Siletz
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (Fewer than 4,804 (2011)[1]) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( Oregon) | |
| Languages | |
| English, formerly Tillamook[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Salish peoples |
The Siletz are a Native American tribe from Oregon and an Indigenous people of the Northwest Plateau. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon.
Traditionally, they were a Salishan-speaking group, who inhabited an area along the central coast of Oregon near the Siletz River until the middle of the 19th century. The tribe was the southernmost group of the larger Coast Salish culture,[2] which was centered near the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound in British Columbia and Washington.
The Siletz were closely related in language and culture to the Tillamook tribe to their north along the Oregon Coast. During or after the Rogue River Wars of 1855-1856, members of the tribe were moved to the Coast Indian Reservation, later called the Siletz Reservation, which was home to over 20 other tribes.[2]
Population
Their population in 1700 was estimated at 100, as it was in 1800. After relocation in 1856, they were no longer counted separately.[2]
Language
The Siletz or Tillamook language was a Salishan language that has been declared extinct.[2]
The Siletz Dee-ni language, of which Alfred "Bud" Lane has recorded 14,000 words and which is "restricted to a small area on the central Oregon coast,"[3][4] is not related to Tillamook at all, but is a form of Tolowa, an Athabascan language; the Tolowa people are one of several groups making up the Confederated Tribes of Siletz.
References
- ↑ "Enrollment." Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. 8 Aug 2011 (retrieved 1 Sept 2011)
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Siletz." Four Directions Institute. (retrieved 1 Sept 2011)
- ↑ "BBC News - Digital tools 'to save languages'". Retrieved 2012-06-03.
- ↑ "Siletz Talking Dictionary". Retrieved 2012-06-03.
External links
- Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, official site
- University of Oregon: Coast Salish tribes
- A Brief Interpretive History of the Rogue River War and the Coast, Alsea, and Siletz Reservations to 1894
- Siletz Language Project
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