Presenter(s): Doug Sam − Environmental Studies, Geography
Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald, Paul Guernsey
Poster 180
Research Area: Humanities
When constructing a history of public lands and examining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts on public lands, it’s important to recognize that all lands in the United States have an Indigenous history and that Indigenous peoples have a distinct relationship to both the land and to government entities. This study examines the nature of this relationship. Using case studies from around the state of Oregon, which contains nine federally-recognized tribes and various non-recognized peoples, it explores conflicts and collaborations between Indigenous nations and government agencies across space and time. These case studies range widely, including wars and reservations, the cancelled sale of the Elliot State Forest to a coalition including the landless Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribes of Indians, and traditional use of land in of the Mount Hood National Forest. As part of a greater project to illustrate the relationship between Indigenous peoples and public lands, this work hopes to show the conditions in which Indigenous nations and the government can build convivial relationships and the conditions which create disagreements and conflicts. In a time when tribal sovereignty is being again being actively eroded, this work also makes the case that the relationship between government agencies and Indigenous nations in the United States is a distinct one and one that resists merely recategorizing Indigenous issues as merely one of race.