Umpqua Tribe - Oregon Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This large sign with three panels is located at the restrooms for the Colliding Rivers Viewpoint in Glide, Oregon.

Marker Name #1: Faces of the Umpqua
Marker Text #1: “Those Ind[ia]ns call themselves the ompqua”
For untold generations the Umpqua resided in the main Umpqua Valley. Near the Colliding Rivers, the Nezic band, one of the six bands of the Umpqua, raised their families and made their livelihood. The earliest description of these peaceful Indians was made by European botanist David Douglas in 1826. He described their village as being two lodges, with about 25 people. The men wore shirts and trousers of undressed deerskin, some decorated with sea shells. The women wore cedar bark skirts with a cape of dressed leather. The lower jaws of the women’s faces were tattooed using a sharp piece of bone and cinders from the fire. Some tattoos were vertical or horizontal lines from the ear to the mouth. Others were spotted or completely blue. Red and green facial paints were also used by the women.

Marker Name #2: Ancient Village of the Upper Umpqua
Marker Text #2: First occupied more than 5000 years ago, this site upon which you are standing was a campsite for the Upper Umpqua people during the fall, winter and spring seasons. They spent the wold, wet months in cedar plank houses living off dried food supplies. Marker Name #3: Hands of the Umpqua
Marker Text #3: Using natural resources available to them, tribal people worked hard to survive. Tools were made of stone, bone, wood, shells and obsidian. Large basalt cobbles found in the river were turned into stone bowls. Plant fibers were used to make rope, baskets, snares and traps. Animal skins and cedar bark were made into clothing and moccasins.
When spring arrived, the days were filled with fishing, hunting and gathering foods. Men harvested the spring salmon runs using spears, traps and nets. Women dug camas bulbs and other edible roots with digging sticks.
As summer approached, the people moved to the uplands where berries ripened for harvesting and deer and elk could be hunted and trapped.
In the fall, salmon runs and wild game were harvested, processed and dried for winter use. Acorns were gathered and stored. The hard work of the spring and summer meant abundant food supplies and leisure time ahead.
During the winter, the Indians stayed in their permanent villages in the lowland valleys. In the cold, wet, winter months, time was spent repairing tools, making clothes, and sharing stories.

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