Overview
Lesson 1: Stories as History and Tradition
Lesson 2: Historical Landscape
Lesson 3: The Treaties and the Reservation Experience
Lesson 4: Historical Figures and their Impact
Lesson 5: Stories of Today
Extending the lesson/References
Standards
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
EL.CM.RE.02—Listen to, read, and understand a wide variety of informational and narrative text.
EL.CM.RE.04—Demonstrate listening comprehension of more complex text through class and/or small group interpretive discussions across the subject areas.
EL.CM.RE.35—Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation, and elaboration.
CD Segments to Play
Background
Because there is such a strong connection with the earth, tribal people revered special places and natural phenomena. It was believed that certain natural elements in the makeup of the earth were put there for a reason.
Many tribes have special landmarks and places that are special to them. In the Kalapuya Creation story, the stone mountains and outcroppings that are mentioned are still revered by Kalapuya. Among the people of the Lower Rogue, sites along the Rogue River have special and spiritual meanings. Many Alsea descendants honor places in the high bluffs along the Oregon coast.
Spirit Mountain, near the Grand Ronde, is important to many western Oregon tribes. Grand Ronde Elder Michael Riebach would talk of Spirit Mountain with the youngsters in order to pass along the traditional knowledge and stories of that place. The mountain allows ancestors and the coming generations of the tribe to connect. He said that when the people passed on, their spirits would be sent to Spirit Mountain to inhabit the Creation up there. He also said:
“And when I say that, I mean inhabit the deer, the elk, the bear, and the fern, and the trees, and the water, and the grasses and all of life there. And so to walk lightly and to walk respectfully when one goes there.”
Many tribes today are involved in protecting certain sacred sites. Construction and development often endanger sites that are used by Indian people as places of honor and respect for the ancestors.
Not only are landmarks and places important to Indians of western Oregon, animals have a special significance.
At one time, there was a large sea otter population. On the Pacific coast, the sea otter was used and traded for food as well as for the thick and rich fur. Trade routes between the coast and the inland valleys of western Oregon were established to take advantage of fur trading as well as trade for other items such as acorns, camas, shellfish and tools. The Chinook name for sea otter is “elakha”. The Kalapuya people of the Willamette Valley called him “wul-hyat.”
Captain James Cook, Lewis and Clark and other early explorers recognized that the fur of the sea otter was a prized commercial item and their stories initiated the European and Russian quest for sea otter hides. More than a million sea otters were killed by the time the first pioneers came to Oregon before 1850. The last known sea otter was killed near Newport, Oregon in 1906.
Suggested Strategies
Activities
1. Discuss
Questions for the class:
Why are landmarks and certain places important?
Why is Spirit Mountain an important place to the Grand Ronde people?
Why are stories told about certain places?
Why is it important to remember stories about places?
2. Writing exercise
If you were to pick a certain place, what is the most important place for you and why?
This should not be something like “the mall” or “a football game”…. It should be something that has a connection to the outdoors such as a certain lake or mountain that they have admired or somewhere they have enjoyed themselves outdoors.
3. Discuss
Discuss the otter and why it was important to western Oregon tribes.
Questions:
If you were a Kalapuya Indian, what item would you trade with the people of the coast?
If you were from a coastal tribe, what would you trade with people of the inland valleys?
Why is trade important?
What could be made from the fur of a sea otter?
4. Read
Read the attached story of Otter and the Sea Urchin.
Questions:
Describe the behavior of Otter. Was it good or bad behavior?
What do you think would be a good trade item today instead of dentalia? (Dentalium is a tusk-like shell that was used for trade.)
What is the lesson from this story? Why is this lesson important?
Was “something” created as a result of Otter and Coyote’s actions?
