The Oregon Coastline is colonized land that belongs to the Clatskanie, Tillamook, Alsea, Sluslaw, Coos, and Tututni Tribes. The peoples of these Tribes are now a part of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon, and the Coquille Indian Tribe. As we celebrate this weekend, we encourage you to take the time to educate yourself about the history of this land and the cultural significance that it holds.

Otter Rock is currently an Oregon State Park but this land has been occupied by peoples of the Alsea Tribe since time immemorial. The language originally spoken on this land was a combination of various Penutian languages.

In the mid-1850’s, the federal government forcibly removed large groups of Native Americans from their homelands along the Oregon coastline and concentrated them on the Coast (Siletz) Reservation. At the time of it’s establishment, the reservation included about 1/3 of the Oregon coastline. Settlers quickly learned of the abundant natural resources in the area and started to take over. Within 20 years, the Coast (Siletz) Reservation reduced in size by 80%.

1865: Illegal presidential executive order put in place by President Franklin Pierce. This opened up a 200,000 acre parcel of land including Yaquina Bay - land that the Yaquina Tribe inhabited since time immemorial. The Yaqo'n chose this area to escape the harsh costal winds and for the abundance of oysters and salmon in the area.

1875: Congressional act was put in place that reduced the original reservation size by 2/3 - a total of 700,000 acres. The act of forcibly concentrating Native Americans in this reservation and all of the changes that followed but a lot of stress on the people that lived on the reservation. Starvation, illness, and the cultural adjustments were all threats that the individuals living on the reservation experienced.

1890’s: General Allotment (Dawes) Act

Federal and state governments allotted Tribal members small sections of reservation land and auctioned off the rest of that land, which they labeled ‘surplus’ land, to non-native settlers. *All of the land that was stolen were the ancestral homelands to the members of the Tribes that occupied those lands since time immemorial.

1954: Western Oregon Indian Termination Act

Sale of the remaining parcels of Tribal land that remained and the federal recognition of the Tribe was disbanded. It was not until the 1950’s and 60’s that activism from the Siletz people and across the globe convinced the government to overturn this.

1977: Confederated Tribe of Siletz Indians is the first Tribe in Oregon and second in the nation to regain their federal recognition. Due to the rigid structures of the US government, federal recognition of a Tribe helps make Tribal sovereignty easier. Despite regaining their recognition, the Tribe was only given back a small portion of their ancestral homelands in 1980.

Today: As of 2021, the Tribe has only acquired 16,000 acres of their ancestral homelands.

*If you would like to learn more about the Tribal history of the Oregon Coast, please visit the Confederated Tribe of Siletz Indians website*

https://www.ctsi.nsn.us/