Webinar on Coos Bay Indigenous History

Coos Bay mouth and South Slough.\Photo courtesy of Surfrider.

The future of the Coos Bay estuary will be considered over the next several years, as the county and cities that share jurisdiction over this vital resource area revisit the estuary management plan.  Some planning changes in the individual local government plans may come up sooner.  This will be an important focus of Oregon Shores’ work going forward.

To lay the groundwork for public involvement, we are partnering with Rogue Climate, Coast Range Forest Watch, and the Coos Bay chapter of the Surfrider Foundation to host a series of informational presentations, to provide background on a range of topics that will be pertinent to consideration of plans for protecting the estuary.  The series is scheduled for the fourth Thursday of each month through July.

The second event in the Coos Bay webinar series, on Thursday, March 24, 5:30 p.m., will be, "Native People in the Coos Bay Estuary." Speakers Patricia Phillips (Tribal Linguist for the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians) and Jesse Beers (Cultural Stewardship Coordinator for the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians) will be presenting on the ancestral history of the Coos Bay estuary, traditional practices of the Hanis and Miluk peoples, and how cultural practices are utilized today to continue the stewardship of the Coos Bay Estuary.

Register here for this event or for the entire series.