585-1763)

NSS-USH.5-12.4:

Era 4 - Expansion

and Reform

(1801-1861)

NSS-USH.5-12.6:

Era 6 - The

Development of the

Industrial United

States (1870-1900)

NSS-USH.5-12.9:

Era 9 - Postwar

United States

(1945 to early

1970s)

NSS-USH.9-12.10:

Era 10 -

Contemporary

United States (1968

to the Present)

Tribal Perspectives–Northwest satises the following National Language Arts Standards

for detailed information please visit: www.education-world.com/standards/national/soc_sci/index.shtml

English

NL-ENG

K-12.1

Reading for

Perspective

NL-ENG.

K-12.2

Human

Experience

NL-ENG.

K-12.3

Evaluation

Stragegies

NL-ENG.

K-12.4

Communi-

cation Skills

NL-ENG.

K-12.4

Communi-

cation

Strategies

NL-ENG.

K-12.6

Applying

Knowledge

NL-ENG

K-12.7

Evaluating

Data

NL-ENG.

K-12.8

Developing

Research

Skills

NL-ENG.

K-12.9

Multicultural

Understanding

NL-ENG.

K-12.11

Participating

in Society

Appendix 2

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Tribal Perspectives–Northwest satises the following Social Studies Standards for Montana OPI

for detailed information, please visit: www.opi.state.mt.us/Accred/cstandards.htm

Inquiry

Learning

Benchmark 12.2 - Apply criteria to evaluate information (ie: origin, authority, accuracy, bias, and distortion of

information and ideas). EU 1-7

Civic

Responsibilities

Geography

Effects of Time

and Change

Economics

Cultural

Diversity

Benchmark 12.4 - Evaluate how the unique characteristics of Montana/American Indian tribes and other cultural

groups have contributed to Montana history and contemporary life. EU 1-7

Benchmark 12.4 - Compare and contrast how values and beliefs inuence economic decisions in different

economic systems, including American Indians (ie: tribal vs. capital economics) EU 4

Benchmark 12.3 - Assess the major impacts of

human modications on the environment and

compare and contrast use of lands by different

people. EU 1,4,5

Benchmark 12.4 - Analyze how human

settlement patterns and cultural borders

create cooperation and conict which

inuence the division and control of the

Earth. EU 4,5,7

Benchmark 12.7 - Describe and

compare how people create places that

reect culture, human needs, govt policy,

history, and current values and ideas as

they design and build. EU 1,2,5,6

Benchmark 12.6 - Analyze and

evaluate conditions, actions and

motivations that contribute to conict

and cooperation within and among

groups and nations, including tribal

nations (ie: discrimination) EU 2

Benchmark 12.6 - Identify

origination of stereotypes,

and connect these to conict/

cooperation within and

among groups and nations.

EU 2-5

Benchmark 12.4 - Relate

concept of tribal sovereignty

to the unique powers of tribal

goverments as they interact

with local, state, and federal

governments. EU 5,7

Benchmark 12.5a - Analyze the

effectiveness of various systems

of government to protect the

rights and needs of citizens and

balance competing conceptions

of a just society. EU 1,4,7

Benchmark 12.1 - Select and

analyze documents, primary

and secondary sources (ie:

treaties, oral histories, court

decisions, current events,

tribal publications) that have

inuenced the legal, pollitical,

and constitutional heritage of

Montana Indians. EU 4-7

Benchmark 12.2

Interpret how

selected cultures,

historical events,

periods, and

patterns of change

inuence each

other. EU 5

Benchmark 12.6 - Investigate,

interpret, and analyze the impact of

multiple historical and contemporary

viewpoints, concerning events within

and across cultures, major world

religions, and political systems, esp.

as they relate to American Indian

cultures (ie: assimilation, values,

beliefs, conicts) EU 1-7

Benchmark 12.7 - Analyze and

illustrate the major issues concerning

history, culture, tribal sovereignty, and

current status of the Montana tribes

and bands and American Indians

(ie: gambling, artifacts, repatriation,

natural resources, language,

jurisdiction) EU 1-7

Tribal Perspectives–Northwest satises the following Language Arts Standards for Montana OPI

for detailed information, please visit: www.opi.state.mt.us/Accred/cstandards.htm

Literature Content

Literature Content Standard 4 - Students interact with print and nonprint literary works from various cultures,

ethnic groups, traditional and contemporary viewpoints written/spoken by both genders.

EU 1-2. Benchmarks: 1. Students select, read, listen to and view a variety of traditional and contemporary

works from diverse cultures (ie: American Indian works). 2. Students analyze diverse literature to identify and

compare common human experiences within and between cultures.

