SS 10 - Sense of Place in the Pacific Northwest: Intergenerational Learning of How Oregon’s Tribes Sustained Ecosystems for Millennia

Monday, August 6, 2012: 10:15 AM-11:30 AM
C120, Oregon Convention Center
Organizer:
Mimi E. Lam, University of British Columbia
Co-organizers:
Jesse Ford, Oregon State University; and Frank K. Lake, U.S. Forest Service
Speakers:
Esther Stutzman, Komemma Kalapuya and Coos; Dave Harrelson , Kalapuya, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; and Bodie Shaw, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation and Bureau of Indian Affairs
Tribes have been engaged in their traditional lifeways for thousands of years, accumulating traditional ecological knowledge and a deep sense of place within their traditional territories. Oregon has nine tribes today: Burns Paiute Tribe; Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw; Coquille Indian Tribe; Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians; Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community; Klamath Tribes; Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; and Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation. Oregon’s tribal population is about 1.6 percent of the total Oregon population, dispersed throughout all 36 Oregon counties. Over 875,000 acres, or 1.4 percent of land within Oregon’s boundaries, are held in trust by the federal government or are designated reservation lands. Created by treaties or federal acts, these reservation or trust lands are governed by Oregon tribal governments. As separate sovereigns with extensive powers of self-government and regulatory authority, Oregon tribal governments have their own departments for governmental services and programs in areas such as natural resources, cultural resources, education, health and human services, and economic development. Given that Oregon’s tribes have sustained ecosystems for millennia, the ecological community can benefit from the intergenerational learning of their traditional ecological knowledge, educational philosophies, and environmental ethics in resource management. Members of three of Oregon’s tribes will share their senses of place and traditional ecological knowledge and an indigenous student from outside of Oregon will witness their sharing.
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