Wilkinson, Charles. The People are Dancing Again: The History of the Siletz Tribe of Western Oregon (2010)

I first met Wilkinson at an Oregon History Lecture where he was talking  at a “Mark O. Hatfield” Distinguished Historians Forum on the history of the Siletz Tribe. Of course, as a Siletz member, I was rather interested, and also not quite sure why this law professor from Colorado was speaking about Oregon Tribe. Turns out that he was the lawyer who helped the tribe active Restoration in the 1970′s, and had been asked by the Tribe to write the official their (our!) official history. This is that history!  While the tribes’ history is rooted in genocide and assimilation, which this book does chronicle, it also covers the rebirth of the Tribe (Restoration – 1977) and the continued growth of the tribe as it re-discovers it’s traditions and moves forward. That’s why the People are Dancing Again – quite literally – as the “Feather Dance” has been restored – after being surprised by the U.S. government in the 1880′s.

I did ask Wilkinson if what happened to the Tutuni People (who later became one of the “confederated” tribes of Siletz could be considered “genocide”. He didn’t want to answer the question, and, instead, asked me if I thought it could be. That answer was the impetus for my upcoming documentary on this history of the Tututni side of my family!

I think it is very important to note – that while I do feel this was a genocide, much work as been done by non-indians such as Wilkinson to heal the past. I felt closest to this the night Wilkinson was invited to speak when the Commemorative “Run to the Rogue” reached “Battle Rock” in Port Orford, Oregon. Wilkinson spoke to the assembled crowd of tribal members and supporters, acknowledging what has happened, and talking about his work with the tribe to move ahead. This attitude is also beautifully reflected in the welcoming potluck and feast the Town of Port Orford holds for the Tribe each year when the Run passes through on Highway 101.

Beckham, Stephen Dow. Requiem for a People: The Rogue Indians and the Frontiersmen. 1971.

Probably one of the first really depressing books I ever read. Part of the reason I became involved in “genocide awareness” work. This is a historical look at the Rogue Indian Wars in SW Oregon, and their forced, almost genocidal removal to a reservation that became Siletz, Oregon. The reservation, and the tribe, was “Terminated” by the U.S. Government in 1951. My mom made me read this in 1974, when I was in high school, during the time when she and many others were working to have the Siletz (confederated) Tribes restored. Restoration happened in 1977. This book has been superseded by E. A. Schwartz’s The Rogue River Indian War and Its Aftermath (1988) and Charles Wilkinson’s The People are Dancing Again (2010), which is the official history of the tribe.

Beckham still teaches and lives in the Portland area, I’ve talked to him by phone once or twice, and hope to catch up with him to do an interview about his works on Oregon Indians.

A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide

Another tome worth reading – this one by Samantha Powers.  Reviews the U.S.  response – or lack of response, to genocide. Explores the reasons the U.S. didn’t ratify the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide until 1988 and much more. I recommend this for anyone trying to understand the United States’ true roll in the “world scene”. It’s not a pretty scene. It’s been a few years since I read t his – before the flap about Samantha Powers’ comments on Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Presidential Campaign. It is interesting to hear that Samantha Powers might be behind Obama (and the U.S.’s) response to Libya this year. I read this book as part of my research for the Portland Genocide Awareness work in 2005-2006, and do need to re-read it  - when I have a good chunk of free time!

You can order this book from Amazon. You can also probably check it out from  your local library! (I know Multnomah County Library has a couple of copies!

The Better Angels of our Nature:
Why Violence has Declined
Steven Pinkerton
Viking 2011

This book by Steven Pinker (The Stuff of Thought, The Blank Slate) is truly a tome. I’ve been reduced to actually having to buy a copy – I’m racking up library fines as I write,  there’s a long waiting list for this through the library! Not a simple book to get throught. And content wise, it’s up there with Power’s “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide),   Elkins “Imperial Reckoning” and Bradley’s “Imperial Cruise”. Seminal works, not readable in a single sitting – and worth more than one read.

An examination of violence in history, sometimes graphic (Warning – this book can cause nightmares…) showing how “people” are getting more peaceful. Not from any religious sensibility - in fact, religion comes off pretty bad in this history, but from a kind of cognitive evolution out of societies (all earth’s societies…) “moral retardation”. In researching options for buying a copy I ran across a small number of reviews who strongly disliked this work, pointing out that Pinker comes from a very “Western” viewpoint of violence and ignores many types of violence (such as economic or environmental) that perhaps should be included in the equation.

Anyway, I’ve come nowhere close to finishing this book. I did skim the chapter on genocide – which has some very interesting insights.  I will revisit this review once I get my copy of the book (on order) – and find enough time to read it!

