8 DECEMBER 15, 2001
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FISH MYSTERY Did the Name of Oregon
Coime From the Smelt-like Ooligan?
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Tribal member David Lewis and his college
partner Scott Byram could be onto something.
By Justin Phillips
Tribal member
David Lewis is on
the verge of making
one of the biggest discoveries in the
history of Oregon.
Lewis and Scott Byram, both Uni
versity of Oregon students, are in the
mix to find where Oregon got its name.
Lewis was born in Germany to Tribal
member Gary Lewis and his wife Polly.
The family moved to Italy a year later.
David's grandmother is Tribal Elder
Norma Lewis.
Gary and Polly also have a daugh
ter, Patti Schmitt (Lewis).
Lewis graduated high school in the
Salem area then worked in Northern
California with different Tribes.
Lewis and Byram claim the word
Oregon seems to come from the
"ooligan," a word that described a
small, smelt-like fish whose oil, or
grease, continues to be very important
to Native Americans.
If this turns out to be the case, we
are the only state named after a fish.
Lewis said that American Indians
from the east who traded with coastal
Tribes, most likely Western Cree
people from the Great Lakes area, did
not use the 1" sound in their language.
They used V instead, turning
"ooligan" into "oorigan."
Ooligan is known for their migrations
to spawn in sandy beach areas. Dried
ooligan and its oil were valuable trade
items as a food condiment, medicine and
canoe sealant. In the 1700's, ooligan
"grease trails" ranged from Alaska to
California, even crossing into the
Rockies. These pathways carried
ooligan to people speaking many lan
guages, which researchers say resulted
in at least 30 documented spellings and
pronunciations of the word.
Ooligan This smelt-like fish known
as an "Ooligan" was once an important
part of the Northwest Native culture be
cause of its many uses.
Previous research says "Oregon"
might have derived from Spanish,
French, or more southerly American
Indian words.
Lewis said the Native Americans of
the Northwest were known for their
great wealth and ooligan oil was one of
their most valued trade items.
Major Robert Rogers, a British army
officer based in the Great Lakes area,
explored the country to the west that
he spelled "Ouragan" and "Ourigan."
Lewis and Byram predict that he
picked up this name from his interac
tions with the Cree people in Central
Canada, who had traveled by canoe to
the West Coast for trading.
Lewis also found that the name Or
egon first appeared in literature in 1778
when the explorer Jonathan Carver
published Travels through the Interior
Part of North America. Carver re
ported Native American accounts of a
great river in the Northwest known as
the River Oregon. The river is now
known as the Columbia River.
"Because of the widespread trade and
the great value on the ooligan grease
throughout the region, ooligan was a
common word in Chinook Jargon," said
Lewis.
Tony Johnson, the Tribe's Language
Specialist, thinks it might have derived
from an earlier version of the language.
"Ulxan" was recorded locally for smelt
I!" J ' 1 , , l .
fgf
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Vw
or candlefish and was a common word
in regional Chinuk-wawa (Jargon),"
said Johnson. "The source of the word
itself may well be the Chinookan lan
guages of the Columbia River."
Lewis and Byram have spent count-;
less hours into every bit of information
they could find on the subject matter of
ooligan.
"I think we've taken a lead on this
subject matter," said Lewis. "It's re
ally amazing to see how people have
changed their minds in terms of what
Oregon means. I've never really .
thought about it in that way. I knew it
would be politically important because
Oregon is a big word. Even if they don't
believe in the ooligan origin, they've
definitely changed their mind about
thinking it came from somewhere else."
When asked what he wanted to do
after graduating from college, he was
quick to say, "I hope to work for Grand
Ronde someday, perhaps in Cultural
Resources."
Lewis has also initiated a program
at the U of 0 to train people in Native
research.
"I would like to see more of the Tribes
Photo by Justin Phillips
College Project - Tribal mem
ber David Lewis got people thinking
about the origins of the name of the
state of Oregon with his college project
at the University of Oregon. Lewis and
his partner Scott Byram believe that
Oregon could be named after the small,
oily fish that was once important to
Northwest Indians.
utilizing universities as good training
ground with professors who have the
appropriate knowledge," said Lewis.
