This Kalapuya Land
This latest WCM exhibit chronicling the lives and culture of Native Americans living in the Willamette Valley has now returned to the Washington County Museum.
The Kalapuya Indians were peaceful traders who once lived in great numbers throughout the Willamette Valley. They traveled throughout the region to gather seasonal foods and trade with neighboring tribes. More than 90% of the native population was decimated by epidemics of small pox, malaria and other diseases before the first Oregon Trail pioneers began to arrive in the 1840s. Most of the surviving Kalapuya were forced to move to Grand Ronde and other surrounding Reservations after ceding their ancestral lands in 1854 and 1855. Today, as members of Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the descendents of local Kalapuya continue to celebrate and preserve their rich cultural heritage and ecological stewardship based on thousands of years of tradition.
The exhibit explains detailed aspects of Kalapuya life including food, clothing, housing and trading practices using colorful maps and dozens of beautiful photographs. Visitors will also learn about important events in tribal history such as treaties with the American Government and removal to the Grand Ronde Reservation as well as tribal Temination and Restoration. Read More>>
