Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes, PO Box 190, Seaside, OR (2026)

Since long before European people first arrived on our shores, there has been a Clatsop-Nehalem people. Most Clatsops dwelled along the northern Oregon coast from the Columbia River to Tillamook Head near Seaside, while most Nehalem-Tillamook dwelled in villages from Tillamook Head to well south of Tillamook Bay. Yet, the lines between these two people were by no means sharp, geographically or socially. When Lewis and Clark visited our territories, in the winter of 1805-06, the Clatsop and Nehalem people were inseparable and often indistinguishable. The journals of Lewis and Clark make frequent reference to the presence of Nehalem-Tillamooks in Clatsop villages and Clatsops in Nehalem-Tillamook villages. In the summer of l851, gathering together near their traditional gathering place at Tansey Point on the mouth of the Columbia River, the Clatsop, Nehalem, participated in treaty negotiations with Oregon Territory Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Anson Dart (l851). On August 5th and 6th of 1851, the Clatsop and the Nehalem Band of Tillamooks negotiated in good faith and signed the Tansey Point Treaty with Superintendent Dart. for ratification. This treaty was blocked by delegates to Congress, including Joseph Lane and Samuel Thurston, and not ratified. Incidentally, the Clatsop and Nehalem-Tillamooks were still included on the Western Oregon Indian Termination Acts of 1954. Today, the Clatsop-Nehalem people consist of families of combined Clatsop and Nehalem-Tillamook ancestry, descendents of the integrated populations encountered by Lewis and Clark, Franz Boas, and all those who followed in their footsteps. The Clatsop-Nehalem people share a strong sense of attachment to their homeland on the northern Oregon coast, a strong interest in maintaining the vitality of their unique culture, and a strong commitment to the well-being of future generations of their people. The tribe is currently seeking federal restoration in order to overturn the Termination Acts, as many other Oregon tribes have done, through the introduction of a bill to congress. Thank you for any and all support.

03/12/2026

It's WayBack When's Day and I'm republishing a photo that I've posted before. It's Women's History Month and I can't let the month go by without talking about Maggie Adams. Maggie was a Clatsop child when she was abducted and taken to the Indian school. Her family found her and returned her to her village. Nehalem leader Illga Adams came to the mouth of the Columbia on a trading venture and decided that he had found his wife. He arranged their marriage and brought her back to live among his people. The Nehalem women were not immediately welcoming to her but over time they recognized that she knew white people's ways that were helpful in the day to day life.

Maggie lived near Garibaldi with Illga at Hobsonville where they established a quasi-reservation allowing local native people to come live in their traditional ways. They raised their chlldren on that land and the daughters were recognized as highly skilled basket weavers. Illga predeceased Maggie who lived past her 100th birthday. They are buried in Idaville. Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have continued to venerate their accomplishments. Leaders of the Clatsop Nehalem Confederated Tribes are lineal descendants.

02/19/2026

Seaside Chamber TRAC Campaign

The Seaside Chamber of Commerce invited us to participate in their Trash Receptacle Art Campaign last year. We submitted two images and one was accepted. Our Dragonfly image was accepted.

“The first install took place near the ‘Welcome to Seaside’ sign at Gateway Park as a dedication to the Clatsop-Nehalem people, with other locations near City Hall, the Chamber of Commerce, and all over downtown! Each art piece has a QR code that can be scanned to bring up an interactive map with the artist’s info, and it will display the locations of the other art pieces scattered around town.“ Facebook post

Tribal Council members Terry Millard and Gabino Tlelo along with Kris Tlelo were able to attend the installation and meet Mayor Steve Wright.

They have started round two of the campaign, and we have been invited to participate.

12/23/2024

05/23/2024

We are thrilled to see Clatsop ancestor Celiast Smith included in the National Park Service's online exhibit Women’s History in the Pacific West.

Celiast’s descendants helped provide family histories as well as images of the wedding plate passed down through generations.

See the entire exhibit and announcement in the NPS post below.

This afternoon, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis joined White House officials, prominent historians, museum leaders, conservation leaders, Members of Congress, and others to highlight the recent Executive Order to strengthen the recognition of women’s history within the National Park Service.

During the event, Secretary Haaland announced that the National Park Service has launched a new women’s history virtual exhibition, “Home and Homelands,” that explores how women have made, claimed, and fought for their homes and shaped American history throughout the Pacific West. The exhibition was made possible, in part, by a Women in Parks grant from the National Park Foundation. Drawing from the museum collections and resources of over 30 national parks, the exhibit helps advance efforts by the National Park Service to tell a more complete account of American history.

Learn more at: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/womenshistory/womenshistoryinthepacificwest.htm

Image: Interior Secretary Haaland, National Park Service (NPS) Director Sams and NPS Advisory Board members celebrate the launch of the White House's Women's History initiative.

U.S. Department of the Interior

11/24/2023

Clatsop-Nehalem Thanksgiving memories and support for the Ne’Cus project on page 2.

View our Latest E-Edition right here!

11/03/2023

This wonderful photo demonstrates the deep relationships between Clatsop and Nehalem people. Lizzie and her family largely identified as Nehalem (though her father was Clatsop) and spoke the Nehalem-Tillamook language. Her family was closely related by blood and community to Jennie Michel, who lived most of her life in Seaside and identified primarily as Clatsop. At this point in history most Clatsop and Nehalem people were at minimum tri-lingual, speaking Clatsop, Tillamook, and English, and were culturally and socially tied to one another. This is extensively documented in tribal oral histories and written records by non-Native anthropologists and historians.

Bonus fact: Lizzie is the direct ancestor of CNCT Chair, who’s father grew up in “Hobsonville” near Garibaldi.

It's Wayback When's Day and it's also the first day of American Indian Heritage Month.

This picture is of Jennie Michel and Lizzie Adams. Illga Adams was a leader of the Nehalem and a signatory of the Tansey Point Treaty. Later, he established a quasi-reservation at Hobson's Point near Garibaldi where he raised his family. Nehalem women were adept basket weavers and the baskets were both beautiful and useful. Some baskets had special importance within the family and tribe. Others were made for trade.

Address

PO Box 190
Seaside, OR
97138

Telephone

+15038955643

Website

http://www.clatsop-nehalem.com/

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