Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
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Cow Creek Band |
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Coat of arms
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Canyonville, Oregon 42°55′51″N 123°16′39″W / 42.93083°N 123.27750°W |
| Official languages | Upper Umpqua (Etnemitane), Takelma, Molala, and Plateau Penutian |
| Demonym | Upper Umpqua |
| Government | Tribal Nation |
| Sovereign entity within United States | |
The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, known to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon is a federally recognized Native American tribal government based in Canyonville, Oregon, United States. The Cow Creek Band is also known as the Upper Umpqua. The tribe takes its name from Cow Creek, a tributary of the South Umpqua River.
The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians was originated as a unified entity by the Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs on September 19, 1853, when a treaty was signed between the United States and a group of villages located along Cow Creek, a tributary of the South Fork of the Umpqua River. In actuality several different tribal entities were included in this umbrella group, including Upper Umpqua Targunsans, Milwaletas, and possibly some Southern Molallas. No fewer than three distinct languages were spoken by the Native Americans agglomerated by the government as the "Cow Creek Band."
During the times before Western contact, the various entities of the Cow Creek band were seasonally migratory hunter-gatherers, making use of permanent winter encampments and moving their villages in pursuit of food sources during the warmer months. This changed under terms of the 1853 treaty, however, with the Cow Creek Band agreeing to cede 800 square miles of territory to the government in exchange for 21 payments totaling $12,000 and a temporary reservation located on their traditional tribal lands.
In October 1855 the Rogue River War erupted in the area and the peoples of the Cow Creek Band fled for safety in the hills, joining others there who similarly faced forced removal from their traditional homeland for concentration on the Grand Ronde Reservation located to the north. This relocation proved inevitable however, and in January 1856 the bulk of the Cow Creek Band was moved to Grand Ronde, many forced to walk beside the inadequate 8 wagons appropriated for the move. Some refused to leave, however, with half the Milwaleta people dying of starvation and exposure when they remained in the hills. Several indigenous people were shot during armed forays into the hills in search of stragglers.
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