Recently I realized that I should pull together what I could from a ad hoc grass roots group I worked with in 2006-2009 called the Portland Genocide Awareness Coalition. the group did a week of events for Genocide Awareness for several years, and put together and sponsored a number of other events throughout that time. By the magic of the Wayback machine, Gmail archives, and Google Video (now transfered to YouTube!) I’ve manged to find a number of things – here they are:

• Videos of various speakers and events. I videotaped these in conjunction with the Oregon Peace Institute for cable access, and uploaded them to the Internet. You can watch them here:

[youtubegallery]
Judith Armatta |http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENSGKuFU3kI
Robert Landauer|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIBcCl3xWqQ
Nicholas Kristof|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TenD4MslUeE
Chanrithy Him|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vLZKlbg8lc
What is Genocide?|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-1PSHc3ghs
Kristof – Q & A|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zc8CbxKKVg
Judith Armatta|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElCb1AwHJ1U
Dr. Boyer / Darfur|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyBxuiLBT4A
Marie Clarke Brill|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABhmNwMBBbY
Sudan Update – Clarke Brill|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcuqZ7cGl6M
Darfur Aid Worker|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVVFx62EsCc
Ruth Messenger|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dRXKlGhQ-s
Edmo – Government Man |http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QepkHrqnDA0
Edmo – Hard Things |http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dmEsixasWA
[/youtubegallery]

• 2007 Resource CD -Outdated – but some files are still available online as pdfs:
  • Toolkit
  • Hosting an Ally-Raiser
  • Select Bibliography on Sudan, Darfur, and Genocide
  • Groups and Websites to Know About
  • Portland Mayor Tom Potter’s Declaration of 2007 Genocide Awareness Week
  • Genocide Books and Videos

• Logos. Each year the group used a different logo for posters and PR. They were truly the work of group consensus -

The logo for the 2008 series of events – Arm and fist with 7 rubber advocacy bracelets with names of “genocides” – ending with Darfur. There were various interpretations of the image – from saying Darfur was the most current “genocide”  to the question – how many bracelets will ending genocide take? The image was done by Justin Shear. I don’t remember who did the other logos.

Just ran across a video by Guy Kawasaki on presentations. Haven’t heard about Kawasaki in years! He was one of the originals behind Macintosh in the 1980′s. Not quite up to Edward Tufte’s work, but a short and pithy guide to power-point style presentations. From before 2006 – but still very relevant.
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A guy I was interviewing in Lumpkin, Georgia, told be about “Old Town”, just down the road. Since w Lumpkin seemed like the end of the road, I was a little skeptical. But I took a break from Occupy Interviews and Immigration Detention Centers, and headed south. I found Westville, literally just outside of town. 70 degrees and blue sky, a perfect idylic afternoon. A “made up” town, made up of 1850s buildings moved to a forested rural area. The guides provided plenty of arcane history and local gossip. All I was missing was a glass of Sweet Georgia Peach!

I just wandered through the rather extensive “village”, snapping a few pictures. Here’s some of them. I’ve also included a very short video of a cotton gin in action!

Death Row and executions in the great state of Texas. Werner Herzog becomes a neutral observer, and a sad story slowly unfolds through his interviewees.  One of the best movies I’ve seen this year. A very fair treatment of a very difficult subject – A man on death row, a week from his execution, and the circumstances surrounding his crime – the murder of three people. A calm look into the lives of all involved, from the surviving relatives, to the prison chaplain .

Herzog

The first Herzog movie I saw was Aguirre, the Wrath of God. I’ve seen several of his older shorts at various film events over the years. I don’t remember seeing Herzog’s work on the big screen again till “Incident at Lock Ness”,  which kind of defies … everything. I was somewhat confused till I realized that the movie of a spoof of a spoof. It was brilliant and very quirky. I’m afraid I hadn’t seen much of Herzog’s later work till “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” came out, which was technically interesting, and the images of Chauvet Cave in 3D are breathtaking, but the writing kind of … sucked. So when I heard of the subject matter of Into the Abyss – I wasn’t sure what to think. A number of reviews spoke very well of the film, saying the Herzog took a neutral roll, and let his interviews speak for themselves.

Some times on May Day I join the masses in the streets. Other times I escape the city, and wind up doing things like watching Tall Ships sail on the Columbia. Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain were visiting Rainier Oregon. I “missed” their mock canon battle, but enjoyed a sunny, quiet day watching the ships. For more info on these Tall Ships and where they’re doing tours, check out their website the HistoricalSeaport
Below are some videos and a collection of still images of the Tall Ships.

If you click on any of the following images you can see it full size:

I’m starting a new category of videos I run across on the internet (and some I see locally) that I feel are “must sees”. Where I can embed them directly in the post, I will do so. Else I will link to either an online version, or to a place  you can find out more about the video.