In an area with major development projects pending, momentum is building for Oregon City to codify a process whereby Native Americans would be consulted about the potential of construction to disturb sacred sites.

Pretty much everyone agrees that the region between the falls and the Clackamas River is an especially important area for many different tribes that came to the fishing and village center to trade supplies and stories. Local officials are having more difficulty in agreeing on how to proceed in honoring the rich history of the area.

One Native American leader who yearns to be contacted about potential developments is Eirik Thorsgard, an archeologist for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, who is a descendent of the large family of tribes generally known as the Clackamas. Thorsgard notes the importance of protecting remaining cultural history, because within 50 years of the arrival of white settlers, most Native American burial grounds and other sacred sites had been overbuilt by development.

Without revealing the exact location of sacred sites in the area to the newspaper, he did voice concern about the ambitious 92-acre Cove development pending near Clackamette Park. Although farther from the confluence of rivers where Native American activity was concentrated, also of concern is the Park Place annexation's potential to add 54 acres to city limits.

"This area is more than a little important to my people," Thorsgard said. "The reality is that we, as Indians, have thousands of generations of knowledge in this area with a huge, huge amount of spiritual force that could not be reproduced in settlers' maps."

As the great-great-great-grandson of Lal-bick, also known as Oregon City John, Thorsgard is directly descended from the chief of the Tumwater Band of the Clow-we-wal-la tribe who signed treaties with the U.S. government during the 19th century. After diseases had decimated the thousands of Native Americans who lived in the area to a population of less than 100 by mid-century, the Clackamas people saw little room for negotiation.

"We had a choice to sign those treaties and get something, or get nothing and simply be killed," Thorsgard said.

Native American preservationists can find allies in Oregon City government officials like Commissioner James Nicita for stronger protections for what's left. As part of his practice as a private attorney, Nicita has been researching possible laws that would defend cultural resources.

He would like every tribe with ties to Oregon City -- he admitted that's a large number -- to be contacted for new development within the city.

"There are other tribes that have interest in the Oregon City area, even though the reservation might not be in the Northwest or Oregon," he said. "I want to be inclusive, not exclusive."

However, Mayor Alice Norris expressed concern that extra staff would be needed in Oregon City to deal with new development regulations protecting Native American interests.

"We've always called tribal representatives to help protect our rich resources," Norris said. "But Commissioner Nicita is asking for a lot of extra guidelines, so we need to assess whether we can balance those in these tough economic times."

Paul Edgar, land use chair for the Canemah Neighborhood Association, argued that respecting native sites is a matter of priorities. While Canemah has had an increasing amount of development, Edgar mentioned that he started paying attention to the issue after his wife, who has native blood, expressed concern.

Thousands of Native Americans died near the current location of Oregon City during a short time. Edgar recounted tales that natives would go to sacred locations where "they were dying with the white man's disease so fast that they would just let their spirits go up." Other native stories tell of houses being used as funeral pyres when all the inhabitants succumbed to disease.

"The areas around Oregon City have a great many settlements with high degrees of passion," he said. "These places may not have artifacts on the ground, but they were of significant spiritual importance."

Commissioner Daphne Wuest echoed the mayor's concerns and asked, "How do we expect people to read minds to know which tribe has been there? It's not that I don't appreciate your sensitivity to other people that have been on this ground before us, it's just how do you give someone a regulation to live up to without anything to measure?"

Nicita implored the commission and Oregon City's planning department to do their best to involve as many groups as possible.

"This area is extremely important and in some cases even sacred," Nicita said. "The goals would be for us to protect these resources as we, as a city, cultivate these relationships with Native Americans."

Oregon City commissioners agreed to contact the state's Commission on Indian Services to get information for further discussion, but Nicita wasn't satisfied.

"I don't see this as simply a bureaucratic process where the city of Oregon City can simply check in with CIS and be done with it," he said.

Thorsgard hopes that whatever route the city takes will follow the falls area's ancient tradition of creating alliances to finally reunite folks that have interest in protecting the sites of the area. Telling the stories of a basalt outcrop known as Coalca Pillar upriver from Oregon City and the monster's tongue unleashed when settlers dug out the locks, he noted that there's much more native history to tell.

"My grandfather used to say that if you don't know where you've been you don't know where you're going," Thorsgard said. "The rich tapestry of Oregon history is important to everyone, not just to native people."

Original article at:  http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=127420721401084900