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The first people who lived in the Willamette Valley were called the Kalapuya. They lived in this area for up to 10,000 years before the arrival of European Americans in the early 19th century. The Kalapuyans were not a single tribe but rather a loose group of many independent bands which had similar languages and lifestyles. At the peak of their civilization, the Kalapuyans numbered about 10,000 to 20,000 relatively peaceful persons.

The Kalapuya (band = a group smaller than a tribe) made seasonal migrations and often set up the same winter and summer camps. They followed the food supply through the seasons. Common foods included roots like camas, wapato (wild potato), seeds, berries, and insects. They fished in rivers and streams for salmon and trout, and hunted deer and other game using arrowheads from obsidian and animal bones.

The most important food in the Kalapuya diet was the camas root, which like rice, corn or wheat in other cultures, was an important and valuable staple. The camas' onion-like bulb was pried from the ground with antler-handled digging sticks. The bulbs were then baked in earthen ovens or rock kilns for several days, then eaten, dried, or placed in a stone mortar to be smashed by a pestle and fashioned into cakes and stored for future use. The Kalapuya had a reputation for preparing and preserving camas better than any other Northwest tribes. They often used camas for barter.

The Kalapuya also managed their natural food sources by burning the valley annually. Controlled burning was an ingenious way to eliminate overcrowding of their food source by trees and other plants; it was also a way to keep down vegetation so they could more effectively hunt game. An approaching enemy could also be more easily detected if there was not so much vegetation. Finally, the Kalapuya used fire to entrap and kill game.

Due to the variety of seasonal camps, the Kalapuya lived in a number of house types. During the winter when greater insulation was necessary, they constructed semi-permanent plank or bark shelters. These were packed with dirt and had a central fire. Temporary brush huts were used during warmer seasons and often partial shelters were made of blankets or pieces of bark thrown over bushes.

Women made baskets to carry food and men would build canoes for crossing large bodies of water. Canoes were made of cedar and hollowed out by the use of fire. The Kalapuya did not extensively use horses, which arrived in the valley late in the 18th century, thousands of years after the Kalapuya migrated here.

What happened to these people? In the late 1700's early explorers spread smallpox, tuberculosis, and venereal disease, which began to greatly reduce the Kalapuya numbers. The arrival of European-American settlers and their permanent farms and towns further disrupted the traditional migratory Kalapuya lifestyle. For example, the plowing of fields to plant wheat often tore up camas ground where Kalapuyans had found important food.

In 1855, the remaining Kalapuya, about 240, were moved onto a reservation at Grand Ronde, located west of Salem. Today there are about 2,000 people of Kalapuyan descent alive.

It may be difficult for us to imagine today what the Willamette Valley and its inhabitants were like so long ago, but as we walk on the ground that they walked upon, we may at least hope to share their understanding and appreciation of this beautiful land.

1. When do we think the first Kalapuya lived in the Willamette Valley?

2. Did the Kalapuya live in the same place all year? If not, why not?

3. Was fire important to the Kalapuya only for warmth and cooking? For what other purposes was fire used?

4. In your opinion, why did the Kalapuyans not need horses as much as other groups of Indians in North America? (guess! think independently!)

5. Approximately what percent of the Kalapuya died between 1700 and 1855?

6. What was happening on the East Coast of North American in the 18th Century? (remember, guess, ask your friends, or ask Willamette student staff)

7. Five new words you learned in this reading, with a Japanese or English equivalent.

a.

 

b.

 

c.

 

d.

 

e.

8. Grammar you didn't understand: