The Takelma People of Southern Oregon are the focus of this episode of Ramping Up your English. Our series on Native Americans has brought us back to where this program is produced – Southern Oregon.
Viewing Episode 116
Episode 116 is now seen on RVTV and is available on archive.org. Click here to watch Ramping Up your English Episide 116: Takelma.
Episode 116 Summary
The Takelma lived in the region of Southern Oregon in parts of the Umpqua and Rogue River watersheds for thousands of years. In this region, settlements of indigenous people included people from various family clans and languages. They travelled in seasonal rounds gathering food, medicinal plants, and basket-making materials, returning to more permanent villages for shelter during the winter months.
The cycle of their lives revolved around the return of salmon to the rivers, where they greeted the “swimmers” with ceremonies to welcome them back. Their lives were first interrupted by fur traders from Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River. This was a small disruption compared to Oregon Trail pioneers who first came to settle on their lands. Then came military expeditions, killing Indian men on sight and enslaving women and children. When gold was discovered in California, the killing intensified.
Most Takelma who survived the violence and disease looked to the U.S. Army Dragoons at Fort Lane for protection, yet settlers and intruders from California constantly tested the resolve of the army to protect them. When local settlers carried out the murders of Takelma women and children camped on the banks of the Rogue River, the tense peace was shattered. Those responsible for the massacre were attacked by survivors, thus beginning the Rogue Indian War.
Takelma Traditional Storyteller Thomas Doty, Historian Ben Truwe, and Archeologist Mark Axel Tveskov inform viewers of the culture and the struggles of the Takelma people. (Thomas Doty was interviewed by the producer. Truwe and Tveskov’s comments were from presentations they made through a project by the Jackson County Library). The Takelma were removed from their homeland and the few survivors were forced onto reservations at Siletz and Grand Ronde in northern coastal Oregon.
Videos used in this Episode
The featured video delves into the culture and history of the Takelma and their neighbors. For a long version of the featured video, click here. This version doesn’t fit within the slot for Ramping Up your English. To see the same version – a shorter one – edited to fit the time slot, Click here.
Full Videos
In this episode, I used portions of longer videos. Below, you can link to the full videos.
Click here to see Part One of a Tribute to Agnes Baker Pilgrim, affectionately known as Grandma Aggie.
Click here to Part Two of the Grandma Aggie Tribute – a special episode of Adventures in Education.
Another episode of Adventures in Education features Tish McFadden, author and producer of Upriver To Morning, a curriculum that helps students learn about Native Americans in their region. Click here to watch it.
In 2022, I did a followup episode of Adventures in Education with Tish. I also used part of this video in this episode. Click here to see the interview. We we still socially distanced.
That same year, I interviewed Jeanine Moy at Vesper Meadow. I also used part of this Adventures in Education interview in this episode. Click here to see the entire interview.
Yet another episode of Adventures in education features Traditional Takelma Storyteller Thomas Doty. Doty is my main source of information in Ramping Up your English Episode 116. Click here to watch the full episode from which I drew some of his comments.
As related in this episode, Thomas Doty passed away in May of 2020. Doty’s impact was incalculable as was his loss. I produced a four-part tribute to him. Click here to see part One. The series is entitled One With the Story. Part One is entitled There Was a House.
Click here for Part Two. Honing the Art.
Click here for Part Three. Digging For Roots
Click here for Part Four, the final installment. Rippling Out.
Links to Outside Videos
To further the knowledge of viewers, the following links lead to videos on You Tube about the Native Americans of Southern Oregon.
The Rogue River Basin in Southern Oregon was the home of the Takelma people. Click here to learn about Table Rock – the spiritual center of Takelma life.
The Land Remembers is about the landscape on which the Rogue River Indian wars were fought. Click here to see the video.
Click here for a Southern Oregon Historical society event Revisioning the Rogue River Wars of Southern Oregon.
Click here for Rogue River Wars: A New Perspective with Ben Truwe as part of Windows in Time series by Jackson County Library Services.
Click here to visit the website of the Takelma Cultural Center.
More to Come
Episode 117 steps away from the long history of Native Americans and focuses on some of their ways of life. Basketmaking is the theme of the next episode. Click here to visit the Episode 117 page.