Appendix 2

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Appendix III

Document Based Question Assignment

Using copies of the Oregon Land Donation Act and Neah Bay Treaty Minutes, students will

work through a Document Based Question (DBQ) assignment.

The focus will be on the differing perspectives of the lands and peoples of the American

Northwest. They will then look at the current tribal lands question, trying to nd similarities

and differences to the historical perspectives.

After studying the issue, focus will switch to the current state of land usage in the American

North West.

Day One

Read: Oregon Land Donation Act

Students: Highlight any words or phrases they are unfamiliar with.

Teacher: When students have nished reading, show them the region on the historical map

of the Northwest. Students will take notes on the following important facts:

Trappers and traders made the rst forays into the Far West during the 1820s. •

Fur trappers in California and Oregon traded cattle hides with eastern merchants

for manufactured goods.

No one factor led to the early settlement and organization of the Far West more •

than the establishment of Spanish missions early in the nineteenth century.

The Spanish mission was a tool for advancing political, economic, and religious

goals.

By the time Europeans came to the Northwest almost 300 years had passed, •

and European explorers had traveled to and mapped nearly all parts of North

and South America—except the Pacic Northwest.

In the 18th century European traders cherished the hope of nding an easily •

accessible waterway across North America. They based their hopes on legendary

accounts about the Northwest Passage.

The people of the Northwest coast lived in orderly, hierarchical societies based •

on extended family groups.

Overall, trading for services and material goods was a vital component of Indian •

life on the Northwest Coast. When Europeans arrived with trade goods, coastal

Indians saw the opportunity for advancement within their own societies by

accumulating rare and exotic European goods such as copper, beads and iron

blades.

Appendix 3

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Leaders such as Chief Maquinna of Nootka Sound and Chief Wickeninish •

of Clayoquot Sound exercised control over trading empires in the interior,

organizing labor and setting the terms for trade at the coast. As their wealth

grew, so did their prestige, because they were able to redistribute more and

more goods.

There are various theories about how smallpox was introduced to the Northwest •

Coast, but most historians agree that this deadly disease rst began to ravage

Indian populations in the region between the mid-1770s and early 1780s.

Because Native peoples had never before been introduced to the disease, they

had no natural immunity, and a virgin-soil epidemic ensued. In combination

with other diseases such as inuenza and malaria, smallpox wiped out roughly

65 to 95% of Northwestern Indian populations by 1840.

Indian groups on the coast made extensive use of cedar trees and salmon. For •

example, Cedar bark, with its long, malleable bers, was perfect for weaving

baskets, hats, and clothes. Cedar was also used for constructing housing, canoes,

and boxes.

For coastal peoples, as well as their neighbors in the interior, salmon provided a •

food staple and functioned in a ceremonial capacity as well. Indian people also

actively shaped their environment, often using re to clear the land and make

it more favorable for hunting and gathering food.

For many Indian people of the Northwest, the natural environment was animate. •

That is to say, the animals and specic locations on the land were alive with

meaning and formed the center of an oral literature common to the people of

a specic language group. Stories about Coyote, Raven, Eagle, and Beaver are

good examples of these types of oral literature

Discuss any words students were unfamiliar with that did not get discussed in the facts

lecture.

Assign: Analyzing Written Documents

Day Two

Read: Neah Bay Treaty Minutes

Students: In small groups, discuss the language which illustrates the land-usage perspective.

What is the intent for the land? Discuss ndings in larger class setting.

Assign: Analyzing Written Documents

Day Three

Using the Analyzing Written Documents worksheets, students may write a short essay on the

following: Compare traditional Native American views of the land to that of the Western

Europeans entering the territory. Were they negotiating on equal terms? Have our views of

the land changed over the years? How?

Cite specic examples from the readings and answer the questions thoroughly.

NOTE: Teachers are encouraged to research and bring in comparative documents to

augment each of the above activities. Oral histories (tribal and immigrant), photographs,

journals, newspaper clippings, etc. are good examples of the range and type of original

documents that might enhance this activity.

Appendix 3

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Name:_____________________________ Teacher:_______________________________

Analyzing Written Documents

Document type:

_____ certicate _____ letter/note/email _____ article (newspaper, magazine)

_____ postcard _____ diary/journal _____ membership card

_____ health report _____ birth/death certicate _____ census report

_____ agreement _____ minutes (reports) _____ government document

_____ manual _____ public record _____ other

Part 1 - Objective Observation

Part 2 - Subjective Observation

(answer on separate piece of paper)

What do you consider to be the three most important pieces of information from this 1.

document?

