Overview
Lesson 1: Before the Coming of the Europeans
Lesson 2: Contact with a New Culture
Lesson 3: The Treaties and the Reservation Experience
Lesson 4: Stories as a Learning Tool
Lesson 5: Learning More about Western Oregon Indian Tribes
Extending the lesson/References
Standards
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
EL.06.RE.09—Understand, learn, and use new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly through informational text, literary text, and instruction across the subject areas.
EL.06.WR.10—Write for different purposes and to a specific audience or person, adjusting tone and style as necessary.
EL.06.WR.30—Use a variety of resource materials to gather information for research topics (e.g. books, magazines, newspapers, dictionaries, schedules, journals, phone directories, web resources).
CD Segments to Play
Background
The Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 began a change for the Indians of western Oregon. According to the terms of the treaty, the Indian tribes agreed to remove to a reservation. Beginning in 1856, the government ordered that all the Indian people be rounded up and moved to various reservation locations in Oregon. Many of the coastal tribes went to the Siletz reservation, east of Newport on the coast. Most of the tribes from the Willamette Valley and southward were removed to the reservation at Grand Ronde.
The following is a story of an Indian woman named Martha Sands, who was taken to the Grand Ronde reservation.
From Wisdom of the Elders Radio Series 3, Program 7
“Many Kalapuya were rounded up by the U.S. Army then marched to the Grand Ronde region from a site called Table Rock, a journey made 265 miles north in the winter time. They kept the men together and they kept the women together. And the women were treated a little bit better, although it was abhorrent treatment by any standard. The children were left to the women to take care of. And all that you might have is that prayer, you know. That’s all. That’s your meat. Your food is that prayer. And some faith in the God. And they were tested.
“And so enter Martha Sands. Martha Sands knew that our people would be dying from this trip from exposure and from lack of sustenance. And she would hunt and gather for that whole journey. And she would come down and disperse the food amongst the women and the children and then they would give it to the men. And I’ve heard that she would hide in beaver dams.
“How could she do this to sustain so many people? And I thought, well, she had to have that prayer. She had to be shown some. ‘Course she’s walking the earth like that and knowing that the earth will provide in a good way, you know.
“Every year we celebrate that. We bow our heads by having our children walk from the elementary school to the Community Center. It’s just a mile. But when they get up there then we tell them why; what that was about.
“And they have this bust of Martha (in the Spirit Mountain Casino) and she’s weaving a basket. And her granddaughter is also weaving, looking on, attentive and learning how to weave the baskets.
“And the bust does portray that she was a teacher. So Martha Sands has taught me about perseverance. If she was focusing on hate and something to avenge and hurt the dominant culture, she wouldn’t have been able to help her people. She’s a hero to me because without her we wouldn’t have all the people that we have today.”
Michael Reibach, Grand Ronde Elder
While on the reservations, the Indian way of life was forbidden, with tribal members forced to learn English and to abandon traditional lifestyles.
The impact of this change took its toll. Basketry and arts were nearly forgotten and in their place, the people learned farming, blacksmithing, and other European methods. Unfortunately, storytelling was an art that nearly vanished.
Suggested Strategies
Invite a member of the Grand Ronde tribal community to speak to the class about the history and present day activities of the tribe.
Activities
Journal
Discuss the Indian removal to the reservations and how life changed. Have the class answer the following journal entry question.
Journal entry #3: Why were Indian people taken to the reservation? Was it better or worse than living in tribal groups?
2. Research
As a computer lab activity, go to the homepage of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. Read about what programs the tribe is presently involved in.
3. Journal
After hearing about the reservation experience and learning about present-day reservations, have each student answer the following journal entry question:
Journal entry #4: Compare the reservation of the 1860s to the present-day reservation of Grand Ronde.
4. Vocabulary
Students will write each word and its definition in the journal
reservation treaty
ratify contemporary
