Coquille Indian Tribe

{{Further|Coquille people}}

Beginning in 1847, following the Cayuse Indian slaughter of the white, Presbyterian missionaries at the "Whitman Mission", a serious of retaliatory attacks ensued against the indigenous peoples all throughout the Oregon Territory, perpetrated by both miners and settlers. By 1854, several dozen miners who were angry over an altercation with a native man, went into the Coquille Indian village in what is now Bandon, Oregon, and killed all the members of that tribe that they could find there, burning their houses and slaughtering all women and children.Oregon Public Broadcasting, in affiliation with the Oregon Historical Society, {{YouTube|iHq6ncJJ35w|Broken Treaties: full documentary}}, Nov 2020, minutes 15:19–16:41.

File:Ctclusi.jpg

In 1855, Joel Palmer, Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs, negotiated a treaty with the Coquille and surrounding tribes that set aside {{convert|125|mi|km|0}} of coastline extending from the Siltcoos River to Cape Lookout to form the Coastal (or Siletz) Indian Reservation near present-day Florence.{{cite web

| title = Oregon Coast Tribes Treaty of 2000

| publisher = Center for World Indigenous Studies

| url = http://www.cwis.org/fwdp/Americas/or-coast.txt

| access-date = 2006-11-20

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060926135107/http://www.cwis.org/fwdp/Americas/or-coast.txt

| archive-date = 2006-09-26

| url-status = dead

}} The Coquille people were forcibly marched to the reservation in 1856; however, the treaty was never ratified by Congress.{{cite web

| title = The Coquille Tribe

| publisher = Coquille Economic Development Commission

| url = http://www.cedco.net/tribe.shtml

| access-date = 2006-11-04

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061007141924/http://www.cedco.net/tribe.shtml

| archive-date = 2006-10-07

}}

Disease and overcrowding were problems on the reservation, which was eventually reduced to a fraction of its former size.{{cite web

|title=Original Siletz Reservation Showing Reductions

|publisher=The Confederated Tribes of the Siletz peace |url=http://www.ctsi.nsn.us/Historical_maps/orig_res_reduction.pdf

|access-date=2006-11-20

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005224259/http://ctsi.nsn.us/Historical_maps/orig_res_reduction.pdf

|archive-date=2006-10-05

|url-status=dead

}}

The remnants of the original Coastal Indian Reservation are contained in the Siletz Reservation and associated tribally owned lands. Over the years many Coquilles returned to their traditional homeland and fought for acknowledgement of the Treaty of 1855.

The U.S. federal government terminated its recognition of the Coquille as part of the Western Oregon Indian Termination Act.{{cite web

|title = The Isaac I. Stevens and Joel Pagjfjlmer Treaties, 1855–2005

|publisher = Oregon Historical Quarterly

|date = Fall 2005

|url = http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/106.3/reference.html

|access-date = 2006-11-20

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070626235052/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/106.3/reference.html

|archive-date = 2007-06-26

}}

In 1989 the tribe regained its federal recognition.{{cite web

| title = Indian Tribes in Oregon

| work = Oregon Blue Book

| publisher = Oregon Secretary of State

| url = https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/national-tribes.aspx

| access-date = 2006-10-09 }}

With restoration came tribal sovereignty, which gives the tribe authority to form its own government and have jurisdiction over tribal lands, businesses, and community members.

The Coquille Tribe opened The Mill Casino on May 19, 1995, at a former waterfront plywood mill between North Bend and Coos Bay.{{cite news |last=Chambers |first=Susan |date=May 19, 1995 |title=Mill opens for games |page=1 |work=The World |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-world-mill-opens-for-games/158108061/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=October 29, 2024}} The mill had been built in 1961 by Weyerhauser and closed in 1991; it was sold to the tribe for $7 million.{{cite news |last=Griffith |first=John |date=April 18, 1995 |title=Coquille Tribe's casino taking form from shell of plywood mill on coast |page=B2 |work=The Oregonian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian-coquille-tribes-casino-ta/158108089/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=October 29, 2024}} The site was criticized by the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, who claimed that the Coquille's ancestral lands did not include Coos Bay and its siting would unfairly compete with their smaller casino. The casino project was developed by the Coquille Economic Development Corporation (Cedco), led by businessman and former NFL football player Bruce Anderson.{{cite news |last=Mayes |first=Steve |date=October 23, 1995 |title=Coquilles' huge casino in North Bend stirs fuss |page=A1 |work=The Oregonian}} Anderson was later found to have used federal funds earmarked for tribal housing to pay for personal expenses and his own home.{{cite news |last=Mayes |first=Steve |date=May 12, 1996 |title=Tribe's use of grants gets federal scrutiny |page=A1 |work=The Oregonian}} He was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1999 of illegal dumping of asbestos from the casino's construction.{{cite news |last=Larabee |first=Mark |date=October 1, 1999 |title=Jury indicts ex-official of Coquille Tribe |page=C1 |work=The Oregonian}}