Does this document tell you anything about the time period in which it was written?2.

What questions do you have that cannot be answered in the document?3.

Author

(person, group, or agency)

Date or Time Period

Purpose

Clues

(handwritten or typed, ofcial seal,

pictures or symbols, added notations)

Oregon Land Donation Act

Document: The Donation Land Claim Act, 1850

An Act to create the Ofce of Surveyor-General of the Public Lands in Oregon, and to

provide for the Survey, and to make Donations to Settlers of the said Public Lands.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United

States of America in Congress assembled, That a surveyor-general shall be

appointed for the Territory of Oregon, who shall have the same authority,

perform the same duties respecting the public lands and private land claims

in the Territory of Oregon, as are vested in and required of the surveyor

of lands in the United States northwest of the Ohio, except as hereinafter

provided.

Sec. 2 And be it further enacted, That the said surveyor-general shall

establish his ofce at such place within the said Territory as the President

of the United States may from time to time direct; he shall be allowed an

annual salary of two thousand ve hundred dollars, to be paid quarter-yearly,

and to commence at such time as he shall enter into bond, with competent

security, for the faithful discharge of the duties of his ofce. There shall be,

and hereby is, appropriated the sum of four thousand dollars, or as much

thereof as is necessary for clerk hire in his ofce; and the further sum of one

thousand dollars per annum for ofce rent, fuel, books, stationary, and other

incidental expenses of his ofce, to be paid out of the appropriation for

surveying the public lands.

Sec.3. And be it further enacted, That if, in the opinion of the Secretary of

the Interior, it be preferable, the surveys in the said Territory shall be made

after what is known as the geodetic method, under such regulations, and

upon such terms, as may be provided by the Secretary of the Interior of other

Department having charge of the surveys of the public lands, and that said

geodetic surveys shall be followed by topographical surveys, as Congress may

from time to time authorize and direct; but if the present mode of survey

be adhered to, then it shall be the duty of said surveyor to cause a base line,

and meridian to be surveyed, marked, and established, in the usual manner,

at or near the mouth of the Willamette River; and he shall also cause to be

surveyed, in townships and sections, in the usual manner, and in accordance

with the laws of the United States, which may be in force, the district of

country lying between the summit of the Cascade Mountains and the Pacic

Ocean, and south and north of the Columbia River: Provided, however, That

none other than township lines shall be run where the land is deemed unt

for cultivation. That no deputy surveyor shall charge for any line except such

as may be actually run and marked, nor for any line not necessary to be run;

and that the whole cost of surveying shall not exceed the rate of eight dollars

per mile, for every mile and part of mile actually surveyed and marked.

Appendix 3

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Sec.4. And be it further enacted, That there shall be, and hereby is, granted

to every white settler or occupant of the public lands, American half-breed

Indians included, above the age of eighteen years, being a citizen of the

United States, or having made a declaration according to law, of his intention

to become a citizen, or who shall make such declaration on or before the rst

day of December, eighteen hundred and fty, and who shall have resided

upon and cultivated the same for four consecutive years, and shall otherwise

conform to the provisions of this act, the quantity of one half section, or

three hundred and twenty acres of land, if a single man, and if a married

man, or if he shall become married within one year from the rst day of

December, eighteen hundred and fty, the quantity of one section, or six

hundred and forty acres, one half to himself and the other half to his wife,

and enter the same on the records of his ofce; and in all cases where such

married persons have compiled with the provisions of this act, so as to entitle

them to the grant as above provided, whether under the late provisional

government of Oregon, or since, and either shall have died before patent

issues, the survivor and children or heirs of the deceased shall be entitled to

the share or interest of the decreased in equal proportions, except where

the deceased shall otherwise dispose of it by testament duly and properly

executed according to the laws of Oregon: Provided, That no alien shall be

entitled to a patent to land, granted by this act, until he shall produce to the

surveyor-general of Oregon, record evidence of his naturalization as a citizen

of the United States has been completed; but if any alien, having made his

declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States, after the

passage of this act, shall die before his naturalization shall be completed,

the possessory right acquired by him under the provisions of this act shall

descend to his heirs at law, or pass to his devisees, to whom, as the case may

be, the patent shall issue: Provided, further, That in all cases provided for

in this section, the donation shall embrace the land actually occupied and

cultivated by the settler thereon: Provided, further, That all future contracts

by any person or persons entitled to the benets of this act, for the sale of

the land to which he or they may be entitled under this act before he or they

have received a patent therefor, shall be void: Provided, further, however,

That this section shall not be so construed as to allow those claiming rights

under the treaty with Great Britain relative to the Oregon Territory, to claim

both under this grant and the treaty, but merely to secure them the election,

and conne them to a single grant of land.

