Wednesday, December 7, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
Students celebrate First Peoples
By Erin Borla
Correspondent
Sisters school children
celebrated and learned about
Oregon’s First Peoples in Clay
Warburton and Katie Parsons’
classes last Wednesday. The
28th celebration held at Sisters
Elementary School was an
opportunity for students to
showcase to their parents and
friends what they had learned
about native populations.
Students gathered on the
stage in the SES Commons
while their parents and fam-
ily friends looked on. Several
had speaking parts and shared
many facts about Oregon’s
Native Americans.
“Evidence found right
here in Oregon puts Native
Americans on this continent
more than 14,000 years ago,
but many historians agree that
people began arriving thou-
sands of years before that,”
one of the speakers began.
Students discussed how
hunters were believed to have
followed herds of animals over
a land bridge between present-
day Russia and Alaska, known
as Beringia.
“As people continued to
migrate across this continent,
they left behind many of the
diseases and animals that were
a part of their lives,” another
student continued.
According to the presenta-
tion, estimates put the popula-
tion of the Native American
people in the United States
and Canada around 14 mil-
lion just prior to contact with
Europeans and Africans. More
than 296 languages were spo-
ken in North America.
In Oregon alone, there
were over 100 different bands
and tribes speaking more than
21 languages.
By 1840, after contact with
Europeans, the number of
native people dropped to just
2 million and another 40 years
later the number was only
250,000. The drastic decline
in the population was caused
largely by disease brought by
colonists and explorers.
Students demonstrated the
shrinking population using
their class as an example
population, laying on the
floor until only two students
remained standing.
“I learned a lot; I had no
idea how many languages
there were,” said Christy
Rumgay, a guest at the event.
“I’m surprised how few tribes
are remaining.”
Today, nine tribes recog-
nized by the federal govern-
ment are in Oregon. Students
had a chance to stand up
and share if they had Native
American heritage by talking
about their families’ connec-
tion to different tribes.
In addition to the class sim-
ulation, three songs were sung
by all students, and they dem-
onstrated the stick game.
“I liked watching the stu-
dents play the stick game,”
said Amanda Clark, who has
a student in the class. “Finn
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Students tried foods that would have been familiar to native peoples.
really likes to play.”
Students also made items
to trade with other students
in a way to showcase how
native people may have traded
with other tribes. Warburton’s
class made rocks painted with
Native American symbols
and Parsons’ class made sand
paintings also adorned with
symbols and hieroglyphics.
At the end of the
presentation students invited
their guests to join them on
mats on the floor and celebrate
Oregon’s First People feast
including nuts, jerky, salmon,
dried fruit and cornbread.
“I enjoy having the fami-
lies come and enjoy time with
their kids,” said Parsons. “It’s
fun to watch them all sit on the
floor and crack nuts together
and just talk.”
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