Tillamook (tribe)
Encyclopedia
The Nehalem or Tillamook are a Native American
tribe from Oregon
of the Salish
linguistic group. The name "Tillamook" is a Chinook term meaning "people of Nekelim (or Nehalem
)" and is also spelled Calamox, Gillamooks and Killamook.
, a Salishan
language, but gradually began to use English in greater amounts. The last fluent speaker of Tillamook died in 1970, rendering the language extinct. However, between 1965 and 1972, in an effort to revitalize the language, a group of researchers from the University of Hawaii interviewed the few remaining Tillamook and created a 120-page dictionary.
and the eponymous Tillamook Bay
, with villages and subdivisions at Nehalem, Nestucca, Chishucks, Chucktin, Kilherhursh, Kilherner and Towerquotten, with Chucktin being the southernmost village. As a coastal group of Native Americans, the word "Tillamook" actually means "Land of Many Waters" in their language, and was initially used to refer to the area itself rather than the tribe that inhabited it.
According to anthropological and archaeological research, the first ancestors of the Tillamook settled in that area in the 15th century, living in an area ranging from Cape Lookout
to Cape Meares
.. NAHDB calculations estimate the population at about 2200 in at the beginning of the 18th century.
The first documented western encounter with the Tillamook was in 1788 by Robert Haswell
, second mate on Robert Gray's ship. A second encounter was in late 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition
while wintering at Fort Clatsop
. A whale was washed ashore near Necost, and the Tillamook quickly stripped it of flesh, saving the blubber as food and saving the oil for later use. After hearing of this, Lewis and Clark led a party to trade for blubber, receiving 300 pounds and some oil in exchange for trade goods. Lewis and Clark described a village of around 1000 people living in about 50 houses, estimating the entire population at around 2200. According to the expedition, The staple food source of the Tillamook was salmon
, which they caught during the annual salmon run of April to October and used throughout the year, preserving it by drying it and grinding it into a powder.
1824 and 1829 saw a pair of smallpox
epidemics, and combined with the arrival of Oregon Trail
settlers in 1841 and the resulting conflicts led to the 1845 estimate by Wilkes showing only 400 Tillamook remaining.. This was further reduced, with a 1849 estimate by Lane of only 200. In 1856 the Tillamook and more than 20 other tribes were placed on the Siletz Reservation
, meaning that further population estimates are impossible since they are not separately enumerated. In 1898 the Tillamook became the first tribe to sue the US government for compensation for the lands they had taken, along with the Clatsop
. In 1907, along with two other tribes, they were awarded $23,500.
, the culture of the Tillamook tribe was significantly different from that of their Salish neighbors, evidently influenced by the tribes of northern California.
The Tillamook were skilled basket-weavers, and had a detailed mythology with links to existing events; the Story of the Thunderbird and the Whale, for example, reflects the large earthquake in that region in 1700. The Tillamook divided their mythology into three categories; the earliest was the Myth Age, followed by the Age of Transformation, when the "South Wind" remade the land. The third age is the "period of true happenings", or events that happened in what the Tillamook considered recent history. Despite this, stories from the third age were considered just as much of a myth as those from the first or second.
. Other Nehalem are part of the unrecognized Clatsop Nehalem Confederated Tribes.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribe from Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
of the Salish
Salishan languages
The Salishan languages are a group of languages of the Pacific Northwest...
linguistic group. The name "Tillamook" is a Chinook term meaning "people of Nekelim (or Nehalem
Nehalem
Nehalem, meaning "the place where people live" in the Salish language, may refer to:* Tillamook , a Native American tribe also known as the Nehalem...
)" and is also spelled Calamox, Gillamooks and Killamook.
Language
The Tillamook initially spoke TillamookTillamook language
Tillamook is an extinct Salishan language, formerly spoken by the Tillamook people in northwestern Oregon, United States. The last fluent speaker is believed to have died in the 1970s; between 1965 and 1972, in an effort to prevent the language being destroyed, a group of researchers from the...
, a Salishan
Salishan languages
The Salishan languages are a group of languages of the Pacific Northwest...
language, but gradually began to use English in greater amounts. The last fluent speaker of Tillamook died in 1970, rendering the language extinct. However, between 1965 and 1972, in an effort to revitalize the language, a group of researchers from the University of Hawaii interviewed the few remaining Tillamook and created a 120-page dictionary.
History
The traditional location of Tillamook people was between the Necanicum RiverNecanicum River
The Necanicum River is river on the Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States, approximately long. It drains a timber-producing area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range northwest of Portland...
and the eponymous Tillamook Bay
Tillamook Bay
Tillamook Bay is a small inlet of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 6 mi long and 2 mi wide, on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Oregon...