Sec.5. And be it further enacted, That to all white male citizens of the United

States or persons who shall have made a declaration of intention to become

such, above the age of twenty-one years, emigrating to and settling in said

Territory between the rst day of December, eighteen hundred and fty,

and the rst day of December, eighteen hundred and fty-three; and to

all white male citizens, not hereinbefore provided for, becoming one and

twenty years of age, in said Territory, and settling there between the times

last aforesaid, who shall in other respects comply with the foregoing section

and the provisions of this law, there shall be, and hereby is, granted the

quantity of one quarter section, or one hundred and sixty acres of land, if

a single man; or if married, or if he shall become married within one year

after becoming twenty-one years of age as aforesaid, the quantity of one half

section, or three hundred and twenty acres, one half to the husband and

the other half to the wife in her own right, to be designated by the surveyor-

general as aforesaid: Provided always, That no person shall ever receive a

patent for more than one donation of land in said Territory in his or her own

right: Provided, That no mineral lands shall be located or granted under the

provisions of this act.

Sec.6. And be it further enacted, That within three months after the survey

has been made, or where the survey has been made before the settlement

commenced, then within three months from the commencement of such

settlement, each of said settlers shall notify the surveyor-general, to be

appointed under this act, of the precise tract or tracts claimed by them

respectively under this law, and in all cases it shall be in a compact form;

and where it is practicable by legal subdivisions; but where that cannot be

done, it shall be the duty of the said surveyor-general to survey and mark

each claim with the boundaries as claimed, at the request and expense of the

claimant; the charge for the same in each case not to exceed the price paid

for surveying the public lands. The surveyor-general shall enter a description

of such claims in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, and note,

temporarily, on the township plats, the tract or tracts so designated, with the

boundaries; and whenever a conict of boundaries shall arise prior to issuing

the patent, the same shall be determined by the surveyor-general: Provided,

That after the rst December next, all claims shall be bounded by lines

running east and west, and north and south: And provided, further, That

after the survey is made, all claims shall be made in conformity to the same,

and in compact form.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That within twelve months after the

surveys have been made, or, where the survey has been made before

the settlement, then within twelve months from the time the settlement

was commenced, each person claiming a donation right under this act

shall prove to the satisfaction of the surveyor-general, or of such other

ofcer as may be appointed by law for that purpose, that the settlement

and cultivation required by this act has been commenced, specifying the

time of the commencement; and at any time after the expiration of four

years from the date of such settlement, whether made under the laws of

the late provisional government or not, shall prove in like manner, by two

disinterested witnesses, the fact of continued residence and cultivation

required by the fourth section of this act; and upon such proof being made,

the surveyor-general, or other ofcer appointed by law for that purpose,

Appendix 3

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

shall issue certicates under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed

by the commissioner of the general land ofce, setting forth the facts of

the case, and specifying the land to which the parties are entitled. And the

said surveyor-general shall return the proof so taken to the ofce of the

commissioner of the general land ofce, and if the said commissioner shall

nd no valid objections thereto, patents shall issue for the land according to

the certicates aforesaid, upon the surrender thereof.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That upon the death of any settler before

the expiration of the four years’ continued possession required by this act, all

the rights of the deceased under this act shall descend to the heirs at law of

such settler, including the widow, where one is left, in equal parts; and proof

of compliance with the conditions of this act up to the time of the death of

such settler shall be sufcient to entitle them to the patent.

Sec.9. And be it further enacted, That no claim to a donation right under

the provisions of this act, upon sections sixteen or thirty-six, shall be valid or

allowed, if the residence and cultivation upon which the same is founded

shall have commenced after the survey of the same; nor shall such claim

attach to any tract or parcel of land selected for a military post, or within one

mile thereof, or to any other land reserved for governmental purposes, unless

the residence and cultivation thereof shall have commenced pervious to the

selection or reservation of the same for such purposes.

Sec.10. And be it further enacted, That there be, and hereby is, granted

to the Territory of Oregon the quantity of two townships of land in the

said Territory, west of the Cascade Mountains, and to be selected in legal

subdivisions after the same has been surveyed, by the legislative assembly of

said Territory, in such a manner as it may deem proper, one to be located

north, and the other south, of the Columbia River, to aid in the establishment

of the university in the Territory of Oregon, in such manner as the said

legislative assembly may direct, the selection to be approved by the surveyor-

general.

