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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2004)
4 JUNE 15, 2004 Special Edition JlvJrUk vvsl? KuvjulbcJ aiv v iyvj litis u iy I '..Vv. V::- -k. i ;4' V , .: ; : i . .i- &s-:Wo Joel Palmer, Indian agent at the time of the 1 855 trea ties, believed Indian culture needed to be changed, but still objected to the continuing atrocities against Indians in Oregon. Tribe of Indians" with government agents who anticipated ending Indian "title to the land" and moving the remaining members to Eastern Or egon. Judge Alonzo A. Skinner, a federally appointed negotiator, delivered this ad dress to the Yamels, who were all there and at the time consisted of "65 men women and children" (126-127 The Kalapuyans): "Brothers: Long since, when the whites first came to this coun try, they were but few in numbers, weak, worn out and dispirited by the hardships of a long and fatiguing journey. Your people were then as numerous as the leaves of the Forest and as plentiful as the grass on the Prairies; and were very powerful. Instead of treating the whites harshly and driving them from the coun try, as you had it in your power to do. You received them kindly, and permitted them to live in peace among you. "The whites have now become numer ous and powerful, and you are weak and feable sic. Our Great Father has seen, with much pleasure, your friendship and good conduct towards his white children in this country, and has sent us here to assure you of his kind regard and of his disposition to protect you in the enjoy ment of your rights. " "But as your numbers have become so much reduced and your power so much weakened, that you do not, now, need, and cannot now, render available, for the promotion of your welfare and hap piness, so large a quantity of land as you possess; and as there is much danger of your being injured, and your rights vio lated by your continuing to live among the whites, your great Father, thinks it would be better for both you and his white children, that you and they should live separate and apart" (127 The Kalapuyans). "This was one of the last times the Bands came together as a group," said Olson. The Yamels, led by their "principal cheif (sic), Yah-whos alias Thomas," proposed keeping the land from the mouth of the Yamhill River up to the junction between north and south forks, then along the south fork to the headwaters, then west to the summit of the Coast Range, then west to the main south fork of the "Luck a miute River," and following the Luck a miute to its entrance into the "Wallamette River." The territory included about 30 square miles. In the bargaining process, the Yamels agreed to allow whites to retain the lands they had al ready claimed on this area, but when Judge Skinner went to look at the land parcel, he found some 30 white families already living on the land, and with each entitled to a square mile, that left the Indians nothing at all in that area. Judge Skinner proposed a reserve about seven miles to the west (130 The Kalapuyans). "Yah-whos said that up towards the moun tains there was too much Snow, and that the old men & women knew where the Kamis, and wappatoo grew in this place they wished to re serve, and did not wish to leave it" (131 The Kalapuyans). As the bargaining continued, Judge Skinner added seven houses "good, substantial Log Houses" to the price the government would pay for the land (132 The Kalapuyans). After sleeping on the proposal, which as yet included unspecified payment for the land be ing ceded, Yah-whos came back and "Said it was hard to get his people to consent to leave this place, that in it were the graves of their Fathers, Mothers & relatives & 'friends; and that they all looked to it as their home; and that if they left there, the graves of their friends would be destroyed" (132 The Kalapuyans). The Judge promised that the graves would be protected, and continued the negotiations with a bid of $28,000 for the Tribe over 20 years, with each annual payment amounting to $300 cash plus clothing, farm implements and the like, plus the seven houses, plus at the first payment "ten good Rifle Guns, and three good Indians Horses, and the Horses to be for the Cheifs sic." Compare that with the $19,700 (124 The Indians of Western Oregon) that the commis sioners and their staff spent for food, lodging and salaries for five weeks worth of negotiating at Champoeg. On May 2, 1851, the Treaty was signed. Unbeknownst to either side in the negotia tions, "On February 27, 1851, even before the Champoeg sessions began, Congress abolished all special Indian Commissions and transferred to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs (and his agents) the power to make treaties. Infor mation to this effect was received in Oregon 'About the time the last of the six treaties was concluded...'" (151 The Kalapuyans). In 1853, when Joel Palmer was named In dian agent for the area, the negotiations were started again. Palmer "was faced by increasing demands of the settlers that the Indians be re moved from the Valley" (151 The Kalapuyans). The following year, he observed: "From the frequent recurrence of similar atrocities against the Indians in southern and southwestern Or egon, the conviction is forced upon me that a premeditated and combined effort on the part of reckless and evil-disposed whites roaming through that country has been, and continues to be made, to plunge the government into an other Indian war, and to carry out their favor ite scheme of annihilating those Indians." In this next round of treaties, finalized Janu ary 4, 1855, the Yamels and 14 other bands, including Kalapuyans, Mollalas and Santiams, ceded all land holdings in the Willamette Val ley, "(p)rovided however that said Bands be per- tj '." Photo courtesy of :, ' I CTGR Cultural t f Resources, C, I ., Smithsonian ; ,f-'t "H Institution Archives ' f 5 !" '- 4310-11 L'..i ?.- : .... t ...... i Louisa Selkey, wife of Peter Selkey mitted to remain within the limits of the coun try ceded, and on such temporary Reserves as may be made for them by the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, until a suitable district or coun try shall be designated for their permanent home, and proper improvement made thereon; and pro vided that the United States make proper provi sion for the security of their persons and prop erty from the hostile attacks of Indians of other Tribes and bands" (160 The Kalapuyans). Chiefs of the Yamels at this time were: Shap h or William, Shel-ke-Oah or David and Cha-ah or Jepe (158 The Kalapuyans). Annual payments ($10,000 a year for the first five years; $8,000 a year for the second five years; $6,500 a year for the third five years; and $5,500 a year for the fourth five years) prom ised for the lands for twenty years "shall be ex pended for the use and benefit of the confeder ated Bands, under the direction of the President of the United States who may from time to time at his discretion determine what properties thereof shall be expended for such objects as in his judgment will promote their well being and advance them in civilization; for their moral im provement and education; for building, open ing and fencing farms, breaking land, provid ing stock, agricultural implements, seeds, etc.; for clothing; provision and tools; for medical pur-- poses, providing mechanics and farmers, and for arms and ammunition" (160-161 The Kalapuyans). With the agreements signed, the other shoe dropped: Reservations, including the "Grand Rhonde," were created and regulations stipulated a daily roll call for reservation Indians applied so that "(a)ny Indian found outside of his desig nated temporary reservation, without being able to satisfactorily account therefore, shall be ar rested and retained in custody so long as shall be deemed necessary...." (167 The Kalapuyans). Although the on-going tragedy of the Yamels seemed over as the 20th Century rolled around, the devastation continued for nearly 150 years. Today, our Cultural specialists believe, the tri umph of this indomitable spirit remains alive in the Grand Ronde Confederation. Many of lin eages have been lost, it is true, but the blood of the Yamel Bands lives here still, and the hearts of a people that date back to the beginning of human time, today beat to the tune of a new day.
