Cultural Resources Program
Cultural Enrichment
The Cultural Program provides various cultural enrichment opportunities for the Cow Creek people. The Program strives to be a resource for the learning of tribal culture and traditions, and to perpetuate this culture to future generations.
A calendar of immersive activities, ceremony, and events are held throughout the year aimed to help the Cow Creek people learn and practice their cultural heritage. The Program also provides cultural enrichment opportunities through public outreach with cultural displays and presentations, research opportunities, and dissemination of cultural materials.
If you have any questions about cultural activities or events, please email: info-culturalresoruces@cowcreek.com.
Cultural Information and References
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Information on the Cow Creek People
- The Treaty of 1853
- The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians Recognition Act of 1982
- “Charles Jackson” article in Pioneer Days in the South Umpqua Valley, August 1979, Vol. No. 12 (Pending Permission for Use on this Site)
- “Indian Memories” article in Pioneer Days in the South Umpqua Valley, August 1980, Vol. No. 13 (Pending Permission for Use on this Site)
- “Three R’s: Recognition, Roots, Recollections” article in Pioneer Days in the South Umpqua Valley, August 1983, Vol. No. 16 (Pending Permission for Use on this Site)
- Land of the Umpqua: A History of Douglas County, Oregon, by Dr. Stephen Dow Beckham (Pending Permission for Use on this Site)
- The First Oregonians, Edited by Laura Berg (Pending Permission for Use on this Site)
Historical Information of Southwest Oregon
- Recollections of My Boyhood, by Jesse Applegate, Oregon Pioneer of 1843
- Cow Creek Valley: From Mi-wa-leta to New Odessa, by Stephen L. Chandler (Pending Permission for Use on this Site)
- History of Early Days in Oregon, by George W. Riddle
Other Topics of Interest
- Native American Religious Practices and Uses in Western Oregon, by Dr. Stephen Dow Beckham, Kathryn Anne Toepel, and Rick Minor (Pending Permission for Use on this Site)
- Huckleberry Mountain Traditional Use Study, by Douglas Deur, Ph.D. (Pending Permission for Use on this Site)
- “Notes on the Takelma Indians of Southwestern Oregon,” by Edward Sapir, published in American Anthropoligist (Pending Permission for Use on this Site)
- Takelma Texts, by Edward Sapir
Historic Newspaper Articles
Additional Reference Material
You can find more information from the following sources:
- Indian Fishing, by Hilary Stewart
- Cedar, by Hilary Stewart
- Drink in the Wild, by Hilary Stewart
- Living with the Land: The Indians of Southwest Oregon, by Susan Crispen Shaffer
- Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians: A Brief History, by Stephen Dow Beckham
- Research Summary and NRHP Eligibility Evaluation Report for the Huckleberry Patch, by Jeff LaLande
- The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, by Sue Crispen Shaffer
- American Indian Nations from Termination to Restoration 1953-2006, by Roberta Ulrich
- Oregon Archaeology, by C. Melvin Aikens
- How High the Bounty, by Jessie Louetta Wright
- A Plea for the Indians, by John Beeson
- The Halo Trail, by Anne Applegate Kruse
- An Arrow in the Earth, by Terence O’Donnell
- History of Southern Oregon, by A.G. Walling
- The People and the River, by Elizabeth Heckert
- Requiem for a People, by Stephen Dow Beckham
- The Takelma and Their Athapascan Neighbors, by Dennis J. Gray
- Ump-Sa-Qua, by Vernon H. Jensen Jr.
- Land of the North Umpquas, by Lavola J. Bakken
- The Indian Peoples of the Southwest Mountains, by US Forest Service
- Native Americans of the Umpqua 1770-1930, by Kathi Warren-Flynn
- The Huntington California Expedition: the Shasta, by Roland B. Dixon
Cultural Videos
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Information about the Cow Creek People
Important Places
Traditional Stories
- The Mountain with a Hole in the Top: the Legend of Crater Lake
- Taltάl The Transformer
- The Boy from Ta’k’imilding, told by Earl Huitt
- How Stories Came to Be, told by John Cox
- The Importance of Ceremony and Weaving, told by Earl Huitt
- Bear Story, told by John Cox
- The War Between Skell and Llao, told by David Huitt
- Where Fire Came From, told by Earl Huitt
Collected Culture Articles from Wik’uuyam Heeta’, the Monthly Tribal Newsletter
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What Is Culture?
Archaeology
Historic Information and Resources
Traditional Lifeways
- Hunting Superstitions
- The Subsistence Round
- Language Is Culture
- Traditional Hunting
- Traditional Fishing
- Traditional Uses of Fire
- Gathering Plants and Food
- Housing and Village Life
- Wealth and Trade
- Decorative Materials
- Basketry Weaving
- Other Weaving
- Entertainment and Gambling
- Place: Geographical, Social, and Spiritual Landscapes
- Place: The Huckleberry Patch
Traditional Clothing
Plants and Animals
You can read any issue of the newsletter online at our Newsletter Archive page.
Tribal Historic Preservation Office
The Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) is comprised of the heritage program, the archaeological arm of the Cultural Program, and the Tribe’s collections repository. The THPO strives to protect the Tribe’s cultural heritage and cultural resources by staff review and comments of federal, state, local, and tribal projects, and coordination with these agencies to ensure the protection of archaeological sites, Traditional Cultural Properties, natural resource gathering areas, and other culturally sensitive areas within the Tribe’s ancestral lands.