Sec.11. And be it further enacted, That what is known as the “Oregon city

claim,” excepting the Abernathy Island, which is hereby conrmed to the

legal assigns of the Willamette Milling and Trading Companies, shall be

set apart and be at the disposal of the legislative assembly, the proceeds

thereof to be applied by said legislative assembly to the establishment and

endowment of a university, to be located at such place in the Territory as the

legislative assembly may designate: Provided, however, That all lots and parts

of lots in said claim, sold or granted by Doctor John McLaughlin, previous to

the fourth of March, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, shall be conrmed to

the purchaser or donee, or their assigns, to be certied to the commissioner

of the general land ofce, by the surveyor-general, and patents to issue on

said certicates, as in other cases: Provided, further, That nothing in this

act contained shall be so construed or executed, as in any way to destroy

or affect any rights to land in said Territory, holden or claimed under the

provisions of the treaty or treaties existing between this country and Great

Britain.

Sec.12. And be it further enacted, That all persons claiming land under

any of the provisions of this act, by virtue of settlement and cultivation

commenced subsequent to the rst of December, in the year eighteen

hundred and fty, shall rst make afdavit before the surveyor-general, who

is hereby authorized to administer all such oaths or afrmations, or before

some other competent ofcer, that the land claimed by them is for their own

use and cultivation; that they are not acting directly or indirectly as agent

for, or in the employment of others, in making such claims; and that they

have made no sale or transfer, or any arrangement or agreement for any sale,

transfer, or alienation oft he same, or by which the said land shall ensure to

the benets of any other person. And all afdavits required by this act shall

be entered of record, by the surveyor-general, in a book to be kept by him

for that purpose; and on proof, before a court of competent jurisdiction, that

any such oaths or afrmations are false or fraudulent, the persons making

such false or fraudulent oaths or afrmations are false or fraudulent, the

subject to all the pains and penalties of perjury.

Sec.13. And be it further enacted, That all questions arising under this act

shall be ajudged by the surveyor-general as preliminary to a nal decision

accord to law; and it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general, under the

direction of the commissioner of the general land ofce, to cause proper tract

books to be opened for the lands in Oregon, and to do and perform all other

acts and things necessary and proper to carry out the provisions of this act.

Sec.14. And be it further enacted, That no mineral lands, nor lands

reserved for salines, shall be liable to any claim under and by virtue of the

provisions of this act; and that such portions of the public lands as may be

designated under the authority of the President of the United States, for

forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful public uses, shall

be reserved and excepted from the operation of this act; Provided, That if it

shall be deemed necessary, in the judgement of the President, to include in

any such reservation the improvements of any settler made previous to the

passage of this act, it shall in such case be the duty of the Secretary of War to

cause the value of such improvements to be ascertained, and the amount so

ascertained shall be paid to the party entitled hereto, out of any money not

otherwise appropriated.

Approved, September 27, 1850.

Appendix 3

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Minutes of the Makah Treaty Negotiations, 1855

Record provided by Makah Cultural & Research Center in Neah Bay, Washington.

Transcribed by Regional Learning Project, University of Montana.

Monday, January 29

The Schooner reached Neah Bay on the evening of the 28

, and today the tents,

goods and men were landed, and the camp established. Gov. Stevens, the agent and

interpreter, immediately put them-selves in-communication with the Indians of the Bay

through the medium of Catp. E.S. Fowler, a Klallam sub-chief called Captain Jack, who

spoke the Makah language, and two Makahs, Swell or Jefferson Davis and Peter who

spoke Chinook. Expresses were immediately sent off to bring in the other Makah Villages,

and, also, if possible, the tribes adjoining them on the Coast.

Tuesday, Jan. 30

Gov. Stevens and the Secretary (George Gibbs) crossed the peninsula of Cape Flattery to

the Coast for the purpose of making a general examination of the Country and selecting

a spot suitable for the separate reserve of this Tribe and such others as might be included

with them. The Indians of other Makah Villages arrived today but stated that the other

Tribe could not be called (until) several days. It was accordingly determined to send for

them to meet at Gray’s Harbor. In the evening Governor Stevens called a meeting of the

proposed Treaty more particularly. Being interrogated as to their relations with the tribes

below them, they said that with the Kwe-Sch-tut or Kwillch-Yutes they were on terms

of amity, as also with the Kwaak-Sat or Hooch, but that with the next band or tribe the

Kwites or Kehis-a-hunt, they were not, that tribe having killed one of their people some

years ago. They did not however desire to cherish any animosity, but did not know the

feelings of that Tribe towards them. They were directed to make a full return of each of

their own villages the next day.

