Oregon’s Native Americans are survivors. They – and their cultures – have lived on for thousands of years.
They have survived the attack of diseases brought by Europeans. Being forcibly removed from their homelands onto reservations. Being excluded from government functions.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the goal of the U.S. government’s policy toward Native Americans was to assimilate them into American society (assimilate means to “fit in” or “blend in”). In the words of Ben Nighthorse Campbell (a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and former senator): “If you can’t change them, absorb them until they simply disappear into the mainstream culture. . . . In Washington’s infinite wisdom, it was decided that tribes should no longer be tribes, never mind that they had been tribes for thousands of years.”
Today, Oregon’s Native Americans keep their culture alive by celebrating their language, their traditions. And themselves.

Burns Paiute Tribe
Tribal council with 7 elected members
Klamath Tribes
Tribal council with 10 elected members
Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians
Tribal board of directors with 11 elected members
Coquille Indian Tribe
Tribal council with 7 elected members
Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians
Tribal council with 7 elected members
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community
Tribal council with 9 elected members
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation
Tribal council with 8 elected members and 3 lifetime chieftain positions
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Board of trustees with 9 elected members
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Tribal council with 9 elected members
▲ The U.S. government recognizes nine tribes in Oregon. They are seen as sovereign nations. (Sovereign means “independent.”) They have the power to protect the health and safety of their members. They have the power to govern their land. Click on each logo to learn more.

▲ Oregon’s nine tribes celebrate the seasonal changes in nature, when different foods become available each year. The tribes of the Columbia Basin area celebrate by holding a First Salmon Feast. This usually takes place in early April, when the salmon have returned from the ocean to spawn in the Columbia River. Before the feast, there is a ceremony to honor the salmon, which is led by a tribe’s spiritual leader. It begins with a blessing and drinking of water. This is followed by a prayer of thanksgiving and the serving of the first salmon of the season. The ceremony reinforces the central role of salmon and water in the lives of the people, past and present. The elders, or leaders, say how this happens.
Elders teach the younger people that the salmon, deer, and elk are our brothers and the roots and berries are our sisters and we should treat them as such – with respect and caring for them.

◀ A powwow is people coming together to celebrate traditions and spirituality. To celebrate connections to the Earth and to one another. It is also a time to see friends and play traditional games. Most Native Americans take part in a powwow every year in the summer. Powwows also take place at other times of the year. They usually begin with a parade. It’s a very colorful event and full of sound. Drums, bells, rattles, jingles, and whistles. Everyone takes part.
“Kay” is the word for “rabbit” in the language of the Klamath tribe. At one time, more than 20 languages were spoken in what is now Oregon. These languages reflected the diversity of the tribes who spoke them. For many years in the 1800s and early 1900s, there was little respect for the languages of the Native Americans. Today, tribal communities are working to preserve and honor their traditional languages by supporting tribal language programs in schools. ▶


▲ The Tamastslkikt Cultural Institute is a museum run by Native Americans. The institute is on the Oregon Trail in Pendleton, Oregon. Tamastslkikt means “interpreting our own story.” And this is just what the museum does. It tells the history of the region from the point of view of Native Americans. The institute includes a Living Cultural Village. There, visitors can learn about the food people ate, tools they used for hunting, and more.