Synopses & Reviews
Caw Pawa Laakni, They Are Not Forgotten draws from the knowledge of Native and non-Native elders and scholars to present a compelling account of interactions between a homeland and its people. A project of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, the atlas presents descriptions of 400 place names. Narrative enriches the many maps in the book to paint a picture of a way of life that provides context for interpreting pre-contact communities. This assemblage of cultural memory and meaning echoes a record that has all but disappeared from common knowledge. --For this atlas, traditional knowledge and institutional knowledge was circulated, shared, and formalized as a text-based narrative. Many of the accounts come from the individuals who traveled on horseback, lived in and saw the areas listed, and possessed a level of knowledge that cannot be replicated in this day. In presenting these place names, the Tribes strive to ensure the vitality of this communal knowledge into the future.
The atlas provides a balanced understanding of regional history. Places named in the Indian languages are juxtaposed with sites central to the colonial period, such as those described by Lewis and Clark and given to fur-trading posts, missions, and those along the route of the Oregon Trail. The atlas adds a needed and vivid Indian perspective to the written history of Oregon and the West.
Eugene S. Hunn is professor of anthropology at the University of Washington. Other contributors are E. Thomas Morning Owl, Jennifer Karson-Engum, Phillip E. Cash Cash, Daniel B. Haug, Roberta L. Conner, John M. Chess, and Modesta J. Minthorn.
Synopsis
C?w Paw? L?akni / They Are Not Forgotten is a book like none other. This ethnogeographic atlas of Native place names presents a compelling account of interactions between a homeland and its people. A project of the Tam?stslikt Cultural Institute at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation - composed of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes in eastern Oregon - C?w Paw? L?akni documents and describes more than four hundred place names. The full-color, detailed maps and the narrative that introduces and supports them paint a picture of a way of life. This meticulous assemblage of memory and meaning echoes cultural and geographical information that has all but disappeared from common knowledge.
To create this historical and cultural atlas of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla homeland, which spans the Columbia River and its tributaries from southeastern Washington to northeastern Oregon, ethnographic, traditional, and institutional knowledge was gathered together and incorporated into a GIS database to produce customized maps that present this knowledge. Many of the accounts are from the individuals who traveled on horseback, lived in and saw these places, and possessed knowledge that can no longer be replicated. In presenting these place-names, the Tribes strive to ensure the vitality of this communal knowledge into the future.
In C?w Paw? L?akni, places named in Indian languages are juxtaposed with sites that are central to the colonial period in the West, such as those described by the Lewis and Clark Expedition and those given to fur-trading posts, missions, and places on the Oregon Trail. The atlas adds a needed and vivid Native perspective to the written history and geography of Oregon and the West.