LibGuides: Indigenous History of Oregon: Nations, Tribes &amp; Bands

Nations, Tribes & Bands of Oregon

Oregon today is home to nine federally recognized tribal nations, plus several unrecognized tribes. These modern tribal governments each include members descending from multiple tribes and bands. This page is a reference for how these groups interrelate.

Table listing Oregon's Nations, Tribes & Bands
What are Nations, Tribes & Bands? See Terminology.

Map: Oregon Language Groups & Tribes - Source: PSU C-GEO, Student Atlas of Oregon.

Map: Oregon's Federally Recognized Tribes - Source: Atlas of Oregon (2nd ed.), 2001

Oregon's Tribes

For more about how this table is organized, see the Notes below.

Modern Tribal Nation	Ethno-Linguistic Tribal Groups:	Constituent Tribes / Bands include:	Homelands
Burns Paiute of Harney County	Northern Paiute	Wadatika Hunipuitöka	South-Central OR: High desert areas
Chinook Nation (federally unrecognized)	Chinookans	Cathlamet Clatsop Lower Chinook Wahkiakum Willapa	Lower Columbia River in WA & OR
Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes (federally unrecognized)	Clatsop (Chinookan)	Clatsop	Northwest Oregon Coast
	Nehalem (Tillamookan)	Nehalem	Northwest Oregon Coast
Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, Confederated Tribes of	Coos	Hanis Coos Miluk Coos	South-Central OR Coast
	Lower Umpqua	Lower Umpqua (Kuitsch)
	Siuslaw	Siuslaw
Coquille Indian Tribe	Coquille (Athabascan)	Coquille	Southwestern OR Coast
Coquille Indian Tribe	Coos	Miluk Coos. Note: there was no sharp boundary between Coquille/Coos speakers; See the tribe's web site for detail.	Southwestern OR Coast
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua	Takelma	Cow Creek Takelmans	Southwestern OR: Cow Creek and Upper Umpqua River Valleys
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua	Upper Umpqua (Athabascan)	Several Upper Umpqua (Athabascan-speaking) bands including Upper Umpqua Targunsans and the Grave Creek Milwaletas.	Southwestern OR: Cow Creek and Upper Umpqua River Valleys
Fort McDermitt Paiute & Shoshone Tribes	Northern Paiute	(research needed)	Northwest Great Basin: Southeast OR, Northern NV, Southwest ID
Fort McDermitt Paiute & Shoshone Tribes	Western Shoshone	(research needed)
Grand Ronde, Confederated Tribes of	Kalapuya	Tualatin (Atfalati): The northernmost Kalapuyan tribe, on whose land Pacific University's Forest Grove & Hillsboro campuses sit. Yamhill (Yamel) Ahantchuyuk (Pudding River) Luckiamute Santiam Chepenefa (Mary's River) Chemapho (Muddy Creek) Tsankupi (Calapooia River) Mohawk (Mohawk River, OR; unrelated to the Mohawks of NY) Chafan (near Eugene) Chelamela (Long Tom River) Winefelly (Mohawk, McKenzie and Coast Forks of the Willamette River) Yoncalla	Willamette Valley and Upper Umpqua River Valley
	Molalla	Various Molalla bands, names unrecorded, from the west slopes of the Cascades bordering the Willamette Valley	North & Central OR: Cascade Mountains and neighboring areas
	Rogue River Tribes (Athabaskans and Takelmans)	Illinois River bands (Athabaskan-speakers) Chasta Costa (Lower Rogue River, Athabaskan-speakers; unrelated to the Irkirukatsu Shasta) Takelma (Upper Rogue River)	Southwestern OR: Upper Rogue & Illinois River Valleys
	Shasta	Northern Shasta (Irkirukatsu Shasta)	Central OR-CA border
	Umpqua (Athabaskan speakers)	Upper Umpqua River bands; see more info	Southwestern OR: Upper Umpqua River Valley
	Other OR & WA tribes	Members of other OR & WA tribes were also relocated to the Grand Ronde reservation in the 1800s, including: Clackamas and other Chinookan-speakers Klickitats	Various places including portions of the modern Portland metro area
Klamath Tribes	Klamath	E’ukskni (Upper Klamath Lake) bands Plaikni (Sprague River) bands	South-Central OR: Klamath Basin
	Modoc	Modoc bands	Northeastern CA & South-Central OR: near Tule Lake
	Yahooskin (Northern Paiute)	Yahooskin Band of Northern Paiutes	South-Central OR: Upper Sprague River?
Siletz, Confederated Tribes of	Alsea	Alsea Yaquina	Central OR Coast
	Rogue River & Related Athabaskan Tribes	Upper Coquille Chasta Costa Tututni, including the bands: Chemetunne, Chetleshin (Pistol River), Flores Creek, Mikonotunne, Naltunnetunne, Kaltsergheatunne (or Port Orford band of Kwatami), Sixes (Kwatami), Yukichetunne (Euchre Creek). Applegate & Galice Chetco & Tolowa Upper Umpqua	Southern OR & Northern CA Coasts
	Chinookan	Includes descendants of several Chinookan bands/tribes, e.g. Clatsops.	Lower Columbia River
	Coos	Hanis Coos Miluk Coos	South-Central OR Coast
	Klickitat	Descendants of Klickitats from north of the Columbia River who had moved south into Oregon in the 1820s-1850s, or were relocated onto Oregon reservations after the 1855 Klickitat War.	South-Central WA; See note
	Molalla	Various Molalla bands, names unrecorded, from the west slopes of the Cascades.	North & Central OR: Cascade Mountains
	Takelma	Dagelma Latgawa Cow Creek	Southwestern OR: Cow Creek and Upper Rogue River Valleys
	Tillamook	Nehalem Nestucca Salmon River Siletz Tillamook Bay	North-Central OR Coast
Umatilla, Confederated Tribes of	Cayuse	Cayuse bands	Eastern WA-OR border: Snake, Umatilla, Walla Walla Rivers
	Umatilla (Sahaptins)	Umatilla bands	Northeastern OR: Upper Columbia & Umatilla Rivers
	Walla Walla (Sahaptins)	Walla Walla bands	Eastern WA-OR border: Walla Walla, Snake & Columbia Rivers
Warm Springs, Confederated Tribes of	Wasco (Chinookan-speakers)	Wasco bands, including the Wascoes proper (a.k.a. Dalles Wasco), the Hood or Dog River Wascoes, and the Watlala (a.k.a. Cascades). Wishram bands, including the Tlakluit and Echeloot	Central OR-WA border: Middle Columbia River. Wasco = South bank; Wishram = North bank
	Warm Springs, a.k.a Tenino (Sahaptin-speakers)	Dalles Tenino (a.k.a. Tinainu) Dock-Spus (a.k.a. John Day Band) Tygh (a.k.a. Upper Deschutes), including the Tayxɫáma (Tygh Valley), Tiɫxniɫáma (Sherar's Bridge) and Mliɫáma (present Warm Spring Reservation) Wyam (Celilo Falls Band)	North-Central OR: Columbia River Tributaries
	Northern Paiute	Northern Paiutes who were relocated after the Bannock War of 1878 and at other times.	Southeastern OR: High deserts
Oregon Tribes with unknown, unrecognized or disputed affiliations	Clatskanie (Athabaskans)	The Clatskanie were heavily affected by epidemics in the late 1700s-early 1800s. Some survivors were removed to Grand Ronde in the 1850s. However, Grand Ronde does not usually list them as a constituent tribe.	Northwestern Oregon near Clatskanie & Vernonia
	Celilo Wy'am (Sahaptin-speakers)	While some Wy'am became part of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs or the Yakama Nation, others remained independent. The independent Wy'am are associated with Celilo Village, after their original village of Celilo was flooded by the Dalles Dam in 1957.	Celilo Village south of Wishram, WA
Other Tribes relocated outside of Oregon	Niimíipuu / Nez Perce	Niimíipuu bands that originally lived in OR were removed to ID and WA in the late 1800s: Chief Joseph Band of Nez Perce, originally from the Wallowas: now part of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in WA Other Niimíipuu bands from OR became part of what is now the Nez Perce Tribe in ID	Northwest OR, Central ID & Southwest WA
Other Tribes relocated outside of Oregon	Northern Paiute	After the Bannock War of 1878, Northern Paiutes from southeastern OR were split across multiple reservations. Their descendants are now part of tribes including: Burns Paiute in OR (see above) Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone, OR-NV border (see above) Warm Springs in OR (see above) Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in ID Yakama Nation in WA	Southeastern OR & Southwestern ID
Other Tribes who now live in Oregon	Too many to list!	Many Native American tribes -- as well as other indigenous peoples from lands occupied by Western countries -- have made Oregon their home. A few of the organizations serving these communities include: Ka ʻAha Lāhui ʻAha O ʻOlekona (KALO) Hawaiian Civic Club of Oregon & SW Washington Native American Youth & Family Center (NAYA), Portland Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest (NARA-NW), Portland Northwest Indian Language Institute at U. Oregon Oregon Native American Chamber - promoting business & education	Varies