Governor Stevens then formally mentioned the principal features of the proposed treaty

as follows. The Great Father had sent him here to watch over the Indians. He had talked

with the other Tribes of the Sound and they had proceeded to be good friends with their

neighbors, and he had now come to talk with the Makahs. When he had done here he

was going to the Indians down the Coast and would make them friends to the Makahs.

He has treaties with the Sound Tribes for their lands, setting aside reserves for them,

and had stipulated to give them a school, farms, etc. etc. and a physician when he had

nished.

Klachote of Neah Bay spoke: “Before the Big Chiefs (Kleh-sitt the White Chief, Yall-a-

coom or Flattery Jack and Heh-iks) died, he was not the head chief himself, he was only a

small chief, but though there were many Indians then, he was not the least of them. He

knew the Country all round and therefore he had a right to speak. He thought he ought

to have the right to sh, and take whales and get food when he liked. He was afraid that

if he could not take halibut where he wanted, he would become poor.”

Keh-tchook of the Stone House followed: “What Kalchote has said was his wish. His

country extended up to Hoke-ho. He did not want to deny the salt water.”

Gov. Stevens informed them “that so far from wishing to stop their sheries, he wished to

send the oil kettles, and shing apparatus.”

Kla-pe-at-hoo of Neah Bay: “Since his brother dies he had been sick at heart. (his

brother was the late 3

chief.) He was willing to sell his land; all he wanted was the right

of shing.”

Tse-Kaw-wootl: “He wanted the sea. That was his country. If whales were killed and

oated ashore, he wanted for his people the exclusive right of taking them and if their

slaves ran away, they wanted to get them back.”

Klah-co-at-hu: “He and Kal-chote lived together. They did not want to leave their old

house.”

Tse-Kaw-Wootl said “The same thing – He too only wanted his house.”

Ka-bach-sat of Tso-yess – “My heart is not bad but I do not wish to leave all my land. I

am willing you should have half, but I want the other half myself. You know my country, I

want part for my village. It is very good. I want the place where the stream comes in.”

It-an-da-ha of Waatch – “My Father! My Father. I now give you my heart. When any

ships come and the whites injure me I will apply to my father and will tell him of my

trouble and look to him for help, and if any Indians wish to kill me, I shall still call on my

father, I shall submit all my difculties to him. My wish is like the rest. I do not wish to

leave the salt water. I want to sh in common with the whites. I don’t ever want to sell

all the land. I want a part in common with the whites to plant potatoes on. I want the

place where my house is. We do not want to say much, we are all of one mind. I have

no particular country myself – mine and that of Tse-kaw-woot are the same.”

Kah-tchook, again, “I do not want you to leave me destitute – I want my house on the

Island” (Tatooshe Island, commonly called the Stone House.)

Governor Stevens asked “whether if the right of drying sh wherever they pleased was

left them, they could not agree to live at one place for a winter residence and potato

ground, explaining the view of sub-division of lands and he desired them to think the

matter over during the night. They were also directed to consult among themselves upon

the choice of a head chief. As they declared doing this on the ground that they were all

of equal rank, he selected Tse-kaw-wootl, the Osett Chief as the head, a choice in which

they all acquiesced with satisfaction.”

Temporary papers, in lieu of commissions, were then issued to Kal-chote, and Klah-pe-

at-hu of Neah Bay. Kch-tchook of the Stone House, It-an-daha of Waatch, Hwatte and

Ke-bach-sat of Tso-yess as subchiefs. Col. Simmons then explained to them “That these

papers were given them as evidences that they were chiefs, that as such they must take

care of their people and that by and by the Great papers would be given them. On

his former visit they had declined to receive papers by now they were evidently much

valued.”

The General Council was then adjourned to the next day.

Appendix 3

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

January 31, Wednesday

The heads of the Treaty had been adjusted and in the morning the Indians were again

assembled – Two additional Sub chiefs received papers.

Viz: Tah-a-Kowtl of Osett and Kets-Knesum of the Stone House. The number of the

whole tribe was found to be 600.

Governor Stevens then addressed them: “My children – I have seen many other of my

children before now. They have been glad to see me and to hear the words of the Great

Father. I saw the Great Father a short time since and sent me here to see you and give

you his mind. The Whites are crowding in upon you and in the Great Father wishes to

give you your homes. He wants to buy your land and give you a fair price but leaving you

enough to live on and raise your potatoes. He knows what whalers you are, how you go

far to sea, to take whales. He will send you barrels in which to put your oil, kettles to try

it out, lines and implements to sh with – the Great Father wants your children to go to

school and learn trades and this will be done if we sign it. If it is good I ______ it to the

Great Father, and if he likes it he will send it back with his name. If he wants it altered he

will let you know. When it is agreed to it is a bargain.”

