Oregon Tribes

The Oregon Department Agriculture is committed to a positive working relationship with Oregon’s nine-federally recognized Indian tribes. ODA will work with tribes to understand and address tribal interests related to ODA’s mission and statutory authorities.

Inventory Summary

In November 2017, Governor Kate Brown signed Executive Order No. 17-12, establishing the Task Force on Oregon Tribal Cultural Items. The purpose of the Task Force is to recommend a process for soliciting information from state agencies and other public institutions about items within their possession that are associated with Oregon’s nine federally recognized Indian Tribes.

Through training and guidance documents created by the Task Force on Oregon Tribal Cultural Items, state agencies were tasked with creating a pathway for tribal nations to have access to items identified.

Department Inventory

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) has prepared the following information for the purpose of this inventory. The summary lists found on this webpage are intended to be used as living documents that will be updated as ODA receives additional information or feedback from members of the Tribal Cultural Items Task Force.

• Draft ODA Executive Order 17-12 Inventory Report
  Provides a summary of the agency’s process in compiling the information and a summary of ODA's Administration and five (5) program areas.
• ODA Guidance Document and Inventory Questionnaire
  Documents used to train and provide guidance to staff on how to complete the questionnaire.
• ODA Objects Inventory Document - Updated Objects Inventory 9/21/20
  An inventory list of physical objects in ODA's possession.
• February 13, 2020: Task Force on Oregon Tribal Cultural Items letter to ODA
  ODA’s response to the Task Force on Oregon Tribal Cultural Items letter (above)

Program Summaries

• Director’s Office
  Updated 9/21/20
• Administration
  Updated 9/21/20
• Food Safety & Animal Health Programs
  Updated 9/21/20
• Internal Service & Consumer Protection Programs
  Updated 9/21/20
• Market Access & Certification Programs
  Updated 9/21/20
• Natural Resource Programs
  Updated 9/21/20
• Plant Protection & Conservation Programs
  Updated 9/21/20
• Oregon Department of Agriculture records retention schedule

• The State of Oregon and Nine Federally-Recognized Tribes Forge a Path Forward

  Journal of Northwest Anthropology, Volume 55, Number 1, Spring 2021. Includes a series of articles on consultation and collaboration in regard to cultural resources between the State of Oregon and Oregon’s nine federally-recognized Tribes.

  Journal of Northwest Anthropology, Volume 55, Number 1

• Relationship of State Agencies with Indian Tribes

  In 1996, Executive Order 96-30 formally established government-to-government relations between the State of Oregon and the nine federally recognized Indian Tribes that reside within Oregon’s borders.

  Oregon Revised Statute (ORS 182.162 - 182.168)

• Oregon Department of Agriculture Government-to-Government Relations Policy Statement

  Document helps to establish a policy on government-to-government relations between the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and Oregon’s federally recognized tribes.

  Policy statement

• Oregon Department of Agriculture Government-to-Government Annual Reports

  Per ORS 182.166(3), a summary report of the government-to-government interactions with Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes by program area.

  Government-to-Government 2023 Annual Report
  Government-to-Government 2022 Annual Report
  Government-to-Government 2021 Annual Report

• Oregon Department of Agriculture Government-to-Government Annual Reports

  Per ORS 182.166(3), a summary report of the government-to-government interactions with Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes by program area.

  Summary Report

• Legislative Commission on Indian Services

  Includes information on the commission, the nine tribes of Oregon, key contact information, Government to Government, and more.

  Legislative Commission on Indian Services

• Land Acknowledgement Guidance

  Information about land acknowledgement from the Legislative Commission on Indian Services.

  Land Acknowledgement Guidance document

• Helping Them Home: The need to Return Artifacts and Sacred Objects to Native American Tribes

  A video that covers the importance of returning sacred objects or artifacts in private collections, to the appropriate tribe. It covers why it is the right thing to do, and why it is important to tribes.

  Helping Them Home video