The University of Oregon is located on Kalapuya ilihi, the traditional indigenous homeland of the Kalapuya people. Following treaties between 1851 and 1855, Kalapuya people were dispossessed of their indigenous homeland by the United States government and forcibly removed to the Coast Reservation in Western Oregon. Today, Kalapuya descendants are primarily citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and they continue to make important contributions to their communities, to the University, to Oregon, and to the world.
In following the Indigenous protocol of acknowledging the original people of the land we occupy, we also extend our respect to the nine federally recognized Indigenous nations of Oregon: the Burns Paiute Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Coquille Indian Tribe, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, and the Klamath Tribes. We express our respect to the many more tribes who have ancestral connections to this territory, as well as to all other displaced Indigenous peoples who call Oregon home.
The College and University have a number of programs that educate and inform our students and communities about Native American identities, practices, histories, cultures and political statuses from the earliest times up to the present day, as well as support Native American and Indigenous students, faculty, and staff. These include Sapsik’ʷałá Teacher Education program in the College of Education, the Many Nations Longhouse, the Native American Student Union (NASU), the Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI), the Tribal Climate Change Project, and the Indigenous UO Map and Walking Tour.
Tribal History / Shared History
Current status of Senate Bill 13: Tribal History/Shared History
After countless years, much collaboration, and hard work, Senate Bill 13: Tribal History/Shared History was unanimously passed in 2017. As a result of this law, Oregon Department of Education (ODE), in partnership with the nine federally recognized Tribes in Oregon, developed a curriculum that centers Native American experience and perspectives in Oregon that is historically accurate, culturally relevant, community-based, and developmentally appropriate. Tribal History/Shared History includes not only Oregon tribal history, but also the sovereignty issues, culture, treaty rights, governance, socioeconomic realities and events faced by tribal communities and nations in Oregon today.