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“Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley” with Dr. David Lewis

Potluck and Speaker event hosted by the UMCC

Join us at the Upper McKenzie Community Center for a potluck followed by a talk from David Lewis about his book Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley.

September 7th – 5:30-7:30pm at the Upper McKenzie Community Center

Doors open at 5:30pm

Potluck Dinner starts at 6pm.

Speaker begins at 6:30pm

The Willamette Valley is rich with history—its riverbanks, forests, and mountains home to the tribes of Kalapuya, Chinook, Molalla, and more for thousands of years. 

This history has been largely unrecorded, incomplete, poorly researched, or partially told. In these stories, enriched by photographs and maps, Oregon Indigenous historian David G. Lewis combines years of researching historical documents and collecting oral stories, highlighting Native perspectives about the history of the Willamette Valley as they experienced it.

Dr. David Lewis, Assistant Professor of Anthropology & Ethnic Studies, OSU; first attended the University of Oregon to get his degrees.

He is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, a descendant of the Santiam, Chinook, Molalla, and Takelma Peoples of Western Oregon, and a former Cultural Manager of the tribe who planned and designed the tribal museum.


A recognized researcher, scholar, educator, and writer of original histories of the peoples of Oregon and California, with an extensive record of collaborative projects with regional scholars, tribes, local governments, and communities for over 20 years.

He also consults with Filmmakers, which is how our McKenzie Community Member Katherine K’iya Wilson first met him, and he is an avid Speaker and Author; who often has standing room only crowds, such as at the UO Many Nations Longhouse and the Wildish Theater this last year.


His book was recently #1 on Amazon Books for Native American Demographic Studies.

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