The treaty was then read to them, interpreted clause by clause, and explained.

Governor Stevens then asked if they were satised. If they were to say so – if not to

answer freely and state their objections.

Tse-Kaw-Wootl brought up a white ag and presented it saying, “Look at this ag, see if

there are any spots on it. There are none, and there are none on our hearts.”

Kalchote presented another ag. “What you have said was good and what you have

written is good.”

The Indians then signed the Treaty, and were followed by the Indian Chief and

principal men.

The presents were afterwards distributed and in the evening the party re-embarked.

Owning to the wind the vessel did not reach Port Townsend till the 3

of February. The

next day (February 4

) Gov. Stevens left with some of the party, in the steamer Major

Tough Times for Victoria in order to confer with Gov. Douglass on the subject of the

Northern Indians and on the 5

returned to Port Townsend and reached Olympic on the

night of the 6

A copy Attest.

George Gibbs

Secretary L.C.

Appendix IV

Deep Mapping

The following excercise is designed to assist students in understanding the geography

and change over time of the American Northwest. Each chapter has an activity to be

completed prior to viewing the video. The activities can be completed on a chapter by

chapter basis.

Each activity may require access to the internet and the library for research.

Prior to begining, choose a matching area of both the 1881 Map and the Base Map

(located in the back cover pocket of this guide) that represents your current location, or

an area your class is interested in studying on a deeper level. A portion of the map 6 by

6 inches will be sufcient for study. Enlarge the same area of each map 200%. Make

enough copies of each map for every student, or have students work in small groups.

Chapter One

Provide each student a copy of the Base Map, and the 1881 Map. Read to

the class the oral tradition Bridge of the Gods [included here, on the following

pages]. Can you locate the places noted in the story?

What are the traditional language groups in the American Northwest?

Identify their regions and mark them on the map. For reference and

comparison, see USGS Linguistic map included in back ap of this guide.

Chapter Two

Provide each student a copy of the Base Map. Can you identify any Native

American place names? Highlight them. What can place names tell us about

the original inhabitants?

Chapter Three

Using the 1881 Map as a reference, read examples from Lewis and Clark’s

journals. Do you live by the trail they followed? If so, where? Mark it on the

map.

Chapter Four

Using the 1881 Map as a reference, read examples from Lewis and Clark’s

journals. Who were the tribes that lived along the trail in your area? Identify

them on the map. [see NW Tribal Homelands map for comparison]

Chapter Five

Using the Base Map as a reference, identify and mark the fur trading posts

and dates of original settlements. Why were these locations chosen? Do

they still exist today? How have they changed?

Appendix 4

100

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Chapter Six

Using the Base Map as a reference, identify and mark the early Missions.

Why were they located where they were?

Chapter Seven

Using the 1881 Map and the Base Map as references, identify and mark the

original reservations that resulted from the Treaty Councils. How did the

Native American lands change as a result?

Chapter Eight

Using the Base Map as a reference, identify the reservation lands that

remain today, after the discovery of gold on Native lands. Did they change

signicantly from the areas originally identied on the 1881 Map? Why?

How did settlements affect reservations?

NOTE: Teachers are encouraged to research and bring-in comparative documents to

augment each of the above activities. Oral histories (tribal and immigrant), photographs,

journals, newspaper clippings, etc. are good examples of the range and type of original

documents that might enhance this activity.

Bridge of the Gods

[resource provided for Chapter One]

Excerpt from:

Ella E. Clark, Indian Legends of the Pacic Northwest (Berkeley: University of

California Press, 1953), pp. 20 -23.

Long ago, when the world was young, all people were happy. The Great

Spirit, whose home is in the sun, gave them all they needed. No one was

hungry, no one was cold.

But after a while, two brothers quarreled over the land. The older one

wanted most of it, and the younger one wanted most of it. The Great Sprit

decided to stop the quarrel. One night while the brothers were asleep he

took them to a new land, to a country with high mountains. Between the

mountains owed a big river.

The Great Spirit took the two brothers to the top of the high mountains and

wakened them. They saw that the new country was rich and beautiful.

“Each of you will shoot an arrow in opposite directions,” he said to them.”

Then you will follow your arrow. Where your arrow falls, that will be your

country. There you will become a great chief. The river will separate your

lands.”

