Coquille people

For other uses, see Coquille (disambiguation).

The Coquille are a Native American tribe centered in southwest Oregon in the United States, where the Coos River flows into Coos Bay.

Name

The name of the Coquille is derived from the French, literally translated as "shell". The name was attached to the Indian people by French Canadian voyageur trappers working for the North West Company, because the people's diet of shellfish and use of shells as personal ornament.^{[citation needed]}

Groups

The Coquille groups included the Upper Coquille (Mishikwutinetunne), Kwatami, Shasta Costa, Dakubetede (Applegate), and Tututni. Tututni subtribes include the Yukichetunne, Tututni, Mikonotunne, Chemetunne, Chetleshin, Kwaishtunnetunne, and Taltushtuntede (Galice).^{[citation needed]}

Language

The Coquille language is an extinct Athabaskan language classified as part of the Tolowa-Galice branch of the Oregon Coast indigenous languages.^{[citation needed]}

Lifestyle

The lifestyle of the Coquille, like many Northwest Coast tribes, involved fishing and collecting of shellfish.^{[citation needed]}

History

Mid-19th century to the present

Main article: Coquille Indian Tribe#History

After the treaty of 1855, the Coquille people were forced to move to the Coastal Indian Reservation (now the Siletz Reservation). Today Coquille people may be part of one of two tribal entities: the Coquille Indian Tribe or the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz.

See also

• Coquelle Thompson