Capacity in the hall is limited, so please RSVP by submitting this form.

The SLC’s mission is to provide a unique living laboratory that educates and encourages sustainable practices in daily life, and we believe that understanding the history of this living laboratory is important to achieving our mission.

The first presentation in this series on the history of the Willamette Valley, including Pringle Creek and Chemeketa (now called Salem), is by Dr. David G. Lewis, member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

Dr. Lewis is an assistant professor of Anthropology and Indigenous Studies at Oregon State University, who in 2001 began publishing his extensive research on the Tribal histories of the Northwest Coastal peoples, specializing in the Western Oregon Tribes. 

While most publications and stories omit over ten thousand years of human history in the region, Dr. Lewis’s most recent work, “Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley,” focuses on the region’s First Peoples and their experiences as their homelands drastically changed in a short amount of time. We hope you can join us for this presentation on a part of the past that most people are unacquainted with.

You can find more information about Dr. Lewis and the book here, and more of his work can be found here. Books will be available for purchase at the event, and Dr. Lewis will be signing copies.

This is a free event, but we welcome donations to help support events like this and the ongoing work of the SLC. You can donate online or at the event.

Capacity in the hall is limited, so please RSVP by submitting this form.

We are still finalizing details for other presentations in the Willamette Valley History Series; in the meantime check the SLC events page for updates and sign up to receive email updates.