1. Developments in Western Oregon Tribal Archives
David G. Lewis, PhD
Tribal Historian
Manager of the Exhibits and Archives Program
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde

2. Tribal needs
To support tribal needs to exist and develop within the United States
To support sovereignty, self determination of the tribes
To reverse centuries of taking from the tribes
To develop resources for the next generation of tribal scholars.

3. Collaborations & Training
Special Collections, Knight Library, UO
Department of Anthropology, UO
Museum of Natural and Cultural History, UO
Graduate School, UO
Smithsonian Institution
National Anthropological Archives
National Archives Records Administration
OSU Special Collections

4. First Major Project: SWORP
Three projects 1995, 1998, 2006
Two Potlatches 1997, 2001
17 tribes received copies of documents
All Oregon tribes received full collections
~150,000 pages of documents recovered
Main archive is at the University of Oregon
Members of 5 Oregon tribes were researchers
Created trained researchers, archivists, PhDs and MAs.

5. Goals Return ethnographic information to the Oregon tribes.
Train tribal scholars in archival research.
Answer questions of missing eras of Oregon native history (Cultural Black Hole).
Create local collection with public accessibility for researchers.
Establish relationships between tribes and academic institutions.
Supports Tribal Sovereignty though documented “Paper-proof” of cultural and political existence since before settlement.

6. What is the Black Hole?
A general lack of knowledge by the public of the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of Oregon
Many think the tribes are extinct
A paucity of representation in history and textbooks
Erroneous representation in many books, websites, film
The most prevalent characterization is association with casinos, a phenomenon of only the past 20 years.

7. SWORP I: Series I Ethnographic Records
Milhau 191
Sketch showing
relative positions of the
mouths of Yakonen,
Alseya, and Siusclau Rivers,
Oregon Territory, 1856

8. SWORP II: Series 2 Government Records
Siletz Agency
Sanitation Report
March 1892

9. SWORP III - Summer 2006: National Archives Records Administration
Recovered over 700 letters from 1897 alone (2609 scans), over 7X the number of letters found by using the microfilm index.
Used new protocols to find the correspondence, by looking at every letter in the year, and scanning them into a digital collection.
Recovered Allotment files for Klamath Agency, Roseburg, Warm Springs, Grand Ronde, Siletz, Burns, including a Plat map of Klamath agency.

10. SWORP III: Burns allotment request 1897
Paiutes that remained
in the area or returned
following termination of
the Malheur Reservation.

11. Burns Allotment Schedules
Cheryle Kennedy is Chair of the Grand Ronde Tribal Council and married to Vernon Kennedy from Burns.
Kennedy=Canada?

12. Klamath letter about cutting of 20,000 BF lumber from the reservation by local farmer

13. Off-reservation allotments: Roseburg
Yoncalla Kalapuya
Yoncalla Kalapuya

14. Klamath plat map

15. Grand Ronde projects 2007, 2010- NARA Seattle
2006-Present- Oregon Historical Society Library, Oregon State Library, Oregon State Archives, Numerous county historical societies.
2014- NARA Wash. DC, NAA Suitland, MA

16. Additional developments
Chair of the Oregon Heritage Commission
Advisory Committee at Oregon Historical Society Library
Participated in numerous archival and heritage projects in Oregon, to answer questions about how to help declining heritage organizations.
Oregon Tribal Archives Institute, 2012, helped train tribal archivists in professional methods in collaboration with OSU and UO. (forthcoming Article in Journal of Western Archives)
Designed Archival and collections spaces for the building of the Chachalu Tribal Museum and Cultural Center, CTGR, Manager of the collections and research programs.
Other collaborations with Willamette University, Western Oregon
Joined North West Archivists, editor of JWA, special issue of JWA on Tribal Archives.
Using the collections to research and write the history of the tribe.

17. Thank you In Memory of: Dr. George Wasson (Coquille)
David G. Lewis, PhD
In Memory of: Dr. George Wasson (Coquille)