According to the Tribe's website, the name comes from a native word for lamprey, a staple food for the tribe. European settlers approximated the word as {{respell|KOH|kwel}} but it came to be spelled Coquille (the French word for shell). Eventually the pronunciation of the town and river shifted to {{respell|koh|KEEL}}, but the tribe's name retained the older pronunciation.{{cite web |title=How Do You Pronounce That? |url=https://www.coquilletribe.org/?page_id=28 |website=Coquille Indian Tribe |access-date=12 April 2022}}

File:0775R Coquille Reservation Locator Map.svg

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz, based in Siletz, Oregon, recognize the Coquille people as one of the tribes that make up their confederation.{{cite web

|last=Kentta

|first=Robert

|title=Siletz History Part I

|publisher=Confederated Tribes of Siletz |url=http://www.ctsi.nsn.us/Culture_and_History/Siletz%20History%20I.pdf

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060302192701/http://ctsi.nsn.us/Culture_and_History/Siletz%20History%20I.pdf

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=2006-03-02

|access-date=2006-10-08

}}

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz continue to live on the Siletz Indian Reservation. In addition, by an Act of Congress in 1996, the Coquille Tribe now has reservation area totaling {{convert|6512|acre|km2|0}}. The reservation's lands are located in numerous non-contiguous parcels of land in southern Coos County, mostly in and to the southeast of the Coos Bay-North Bend urban area. Parts of the communities of Bandon, Barview, Coos Bay, and North Bend extend onto reservation lands. The 2000 census listed the reservation's official resident population as 258 people.

The "Oregon Resources Conservation Act of 1996" (part of [https://archive.today/20121213123218/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp104&sid=cp104iKSsr&refer=&r_n=hr863.104&item=&&&sel=TOC_1763577& Public Law 104-208]) restored to the Coquille Tribe approximately {{convert|5,400| acres}} of forest in Coos County, Oregon. The act's author, Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield, said of the Coquille Forest: "I hope this proposal, with its relatively modest acreage and the required adherence to the most environmentally friendly forest management plan ever implemented in the Pacific Northwest—President Clinton's forest plan—is successful and can become a model for how our Nation deals with other claims by native American tribes."Congressional Record: August 2, 1996 (Senate)] [Page S9649-S9660] The Forest was formally taken into trust for the Tribe by the U.S. government on September 30, 1998. The Coquille Forest comprises fourteen separate parcels of former BLM timberlands in eastern Coos County.

Unlike other forests held in trust for and managed by federally recognized tribes, under the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act, the Coquille Forest has the additional requirement of meeting the "standards and guidelines" of adjacent federal forests, such as the Northwest Forest Plan. While most federal forests have not met their timber production expectations under the Northwest Forest Plan, the Coquille Forest is widely considered the only entity to meet both the ecological and economic outputs of the Northwest Forest Plan.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

In 2011, the U.S. Secretary of Interior endorsed the first component of the [http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/coosbay/forestrypilot/ landscape management proposal] in which the Coquille Indian Tribe and the BLM would work together to develop a demonstration timber sale pilot in coordination with professors Norm Johnson and Jerry Franklin. This pilot will demonstrate the professors' ecological principles of variable retention regeneration harvest in the Oregon Coast Range. The timber sale will be designed under the Northwest Forest Plan and comply with all BLM requirements.

Management of the Coquille Forest has earned recognition for being environmentally sound and sustainable. The Forest Stewardship Council certified the Coquille Forest in September 2011.[http://www.coquilletribe.org/documents/LIBPUB73081111newsweb.pdf Newsletter of the Coquille Indian Tribe] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425060529/http://www.coquilletribe.org/documents/LIBPUB73081111newsweb.pdf |date=April 25, 2012 }}, August 2011.

The tribal government is based in North Bend.

