The Coquille ( , sometimes spelled Ko-Kwel or Ko'Kwel) are a Native American people who historically lived in the Coquille River watershed and nearby coast south of

Coos Bay Coos Bay (Hanis language, Coos language: Atsixiis or Hanisich) is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon sta ...

. They were signatories of the Oregon Coast Tribes Treaty of 1855 and were subsequently removed to the

Siletz Reservation The Siletz Reservation is a 5.852 sq mi (15.157 km2) Indian reservation in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States, owned by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. The reservation is made up of numerous non-contiguous parcels of land in east-centr ...

in northwestern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in 1856. Most Coquille people today live there as members of the

Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in the United States is a federally recognized confederation of more than 27 Native American tribes and bands who once inhabited an extensive homeland of more than 20 million acres from northern Calif ...

, but some whose ancestors remained in the traditional homeland or fled the reservation now make up the Coquille Indian Tribe, centered in southwest

where the Coos River flows into

Name

According to the Coquille Indian Tribe's website, the name comes from a native word for

lamprey Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are a group of Agnatha, jawless fish comprising the order (biology), order Petromyzontiformes , sole order in the Class (biology), class Petromyzontida. The adult lamprey is characterize ...

, a staple food for the tribe. European settlers approximated the word as but it came to be spelled Coquille (the French word for shell). Eventually the pronunciation of the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

shifted to , but the tribe's name retained the older pronunciation.

Groups

The Coquille are part Lower Coquille Miluk and part Lower Rogue River Athabascan “tribes,” Tututni which included the Coquille (Upper Coquille, Mishikwutinetunne) tribe, Shastacosta tribe and Tututni tribe (including Euchre Creek (Yukichetunne) band). Bands of Tututni tribe include the ''Kwatami'', ''Tututunne'', ''Mikonotunne'', ''Chemetunne'', ''Chetleshin'', ''Kwaishtunnetunne'', and ''Yukichetunne'',

Languages

The Coquille people historically spoke two languages, Miluk, a Coosan language, and the Upper Coquille dialect of Lower Rogue River, a Pacific Coast Athabaskan language classified as part of the Oregon Athabaskan subgroup. After relocation to the Siletz Reservation, Coquille people had to resort to communicating in Chinuk Wawa, the lingua franca on the reservation, which was composed of many languages foreign to each other in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Coquille Indian Tribe is involved in language revitalization efforts for both Miluk and Upper Coquille Athabaskan, and the Confederated Tribe of Siletz has a language program focused on Siletz Dee-ni, a loosely standardized variety of the Oregon Athabaskan language, which is a heritage language for many of the communities that make up Siletz.

History

Human occupation of the coastal areas of the Coquille watershed dates back as far as 8,000 years, and 11,000 years in inland areas. Fish traps used on the lower Coquille River have been dated back at least 1,000 years. Extensive oral histories of the Coquille have been collected and preserved at the Coquille Indian Tribe Library in

Coos Bay, Oregon Coos Bay () is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. It shares Coos Bay with the adjacent city of North Bend, Oregon, North Bend. Together, they are often referred to as ...

. The Coquille fished in the tidewaters and

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

along the Oregon coastline using fishing

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s and basket traps, and collected shellfish. Some lived in lean-tos made of cedar planks, others constructed homes on wood-frame poles out of willow frames covered with sod or grass reeds. Modern scholars have documented an extensive network of trails, footpaths, and canoe routes that the Coquille people had developed by the time of contact by the North West Company's Alexander McLeod in 1826.

Mid-19th century to the present

After the treaty of 1855, the Coquille people were forced to move to the Coastal Indian Reservation (now the

). Today Coquille people may be part of one of two tribal entities: the Coquille Indian Tribe or the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz. The Rogue River Athabascan tribes (including Coquille), Takelma, Latgawa and Shasta peoples were in 19th century collectively known as Rogue River Indians.

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coquille People Native American tribes in Oregon Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Tututni Athabaskan peoples