, with villages and subdivisions at Nehalem, Nestucca, Chishucks, Chucktin, Kilherhursh, Kilherner and Towerquotten, with Chucktin being the southernmost village. As a coastal group of Native Americans, the word "Tillamook" actually means "Land of Many Waters" in their language, and was initially used to refer to the area itself rather than the tribe that inhabited it.
According to anthropological and archaeological research, the first ancestors of the Tillamook settled in that area in the 15th century, living in an area ranging from Cape Lookout
Cape Lookout (Oregon)
Cape Lookout is a sharp rocky promontory along the Pacific Ocean coast of northwestern Oregon in the United States. It is located in southwestern Tillamook County, approximately 10 mi southwest of Tillamook, just south of Netarts Bay...
to Cape Meares
Cape Meares
Cape Meares is a small headland on the Pacific coast in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The cape forms a high steep bluff on the south end of Tillamook Bay, approximately five miles northwest of the city of Tillamook...
.. NAHDB calculations estimate the population at about 2200 in at the beginning of the 18th century.
The first documented western encounter with the Tillamook was in 1788 by Robert Haswell
Robert Haswell
Robert Haswell was an early American maritime fur trader to the Pacific Northwest of North America. His journals of these voyages are the main records of Captain Robert Gray's circumnavigation of the globe...
, second mate on Robert Gray's ship. A second encounter was in late 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
while wintering at Fort Clatsop
Fort Clatsop
Fort Clatsop was the encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Oregon Country near the mouth of the Columbia River during the winter of 1805-1806...
. A whale was washed ashore near Necost, and the Tillamook quickly stripped it of flesh, saving the blubber as food and saving the oil for later use. After hearing of this, Lewis and Clark led a party to trade for blubber, receiving 300 pounds and some oil in exchange for trade goods. Lewis and Clark described a village of around 1000 people living in about 50 houses, estimating the entire population at around 2200. According to the expedition, The staple food source of the Tillamook was salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
, which they caught during the annual salmon run of April to October and used throughout the year, preserving it by drying it and grinding it into a powder.
1824 and 1829 saw a pair of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemics, and combined with the arrival of Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
settlers in 1841 and the resulting conflicts led to the 1845 estimate by Wilkes showing only 400 Tillamook remaining.. This was further reduced, with a 1849 estimate by Lane of only 200. In 1856 the Tillamook and more than 20 other tribes were placed on the Siletz Reservation
Siletz Reservation
The Siletz Reservation is a 5.852 sq mi Indian reservation in Oregon, United States, owned by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz...
, meaning that further population estimates are impossible since they are not separately enumerated. In 1898 the Tillamook became the first tribe to sue the US government for compensation for the lands they had taken, along with the Clatsop
Clatsop
The Clatsop are a small tribe of Chinookan-speaking Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. In the early 19th century they inhabited an area of the northwestern coast of present-day Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia River south to Tillamook.-Language:Clatsop in the...
. In 1907, along with two other tribes, they were awarded $23,500.
Culture
According to the work of Franz BoasFranz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
, the culture of the Tillamook tribe was significantly different from that of their Salish neighbors, evidently influenced by the tribes of northern California.
The Tillamook were skilled basket-weavers, and had a detailed mythology with links to existing events; the Story of the Thunderbird and the Whale, for example, reflects the large earthquake in that region in 1700. The Tillamook divided their mythology into three categories; the earliest was the Myth Age, followed by the Age of Transformation, when the "South Wind" remade the land. The third age is the "period of true happenings", or events that happened in what the Tillamook considered recent history. Despite this, stories from the third age were considered just as much of a myth as those from the first or second.
Today
Some Nehalem people are enrolled in either the federally recognized Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon or the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of OregonConfederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon consists of twenty-seven Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day Western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundary of the Cascade Range, and the northern boundary of...
. Other Nehalem are part of the unrecognized Clatsop Nehalem Confederated Tribes.
Further reading
- Boas, FranzFranz BoasFranz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
. (1898) Traditions of the Tillamook Indians, Journal of American Folklore, V. 11, pp. 23–38. The Thunder-Bird - Jacobs, Elizabeth Derr. (1959) Nehalem Tillamook Tales, University of Oregon BooksUniversity of Oregon PressUniversity of Oregon Press, or UO Press is an American university press that is part of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.Since June 1, 2005, books published by UO Press have been distributed by the Oregon State University Press....
, Eugene, OregonEugene, OregonEugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, p. 216 - A Tillamook Legend p. 23-27