101

One brother shot his arrow south into the valley of the Willamette River.

He became the father and the high chief of the Multnomah people. The

other brother shot his arrow north into the Klickitat country. He became the

father and high chief of the Klickitat people.

Then the Great Spirit built a bridge over the big river. To each brother he

said, “I have built a bridge over the river, so that you and your people may

visit those on the other side. It will be a sign of peace between you. As long

as you and your people are good and are friendly with each other, this

bridge of the Tahmahnawis will remain.”

It was a broad bridge, wide enough for many people and many ponies

to walk across at one time. For many snows the people were at peace

and crossed the river for friendly visits. But after a time they did wicked

things. They were selsh and greedy, and they quarreled. The Great Spirit,

displeased again, punished them by keeping the sun from shining. The

people had no re, and when the winter rains came, they were cold. Then

they began to be sorry for what they had done, and they begged the Great

Spirit for re. “Give us re, or we will die from the cold,” they prayed. The

heart of the Great Spirit was softened by their prayer. He went to an old

woman who had kept herself from the wrongdoing of her people and so

still had some re in her lodge. “If you will share your re, I will grant you

anything you wish,” the Great Spirit promised her. “What do you want

most?”

“Youth and beauty,” answered the old woman promptly. “I wish to be

young again, and to be beautiful.”

“You shall be young and beautiful tomorrow morning,” promised the Great

Spirit. “Take your re to the bridge, so that the people on both sides of the

river can get it easily. Keep it burning there always as a reminder of the

goodness and kindness of the Great Spirit.”

The old woman, whose name was Loo-wit, did as he said. Then the Great

Spirit commanded the sun to shine again. When it rose the next morning,

it was surprised to see a young and beautiful maiden sitting beside a re on

the Bridge of the Gods. The people, too, saw the re, and soon their lodges

were warm again. For many moons all was peaceful on both sides of the

great river and the bridge.

The young men also saw the re-and the beautiful young woman who

attended it. They visited her often. Loo-wit’s heart was stirred by two of

them-a handsome young chief from south of the river, whose name was

Wyeast, and a handsome young chief from north of the river, whose name

was Klickitat. She could not decide which of the two she liked better.

Appendix 4

102

Tribal Perspectives on American History in the Northwest – Teacher Guide

Wyeast and Klickitat grew jealous of each other and soon began to quarrel.

They became so angry that they fought. Their people also took up the

quarrel, so that there was much ghting on both sides of the river. Many

warriors were killed.

This time the Great Spirit was made angry by the wickedness of the people.

He broke down the Bridge of the Gods, the sign of peace between the

two tribes, and its rocks fell into the river. He changed the two chiefs into

mountains. Some say they continued to quarrel over Loo-wit even after

they were mountain peaks. They caused sheets of ame to burst forth, and

they hurled hot rocks at each other. Not thrown far enough, many fell into

the river and blocked it. That is why the Columbia is very narrow and the

water very swift at The Dalles.

Loo-wit was changed into a snow-capped peak which still has the youth

and beauty promised by the Great Spirit. She is now called Mount St.

Helens. Wyeast is known as Mount Hood, and Klickitat as Mount Adams.

The rocks and the white water where the Bridge of the Gods fell are known

as the Cascades of the Columbia.

103

Appendix V

Timeline

Native American peoples have developed a number of ingenious ways to keep their

tribal histories alive including systematic and ceremonial recounting of Oral Traditions,

Winter Counts and Time Balls. This exercise can be adapted in a number of different ways

to reect upon student’s own identities based on family traditions and geography. The

following are some suggestions.

Using the spiral timeline Federal Indian Policies as an example, provide each student

with a blank spiral timeline. [These resources are included in the supplements pocket

inside the back cover of this guide.] Students can create symbols, drawings, photographs,

collages from old magazines, etc. to illustrate the following timelines. Begin in the center

and work your way outward.

Example One: Personal history

What are the main events in your life? Pick ve to ten events to illustrate

your life. Place them accordingly on the timeline.

Example Two: Family history

Do you know your family history? Where does your family come from?

How far back can you trace your family? What are the stories that identify

your heritage?

Example Three: City/Town history

What is the history of your town? What are the main events? How has your

town changed over time?

Example Four: Natural Events

Does your family tell stories about amazing natural events that effected them?

The great dustbowl? Or, the erruption of Mount St. Hellens? What are the

examples from your own family history?

NOTE: This activity can be adapted in numerous ways. Teachers are encouraged

to develop timeline activities that are relevant to their individual students and

classrooms.

Appendix 5