Federal recognition has been granted to nine Oregon tribes, bringing with it the benefits of sovereignty along with educational, social and medical assistance. The Chetco and Tututni, calling themselves the Confederated Tribes of the Lower Rogue, are seeking to become the 10th. Recognition is deserved, and uniquely so in one important respect: It would begin to make up for decades in which the Chetco and Tututni have been told they are not real Indian tribes.

The tribes’ historical existence is not in doubt; their presence along the coast and rivers of southwestern Oregon was well-recorded, the locations of their villages was mapped, and their population was estimated to have been among the most dense in the Oregon Territory. Gen. Joel Palmer, territorial superintendent for Indian affairs, negotiated a treaty with the tribes, though the treaty was misplaced in Washington, D.C., and never ratified.

The treaty was one of several that brought an end to the bloody Rogue River Indian Wars of 1851-53 and 1854-56, and provided for the removal of both inland and coastal Indians to the Grande Ronde and Siletz reservations. The Chetco and Tututni were among 29 tribes and bands that became part of the Siletz cultural mashup.

Except not all of them did. Quite a few stayed behind, including women who had married white settlers and others who retreated into the canyons and forests when the roundup for the voyage to the Siletz reservation, both by sea and overland, began. About 250 escaped from the ship Columbia, which on two occasions sailed from Port Orford with 600 Indians aboard. Still more completed the arduous trek to the Siletz reservation but later filtered back home after finding that supplies had not been delivered as promised.