Description
The Clackamas Indians are a band of Chinook of Native Americans who historically lived along the Clackamas River in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Today, Clackamas people are enrolled in the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. In 1806, Lewis and Clark estimated their population to be 1,800. At the time the tribe lived in 12 villages located from the lower Columbia River to an area what is now called Oregon City. They resided towards the east side of the Willamette River. In February 1841, Reverend François Norbert Blanchet and Reverend Alvin F. Waller converted Clackamas Chief Popoh. The Clackamas signed a treaty in the fall of 1851, which Oregon Superintendent Anson Dart failed to ratify. They signed another treaty on January 10, 1855, which was ratified on March 3, 1855. The Clackamas were promised $2,500 worth of resources, but the United States only paid a fifth of what was owed.
Language
Clackamas was spoken by the Clackamas people, a Native American people in what is now Oregon. The now extinct language spoken by the tribe, one of the Chinookan languages.
Culture
The tribe subsisted on fish and root vegetables. They constructed large cedar platforms to dip their nets in over Willamette Falls to harvest salmon. Claskamas women dried and smoked salmon. They combined dried, smoked salmon with mixtures of berries and nuts. They preserved food in woven baskets for winter. The Clackamas Indians traded salmon with other tribes. They also harvested and traded wapato, broad-leafed arrowhead or "Indian potato". Adult Clackamas historically wore leather leggings and tunics. They made skirts and bedding from cedar bark. An indication of high status in the tribe was intricate beadwork, quillwork, feather, and shell decorations. Certain shells served as currency. Like others of the Chinookan peoples, Clackamas practiced head flattening. From infancy, one's head was compressed between boards thus sloping the forehead backward. This was a way to indicate that a person was free rather than a slave.