Dancing Spirit

Dancing, drumming, chanting, and storytelling provided by the Warm Springs tribe in Bohemia City.

History of the Calapooya Indians:

Waaaay back in the day, before Slabtown laid its first plank next to the Coast Fork of the Willamette River, hundreds of Calapooya Indian villages dotted the banks of the river and its tributaries. Their domain included parts of what is now Lane and Douglas Counties.

They enjoyed a diet of camas bulbs, fish, and wild game. The Klamath Indians traveled from eastern Oregon over the rugged Bohemia Mountains to fish in the Row River. They camped at what is now known as Wildwood Falls, east of Cottage Grove above Dorena Lake, and used long handled spears and dip nets to catch spawning salmon.

Chief Halo Tish was one of the head chiefs in the little villages along the Coast Fork River. He was well liked by the settlers and many of his tales live on. The Great Spirit never blessed the old Chief with any teeth, so his name means no teeth.

The Indians traveled afar to trade. The Calapooyas procured obsidian from tribes in eastern Oregon to make arrowheads and obtained salt, shells, seafood and certain furs from tribes along the coast.

Diseases introduced by white settlers took a heavy toll on the Calapooyas. When they became ill their traditional practice of sweating themselves and then leaping into cold streams was deadly when they were ill. Samuel Knox, an early pioneer, was credited with saving many Indians by persuading them to stop using their traditional healing practices when they became ill.

Unlike other places in Oregon, the Calapooyas and the white settlers lived peaceably together, with many old timers sharing nostaglic memories of their Indian playmates.

Historical information obtained from "Golden Was The Past: 1850-1970."