Next up: The First Oregonians

This week, we’re reading The First Oregonians—a magnificent, in-depth collaborative project between the Oregon Council for the Humanities, Oregon Tribes, and scholars that offers a comprehensive narrative of Oregon’s native peoples. Edited by Laura Berg, the book brings together first-hand stories written by members of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes, including hundreds of photographs, maps and drawings.
 
As Oregonians, we often celebrate our state’s natural beauty and green spaces. We find it particularly rich to appreciate and experience this place from the perspective of its original inhabitants—those who cherished and cared for it long before settlers arrived. The First Oregonians tells the history of Oregon lands using long-held oral histories and personal narratives, and the chapters on each tribe offer an understanding of each community’s diverse lifeways, from ancient traditions to the contemporary and rich living culture.
 
We hope this book will offer you what it offered us—the gift of a more complete understanding of the land we now call Oregon. Inside, you’ll see photos of Willamette Falls and get a deeper sense of the context surrounding the Falls, and the people who’ve gathered there since time immemorial.
 
We encourage you to order a copy for yourself online  and join us for what we promise will be another fascinating read. We’re curious—does learning more about the experiences of native Oregonians spark new ways of thinking about the land where you live, work and play? As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on Facebook.
 
Keep reading, take care of yourselves and take care of each other. 
 
Warmly,
 
Andrew and Alexis
 
P.S. As things continue to rapidly change with the COVID-19 response, we want you to know there have been some important changes to the charitable giving deductions policies. If you are looking for ways to help people affected by the impacts of COVID-19, there is a new deduction for up to $300 in charitable contributions. Should you wish to donate to other public charities, there are also new deduction policies in place that allow for a 100% deduction for charitable giving. This New York Times article has a great summary of the changes.

“Most people in Oregon have given little thought to the likelihood that the places where they live or the fields that they till were once native villages or homelands. For some, that is simply the past; they assume that the good in our lives is solely American in origin. They do not know that the good—whether it is rights, knowledge or property—may have resulted from previous struggles or long-standing agreements with the native tribes, our ancestors, who originally lived here.” –Elizabeth Woody, First Oregonians