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

Coos Bay Coos Bay 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 state lines. The Coos Bay watershed covers an area of abo ...

. They were signatories of the

Oregon Coast Tribes Treaty of 1855 Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Ida ...

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 state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

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 The Coquille Indian Tribe ( ) is the federally recognized Native American tribe of the Coquille people who have traditionally lived on the southern Oregon Coast. History Pre-contact through the mid-19th century Beginning in 1847, following th ...

, centered in southwest

where the

Coos River The Coos River flows for about into Coos Bay along the Pacific coast of southwest Oregon in the United States. Formed by the confluence of its major tributaries, the South Fork Coos River and the Millicoma River, it drains an important timber-pr ...

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 an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...

, 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 human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

and

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

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'', ''Yukichetunne'', and ''Naltunnetunne''.

Languages

The Coquille people historically spoke two languages, Miluk, a

Coosan language The Coosan (also Coos or Kusan) language family consists of two languages spoken along the southern Oregon coast. Both languages are now extinct. Classification * Hanis ''†'' * Miluk ''†'' ( Lower Coquille) Melville Jacobs (1939) says th ...

, 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 (Coos language: Atsixiis) is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one ...

. 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 environme ...

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 river 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 Alexander McLeod was a Scottish-Canadian who served as sheriff in Niagara, Ontario. After the Upper Canada Rebellion, he boasted that he had partaken in the 1837 Caroline Affair, the sinking of an American steamboat that had been supplying W ...

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 The Coast Indian Reservation is a former Indian reservation in the U.S. state of Oregon, established in 1855. It was gradually reduced in size and in the 21st century is known as the present-day Siletz Reservation. History The Coast Reservation wa ...

(now the

). Today Coquille people may be part of one of two tribal entities: the

or the

Confederated Tribes of the Siletz 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 Califo ...

. 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