In 2008 the tribe legalized same-sex marriage, becoming the first tribal nation in the United States to do so.{{cite news|title=Coquille tribe approves same-sex marriages |url=http://www.koin.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=6fe95e76-b9c1-425c-95f1-e1b314bfdb3e |publisher=KOIN |date=August 21, 2008 |access-date=2008-08-21 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Although the Oregon voters approved an amendment to the Oregon Constitution in 2004 to prohibit such marriages, the Coquille are not bound by the Oregon Constitution, because they are a federally recognized sovereign nation.{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/coquille_tribe_will_sanction_s.html|title=Gay marriage in Oregon? Tribe says yes|last=Graves|first=Bill|date=August 20, 2008|work=The Oregonian|access-date=2008-09-07}}

The Coquille Indian Tribe Library contains information on the Coquille Indian Tribe and other Tribes of southwest Oregon including the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians.{{Cite web

| title = Coquille Indian Tribe Library

| work = Coquille Indian Tribe

| access-date = 2014-04-05

| url = http://www.coquilletribe.org/old/coquille-indian-tribe-library.htm

| archive-date = 2014-04-05

| archive-url = https://archive.today/20140405131025/http://www.coquilletribe.org/old/coquille-indian-tribe-library.htm

| url-status = dead

}}{{Cite news

| volume = OLA Quarterly 1

| issue =2

| last = Macnaughtan

| first = Don

| title = Remembering the Rhinoceros: The Coquille Indian Tribe Establish a New Tribal Library on the Central Oregon Coast.

| access-date = 2018-05-31

| date = 1995

| url = https://waikowhai3.wordpress.com/remembering-the-rhinoceros/

}}

Policing is handled by the Coquille Tribal police force.{{Cite web |title=Public Services – Coquille Indian Tribe |url=https://www.coquilletribe.org/public-services/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |language=en-US}}

The Coquille Tribe owns several businesses, including The Mill Casino{{cite news|first=Amelia|last=Templeton|title=Coquille Tribe Wants Second Casino In Medford|newspaper=OPB|date=April 24, 2013|url=https://www.opb.org/news/article/tribes-planned-medford-casino-would-end-gambling-limit/|access-date=February 7, 2018|archive-date=August 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825084649/https://www.opb.org/news/article/tribes-planned-medford-casino-would-end-gambling-limit/|url-status=dead}} in Coos Bay, and ORCA Communications, a telecommunications provider.{{Cite web|url=http://orcacomm.net/ORCA_about_us.htm|title=ORCA Communications, High Speed Internet Access - OREGON|website=orcacomm.net|access-date=2019-06-28}}"[http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/ans/HTMView.asp?parItem=S031000236A Tribe Revives Culture and Fortunes by Raising Cranberries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206011814/http://berkshirepublishing.com/ans/HTMView.asp?parItem=S031000236A |date=2007-12-06 }}," American News Service, November 18, 1999

In September 2012, the tribe announced plans for a casino in Medford, to be built in a bowling alley that was acquired for $1.6 million. The tribe is also leasing an adjacent golf course.{{cite news|first=Greg|last=Stiles|title=Indian tribe buys, leases properties for casino|newspaper=Ashland Daily Tidings|date=September 8, 2012|url=http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120908/NEWS02/209080307/-1/NEWSMAP|access-date=2012-09-09|archive-date=2014-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323231409/http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120908/NEWS02/209080307/-1/NEWSMAP|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Meadows |first=Gold |date=2024-03-15 |title=Four Tribal Nations stand against Coquille Indian Tribe's casino project |url=https://katu.com/news/local/four-tribal-nations-stand-against-coquille-indian-tribes-casino-project-03-15-2024 |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=KATU |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Baumhardt |first=Alex |date=March 22, 2024 |title=Tribes ask US interior secretary to deny proposed casino in Medford |url=https://www.opb.org/article/2024/03/22/tribes-ask-interior-secretary-deny-coquille-casino/ |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=opb |language=en}}

• Coos Bay Wagon Road Lands
• List of Native American Tribal Entities in Oregon

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite web|title=Oregon Indians. Termination of Federal supervision.|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/vol6/html_files/v6p0612.html|publisher=Oklahoma State University Library}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

• [https://www.census.gov Coquille Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Oregon] United States Census Bureau

• [http://coquilletribe.org/ Coquille Indian Tribe], official website
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140407075735/http://www.coquilletribe.org/old/coquille-indian-tribe-newsletter.htm K’wen ‘inish-ha], the newsletter of the Coquille Indian Tribe
• [http://www.cedco.net/ CEDCO Coquille Economic Development Corporation]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061007025833/http://www.coquillecranberries.com/tribe.html Coquille Cranberries]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061207074304/http://ctsi.nsn.us/Historical_maps/orig_res_map.pdf Map of the original Coastal Indian Reservation as of 1855]

{{Indian reservations in Oregon}}

{{Coos County, Oregon}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Native American tribes in Oregon

Category:Federally recognized tribes in the United States

Category:Coos