As part of the Sustainable Futures Speaker Series, Dr. Charles Wilkinson will present “From Humboldt Bay to the Columbia to the Canadian Line: How the Northwest Tribes Triumphed in the Courts and Changed the World.”

Charles Wilkinson has written broadly on law, history, and society in the American West and has placed a major emphasis on American Indians. His 14 books include the standard law texts on federal public land law and Indian law and several books for a general audience such as The Eagle Bird (Pantheon 1992), Crossing the Next Meridian (Island 1992), Fire on the Plateau (Island 1999), Messages from Frank’s Landing: A Story of Salmon, Treaties, and the Indian Way (U. Washington 2000), Blood Struggle—The Rise of Modern Indian Nations (W.W. Norton, 2005), and The People Are Dancing Again: The History of the Siletz Tribe of Western Oregon (U. Washington 2010). Over the years he has worked closely with many tribes. He served as counsel for tribes concerning passage of Menominee Restoration Act of 1973, the Siletz Restoration Act of 1977, and the Siletz Reservation Act of 1980. He has also taken on many special assignments for the federal Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Justice; and states, cities, and Indian tribes. For example, in 2010, he acted as facilitator in negotiations reaching a comprehensive agreement between the Olympic National Park and the eight Olympic Peninsula tribes concerning tribal resource rights in the Park. In 2013 the Warm Springs Tribal Museum of Oregon honored him with its Twanat Award for “his tireless work on behalf of Native Americans.”

Charles Wilkinson’s lecture is sponsored by HSU’s Environment & Community Graduate Program; Schatz Energy Research Center; College of Natural Resources & Sciences; College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences; and the following departments: Geography, Politics, History, Native American Studies, Environmental Management & Protection, Environmental Studies, and Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies.

The presentation will take place Thursday, October 22, at 5:30 p.m. in the Kate Buchanan Room on the HSU campus.