The Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest encompasses the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. We also include western Idaho. The University of Oregon is located in Kalapuya Ilihi. All across the Northwest, there is a long history of Indigenous survival and resistance. The historic tribes of the PNW include: the Yakamas, Wanapams, Walulas, Umatillas, Wishrams, Teninos, Watlalas, Multnomahs, Kathlamets, and Wahkiakums, Tututni, Euchre Creek, Coos, Coquilles, Alsea, Siuslaw, Yaquina, and Siletz, Tillamook tribes of the Nestucca, Nehalem, Clatsop Chinook, Cowlitz, Nisqually, Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Chehalis, Skokomish, Swinomish, Tulalip, Nooksack, Lummi, Samish, Sauk-Suiattle, Stillaguamish, among many others. After the establishment of the states of Oregon and Washington, there are nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon, and over 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington. In Oregon, this includes: The Confederated tribes of Grand Ronde, The Confederated Tribes of Siletz, The Coquille Indian Tribe, The Klamath tribe, The Confederated tribes of the Coos, Lower

Offerings to Yemanya, Oregon Coast 2018.

Umpqua, and Siuslaw, The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua, and the Burns Paiute tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, the Nez Perce on the Lapwai Reservation in Idaho, and the Modoc Nation of Oklahoma. In Washington, the Puget Sound Salish tribes including the Puyallup, Snohomish, Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Nisqually, Skagit, Suquamish, Squaxin, Swinomish, Stillaguamish, and Sauk-Suiattle tribes. There are also tribes fighting for federal recognition, including the Chinook Indian Nation and the Duwamish. And there are thousands of Indigenous migrants from all over the American continent.  

African Americans in the Pacific Northwest also have a powerful history. Many African American families left the Jim Crow Southern United States and arrived as homesteaders, and in the late nineteenth century, as part of the coal mine and timber industries. In the early twentieth century, African Americans (and Puerto Ricans) were vital workers in the shipyards and airplane factories; later in the twentieth-century, many African Americans formed the backbone of the service classes – working as janitors, domestic laborers, waiters, and railroad porters. Today, there are African American farmers (mudbonegrown.com), heritage keepers (Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center) and, of course, those who play a vital role in the well-being of Black people.  

The Pacific Northwest is almost 3,000 miles away from the Caribbean. In putting a call out for healers in the PNW, we learned about tradition keepers in Portland, Seattle, and Eugene. We learned about a very small community of Cubans and Dominicans spread out across the region. Puerto Ricans are by far the largest Hispanophone Caribbean community in the PNW, many having roots that go as far back as the early 20thcentury, when their ancestors came to work in the Portland and Seattle ports. In 2017, Puerto Rico experienced a hurricane that dispersed its population across the Western hemisphere. The number of Puerto Ricans in our PNW community networks tripled in under a year.  

We interviewed an elder who migrated to the PNW from Miami, her parents having migrated from Cuba; her Puerto Rican husband’s family has strong roots in both Seattle and New York City. 

Caribbean Women Healers
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