Lewis has also produced many pub
lications and manuscripts.
He holds a Master of Arts in Anthro
pology and is working towards a Ph.D.
in Anthropology.
His areas of specialization lie in cul
tural anthropology, cultural resources
management, traditional cultural prop
erties, Native American history and
culture, international indigenous activ
ism, indigenous sovereignty, Pacific
Northwest history and cross-cultural
communication.
"In setting out to investigate the
meaning of Oregon, we found ourselves
exploring new aspects of the history of
pre-colonial indigenous cultures in the
North American West," said Lewis. "In
one sense a place-name study, this re
search also contributes to a redefinition
of indigenous history, which has so of
ten been dismally portrayed. Native
peoples are now participants in writ
ing history; and as these relationships
continue to mature, a vast, multifac
eted heritage will unfold."
Lewis has spent a lot of his time
studying and reading history. Lewis
and Byram should serve as examples
of the adage you can do anything.
One of our own Tribal members is
involved in something unique and
meaningful. He is on the verge of
changing the history of Oregon, maybe
forever. D
SPOKANE, WA. (AP) - Interior Sec
retary Gale Norton will meet next
month with American Indian leaders
to begin discussions on a plan to re
organize agencies that manage mil
lions of dollars in royalties and rents
from Indian lands.
J. Steven Griles, an Interior Deputy
Director, told the National Congress
of American Indians meeting in Spo
kane that Norton would begin the le
gally mandated consultations in Al
buquerque, N.M., in December,
Griles' announcement came hours
before a judge ordered Norton to
stand trial on contempt charges. It
was not immediately known whether
the development would alter Norton's
plans to meet with Indian leaders.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth
set a trial date for early December
for Norton and Assistant Secretary of
Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb to show
why they shouldn't be held in con
tempt of court for allegedly violating
court orders and misleading the
judge about the status of royalties.
Norton announced earlier this month
the formation of the new Bureau of In
dian Trusts Assets Management to
oversee the accounting of $500 million
a year in historically mismanaged roy
alties from Indian land.
The Interior secretary is the top ad
ministration official for Indian affairs
and serves as trustee for the royalty
revenues.
The new bureau was created under
the threat of contempt of court cita
tions against Norton and nearly 40 other
past and present officials for their fail
ure to reform the trust fund, which
manages mining, grazing, logging and
other royalties from Indian land.
Tribal leaders attending the annual
conference here criticized the Interior
Department for failing to consult them
before deciding to reorganize the Bu
reau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
"We have found that we cannot trust
our trustee," said Keith Harper, an at
torney representing 300,000 Indians in
a class-action lawsuit against Norton,
to the audience. Harper's clients have
proposed court-ordered receivership.
The lawsuit claims more than $10 bil
lion has been squandered through over
a century of mismanaging the trust
fund.
Lamberth has ordered the Interior
Department to find out how much it
owes the Indians and to fix its account
ing system.
Lamberth last month threatened In
terior with contempt of court, prompt
ing Norton to move trust fund manage
ment from the BIA into the new, sepa
rate bureau.
The BIA has tried for years to ac
count for money that was lost, stolen
or never collected in individual accounts
dating back more than a century.
Indian leaders accused Norton of uni
laterally making the decision to change
the most powerful government body in
Indian Country.
"It seems like Secretary Norton is the
Grinch that stole consultation," said Tex
Hall, a North Dakota Tribal Chairman
who was elected to the Presidency of
NCAI while in Spokane. "The United
States has not lived up to its obliga
tions." Tribal leaders from across the na
tion stood in line at microphones to
criticize Norton and Interior officials
for neglecting to ask their opinions
of the reorganization plan.
"One hundred fifty years of mis
managed trusts and we have less
than a month to prepare for this," said
Gregg Bourland, Chairman of the
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
Norton's decision to reorganize the
bureau came shortly after an inde
pendent report was completed de
tailing the problems with the current
system of managing Indian accounts,
said Bourland.
Griles said all but five pages of the
report which were ordered sealed
by the district court .. ' have been
made public on the department's Web
site.
- ON THE NET -NCAI:
www.ncai.org
Interior Department: www.doi.gov