Renaming Lane County?
EUGENE, Ore. -- An organization in Eugene has proposed to change the name of Lane County to Kalapuya County to honor a Native American tribe that lived in the area long before American settlers.
Organizers from the City Club of Eugene are advocating to change the name of Lane County to Kalapuya County to honor the Native American tribe that was said to be in the area in the early 19th century. Organizers said they have been talking about proposing the name change since 2020 when the city club talked about preserving the history of the Willamette Valley. According to them, that will involve some possible name changes.
Joseph Lane served as Oregon’s first governor. He’s been described as a frontier hero, a general during the Mexican-American War, but he is also known to have supported the institution of slavery during the Civil War. Organizers say the Kalapuya and their ancestors are estimated to have lived in the Willamette Valley since before the last ice age. Organizers in favor of the name change say the Kalapuya were forced to sign treaties to move to reservations, making room for American immigrants.
David Lewis is an associate professor at Oregon State University. He says he first got involved to try to educate people on the history of the Kalapuya.
“We'd like to return some of those place names, some of the history, back to the people here,” Lewis said. “History was never taught in schools. We'd like to fix that and provide equity across the city, across the county, recognize the people that who were here first for 1,600 years or more.”
A county name change has never before occurred in Oregon. In order for that to happen, county commissioners would have to play the leading role. Before any action could be taken towards a possible name change, Lane County commissioners would have to consider the motion. That would then turn into many public meetings with input from the community.
Andrew Kalloch, the president-elect of the City Club of Eugene, says he hopes this initiative will draw a lot of community participation.
“We always hope that people view our forums and then take action. Whatever action they think is worthwhile. I think this is the type of discussion that requires a lot of community input from all across Lane County,” Kalloch said. “You would imagine the commission would host public hearings, they would listen to people in terms of, not just do they want the name change but if so, what do they want the name changed to.”
Organizers from the City Club of Eugene say they are not trying to change history, but instead to remember it.
“I think that most people don't know about native peoples at all. There are a lot of misconceptions, a lot of stereotypes out there,” Lewis said. “We need to change those perspectives of native peoples and teach the history that has not been taught.”