Notes on the Table

Regarding the authority of the information in this table: This table was constructed as a reference tool by Pacific University's archivist, Eva Guggemos, who is a non-Native with a background in academic historical scholarship. It is based on tribal web sites and other published sources. It has less authority than the voices of Natives , who are the ultimate authorities on their own histories. Corrections, comments, questions, etc. are welcome! Please email [email protected]
Regarding the terms Modern Tribal Nation, Tribal Group, Band, etc.: see Terminology.
Regarding disputes and/or variations in classifications here: Some modern tribal nations dispute the claims of other tribal nations regarding matters such as the extent/location of tribal homelands or the status of a group as being a separate tribe vs. a sub-group of a larger tribe. This table does not attempt to judge between these competing views. The section for each Modern Tribal Nation is intended to represent that nation's claims.
Regarding Tribal Names (and Another Name in parenthesis): In order to save space on the chart, we have used this formula:
- Ethnolinguistic Tribal Group = Name preferred by the Modern Nation (Linguistic Group or other Common Name)
- Tribal Group / Band = Name preferred by the Modern Tribe, if known (Other common names for the Tribe/Band)
Regarding the appearance of one tribe across multiple Modern Tribal Nations: Many Tribal Groups/Bands exist across multiple Modern Nations, due to how tribes were split up and relocated to reservations in the 19th century. The Molallas, for example, are part of the Grand Ronde, Siletz and Warm Springs tribal confederations.
Regarding the completeness of the information here: The table does not represent all constituents of each tribal nation. Many modern tribal members have overlapping or additional tribal ancestry beyond what is noted below, or may use different terms to refer to themselves. Again, Natives should be considered the ultimate authorities on their own stories.