The Cowlitz Tribe
When I decided to try out the Native Land tool, I saw that there were four tribes listed as residing at or near my hometown (Vancouver, WA). Of the four (Multnomah, Siletz, Grand Ronde, and Cowlitz), I recognized Cowlitz as both a tribe and the name of a county, so I decided to look at that tribe a bit more in-detail. It turns out that the Cowlitz tribe is one of the largest in what is now known as Washington, and the tribe spans several counties, including Clark (the one I'm from).
I learned that the Cowlitz tribes have many cultural ceremonies around fishing and the Columbia River, and they hold a Pow-Wow that is of the largest in southern Washington. Despite existing for centuries, they were not federally recognized until 2000, making it even more impressive that the tribe has survived and thrived through so much. I'm not sure if they have events open to people outside of the tribe, but it would be very interesting to go and learn about the land I grew up on and the culture surrounding it.
Especially in Washington, it seems like we have a ton of places and landmarks named after native tribes (Cowlitz County, Puyallup, Duwamish River, Snoqualmie Pass, etc.) I wonder if this is unique, and if so, why that is?
ReplyDeleteI think that it's very interesting how a tribe can exist for so long but only be federally recognized recently. Perhaps this is another example of how the US government fails to consider the lives of Native peoples.
ReplyDeleteI was just reading the beginning of your blog, and I saw the name "Grand Ronde." There's actually a river in the area named after them, and I was planning on rafting it with my family in the coming year hopefully! It seems to me like in Washington at least, rivers are one of the geographic features most commonly named after Native tribes.
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