We want to acknowledge and honor the indigenous people who stewarded the lands we are on today for many generations before us. Colonization by white settlers drove most indigenous people away from their homelands, usually by force or coercion. It’s important to acknowledge our past so that we may work towards a more just and equitable future. 

Our projects and service area includes the traditional homelands of the Kalapuya, Siletz, Coos, Lower Umpqua, Siuslaw, Mollala, and other bands and tribes. Today, many of their descendants are part of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, and Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. 

We understand that having a role in land ownership means we have a responsibility to those whose lands were stolen from them. The land calls us to commit to continue learning how to be better stewards of the land, as well as better allies to all of the peoples that inhabit it.