Confederated Tribes of Siletz
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The Confederated Tribes of Siletz in the United States is a federally-recognized confederation of 27 Native American tribal bands that once inhabited a range from northern California to southwest Washington. The original smaller tribal bands, which differed substantially in language and culture, were forcibly moved onto a reservation in 1855, forming a single unified tribe. The tribe's federal recognition status was terminated in 1955, but in 1977, the Confederation became the second tribe in the U.S. to have its federal status restored. The confederation takes its name from the Siletz River, the location of their reservation. It includes remnants of the Siletz, a Coast Salish people who inhabited the area up until the middle 19th century but who are no longer counted separately in the larger confederation.
The tribe's reservation is located along the Siletz River in the Coast Ranges, in central Lincoln County approximately 15 mi (24 km) northwest of Newport.
Finding records of the ethnic and cultural history of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz is somewhat difficult. An partial attempt at the tribal population makeup before it was forced on reservation lands in the mid-19th century is as follows:
- Upper Rogue River or Shasta Tribe:
- John's Band 172
- George's Band 222
- Joseph James's Band 160
- Coastal Tribes:
- Joshuas's Band 179
- Choallie's Band 215
- Totoem's Band 202
- Macanotin's Band 129
- Shasta Costa 110
- Port Orford (a Qua-to-mah band) 242
- Upper Coquille 313
A short list of indigenous groups forced onto the Siletz Reservation include the Rogue River tribe, Shasta, Scoton, Shasta Costa, Grave Creek tribe, Chetco, Coquille, Tolowa-Tututni, and likely a small number of Siuslaw, Coos, and Kuitsh peoples.
External links
- Confederated Tribes of Siletz homepage (http://www.ctsi.nsn.us/)
- The Rogue River Indians and Their Relations with the Whites (p. 7) (http://id.mind.net/~newkirk/page7.html)