Wilkinson draws crowd to discussion of The People Are Dancing Again
More than 50 people listen to reading about Tribe’s villages, war, struggle, heartbreak and triumph
of Siletz to Oak Flat, near Agness, Ore.,
where the Illinois and Rogue rivers meet:
By Diane Rodriquez
“Lupton and his party fired a
volley into the crowded encamp
ment, following up the sudden
and totally unexpected attack by
a close encounter with knives,
revolvers and whatever weapon
they were possessed of... These
facts are matters of evidence, as
are the killing of several squaws,
one or more old decrepit men
and a number, probably small,
of children.”
As Charles Wilkinson read this pas
sage about the massacre of Table Rock
Indians at Little Butte Creek in 1855,
from his book of Siletz Tribal history, The
People Are Dancing Again, a collective
gasp rose from the more than 50 people
in the audience.
They were attending his presentation
on March 5, which was part of the Nye
Beach Writers Series. Wilkinson is one
of more than 300 authors who have pre
sented their works in this series.
Wilkinson began his presentation as
he did the book, with a description of a
village and life as it was for the 50,000
indigenous individuals who lived on the
coast and in the inland valleys prior to
contact with settlers.
He described the Athapascan word
“duh-neh, which means ‘the people of the
place’ and also encompasses ‘the blood
line.’ It is ‘the place where your family
has always been buried.’”
In describing the white man’s failure
to understand how strong Native people’s
ties were to their village, he read:
Photos by Diane Rodriquez
As Charles Wilkinson (above photo, second from left) makes final preparations
for his presentation, Siletz Tribal Council members Bud Lane, Robert Kentta and
Delores Pigsley enjoy a discussion. They were later joined at the event by council
member Tina Retasket and Tribal members David Hatch and Arthur Fisher. After
his presentation, Wilkinson signed books for members of the audience (below).
The second is Nee Dosh, “a World
Renewal Dance, a ceremony practiced by
tribes on the Oregon Coast and northern
California.” It takes place in the Tribe’s
dance house that opened in 1996.
On the third night of each Nee Dosh,
the most experienced dancers participate
and wear regalia that grows ever more
elaborate during each round of dancing
that lasts all night.
In the book, Wilkinson describes the
dance in some detail. Near the end of the
description, he included a short paragraph
of profound meaning:
“Duh-neh: This is the one place
where a person is from, where
all the people all the way back
are from, where the ancestors
are buried. This is the only place,
the heart place. There can be no
other place.”
As Wilkinson continued his presenta
tion, he read another section in the book
about Tyee John (Tecumtum, Shasta),
who echoed this sentiment about the
land in May 1856 when he took a stand
in addressing Colonel Robert Buchanan
just before the Battle of Big Bend:
“You are a great chief. So am
I. This is my country; I was in
it when those trees were very
small, not higher than my head.
My heart is sick with fighting,
but I want to live in my country.
If the white people are willing,
I will go back to the Deer creek
and live among them as I used to
do. They can visit my camp, and
I will visit theirs; but I will not
lay down my arms and go with
you on the reserve. I will fight.
Good-by.”
The Battle of Big Bend, which turned
out to be the last battle of the Rogue
River War, commenced shortly after this
speech. The war ended on July 2 when
“The route - trail then, highway
now - traces in reverse the infa
mous long march that many of the
ancestors made in 1856. Return
ing by the same route can help
salve the memories of the torment
of the march and also assure the
Coast, the forests and the rivers
that the Siletz have survived and
remain loyal to their ancestral
place. The destination is Oak Flat,
the meeting ground where Tyee
John refused Colonel Buchanan’s
order to surrender and move north
and instead chose to fight the final
conflict at Big Bend. Downriver is
the myrtle grove where the 1855
treaty, never ratified and never
honored except by the tribes, was
finally signed on September 8. So
the Siletz people hold Run to the
Rogue each year to remember -
and never to forget - the battles,
the treaties, the marches, the
ancestors, and the land.”
“Late in the third round, a women
seated next to me whispered, ‘See
those shadows on the back wall?
Those are the ancestors, dancing
with the people here tonight.’”
termination and how it started its comeback
in the 1970s with the fight to be restored.
He concluded his presentation on a
positive note by citing two items of great
significance to Tribal members today.
Wilkinson first mentioned Run to the
Rogue, a 234-mile relay from the city
Tyee John became the last person to hand
over his rifle.
Wilkinson continued to relate details
of the removal of people to the Coast
(Siletz Reservation), how portions of the
reservation were illegally taken by the
U.S. government, how the Tribe endured
The People Are Dancing Again: The History of the Siletz Tribe
of Western Oregon
Book events for Charles Wilkinson and members of the
Siletz Tribal Council
Open to the Public
Date
Organization
University of Wyoming
April 14
Location
At the end of the last dance, he writes,
“The lead singer said a final blessing, Huu-
chan xuu naa-xutlh-xat-le, ‘As you depart,
may the blessings be with you.’”
And thus did Wilkinson end his
presentation.
Slews from the
। Dental Clinic
I
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Laramie, Wyo.
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Michigan State University
April 18
Michigan
UCLA
TBA
California
National Museum of the
American Indian
TBA
Washington, D.C.
University of Oregon
TBA
Eugene, Ore.
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Please contact the Siletz
Community Dental Clinic if you
experience dental pain or a dental
emergency. The staff will do every-
thing possible to see you as soon as
reasonably possible.
Because of high volume, check-
in time is Monday-Thursday from
8:30-9 a.m. and Friday from 10-10:30
a.m. Afternoon check-in time is
Monday-Friday from 1-1:30 p.m.
April 2011
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Siletz News
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