Coos people: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Indigenous people living in Oregon, US}}

'''Coos (tribe)''' is one of the three [[Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw]] located on the southwest [[Oregon]] [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific coast]] in the [[United States]]. The Coos language is either extinct or nearly extinct.

{{Infobox ethnic group

|group=Coos

|image=

|caption=

| population = 526 (1990s){{Sfn|Pritzker|2000|p=172}}

|popplace={{Flag|United States}}({{Flag|Oregon}})

|langs=[[English language|English]], formerly [[Coosan languages|Coosan]]<ref name=coos>[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/csz/ "Coos."] ''Ethnologue.'' Retrieved 8 Sept 2013.</ref><br/>([[Hanis language|Hanis]] and [[Miluk language|Miluk]]){{Sfn|Pritzker|2000|p=172}}

|rels=traditional tribal religion, formerly [[Ghost Dance]]

|related=[[Siuslaw people]]{{Sfn|Pritzker|2000|p=172}}

}}

'''Coos people''' are an [[indigenous people of the Northwest Plateau]], living in [[Oregon]]. They live on the southwest Oregon [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific coast]]. Today, Coos people are enrolled in the following [[federally recognized tribe]]s:

* [[Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon]]

* [[Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon]]

* [[Coquille Indian Tribe]].{{Sfn|Pritzker|2000|p=174}}

==Language==

The [[Coosan languages|Coosan language family]]<ref name=coos/> consists of two languages: [[Hanis language|Hanis]] (also known as Coos) and [[Miluk language|Miluk]].{{Sfn|Pritzker|2000|p=172}} Both are extinct. The [[Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw]] has a language program to revitalize them.<ref name=coos/>

==History==

Their neighbors were Siuslauan, Kalapuyan, and the Umpqua Indians. The total population of Hanis and Miluk Coos in 1780 has been estimated to be around 2,000.<ref name="University of Oklahoma Press">{{Cite book|last1=Ruby|first1=Robert H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BYAeZ1IB7ssC&q=coos|title=A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest|last2=Brown|first2=John A.|last3=Collins|first3=Cary C.|date=2013-02-27|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-8950-5|language=en}}</ref>

On February 8, 1806, the Coos people were first mentioned by Euro-Americans. William Clark, wintering at Fort Clatsop near the Columbia with Meriwether Lewis and the Corp of Discovery, reported the existence of the "Cook-koo-oose nation". His journal entry stated: "I saw several prisoners from this nation with the Clatsops and Kilamox, they are much fairer than the common Indians of this quarter, and do not flatten their heads."

The Coos joined with the Umpqua and Siuslaw tribes and became a confederation with the signing of a Treaty in August 1855. In 1857, the U.S. Government removed the Coos Indians to Port Umpqua. Four years later, they were again transferred to the Alsea Sub-agency at Yachats Reservation where they remained until 1876. In 1876, the sub-agency was handed over to white settlement and the Indians were assigned to relocate to the Siletz Reservation, which created a major disruption among the tribal members. By 1937, their population had dwindled to 55.<ref name="University of Oklahoma Press"/>

In 1972, Hanis and Miluk Coos, along with members of the Kuitsh and Siuslaw tribes, incorporated as the Coos Tribe of Indians. In subsequent years, they began providing food assistance for low-income families and established job placement and drug and alcohol abuse programs.<ref name="University of Oklahoma Press"/>

==Culture==

There were 40–50 [[village]]s in the Coos tribes (they lived around the Coos bay and North Bend area). Most of them were hunters, fishermen, and gatherers. For entertainment, they held foot races, canoe races, dice (bone or stick) games, target practice, and also shinny ([[field hockey]]).<ref name="Coos">{{cite web

|title=Traditional Culture of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw

|work=Culture and History

|publisher=Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians

|url=http://www.ctclusi.org/cultural_historical.asp

|accessdate=2006-10-07

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906012103/http://www.ctclusi.org/cultural_historical.asp

|archivedate=2006-09-06

|url-status=dead

}}

</ref>

==Namesakes==

Several Oregon landmarks are named after the tribe, including [[Coos Bay]], the city of [[Coos Bay, Oregon]], and [[Coos County, Oregon|Coos County]].

==Notable Coos people==

* [[Annie Miner Peterson]] (1860–1939), last speaker of the [[Miluk language]]

==See also==

*[[Coosan languages]]

==Notes==

{{reflist|2}}

==References==

* {{Cite book |last=Pritzker |first=Barry |title=A native American encyclopedia: history, culture, and peoples |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-513877-1 |edition=3. [print.] |___location=Oxford}}

==Further reading==

* Leo J. Frachtenberg, "Coos," in Franz Boas (ed.), [https://archive.org/details/HandbookOfAmericanIndianLanguages-Part2 ''Handbook of American Indian Languages, Part 2.''] Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1922; pp.&nbsp;297–430.

==External links==

*[http://www.ctclusi.org/ Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw homepage], official website

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030803092703/http://logos.uoregon.edu/explore/oregon/coos.html Languages of Oregon -: Coos]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030815081827/http://www.npaihb.org/profiles/tribal_profiles/Oregon/Coos&Siuslaw&Lower_%26Siuslaw%26Lower_%20Umpqua.htm Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw Tribes profile]

*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/nw/coos/index.htm Coos Texts], collection of origin myths and lore by [[Leo J. Frachtenberg]] (1913), on [[Internet Sacred Text Archive]]

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Coos| ]]

[[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau]]

[[Category:Native American tribes in Oregon]]

[[Category:Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians]]