History: 'Best place on earth' is built on the foundation of a smallpox epidemic that decimated B.C.'s population in 1862 - Over the 18 months that began in April of 1862, at least half and perhaps well over half of all the people living in B.C. - most of them first nations - perished in a single event that killed people so fast and in such numbers that it might have emerged from the pages of an apocalyptic science fiction novel by Stephen King. The mortality rate for the 1862 smallpox epidemic in B.C. was greater than 60 per cent. In some places, as many as 90 in 100 may have died.

History: New book details ‘The Indian Way’ - Seventeen years ago, Neil Van Sickle delved into research about the North American fur trade with the idea of writing a number of vignettes on the topic. What he ended up with was a 500-page book. Van Sickle, 96, of Kalispell, and co-author Evelyn Rodewald of Whitefish have published The Indian Way: Indians and the North American Fur Trade, an exhaustive effort that explains how the fur trade "literally rested in a cradle of Indian culture."

History: The 1887 Dawes Act: The U.S. Theft of 90 Million Acres of Indian Land - In his Executive Order declaring November 2011 “Native American Heritage Month,” U.S. President Barack Obama said that his administration “recognizes the painful chapters in our shared history.” As a key part of that history, today marks the 125th year since the U.S. Congress passed the Dawes General Allotment Act in 1887. Under that allotment legislation, for which there was no legitimate constitutional basis, Indian land holdings dropped from 138 million acres down to 48 million acres, for a loss to Indian nations of some 90 million acres of land.

History: The Dawes Act Started the U.S. Land-Grab of Native Territory - Part 1 - February 8, marks the 125th anniversary of the passage of the General Allotment Act—commonly known then and now as the Dawes Act. The Dawes Act was one of the most effective implementations of the colonial and imperialist strategy against Indigenous Peoples of divide-and-conquer—a strategy that combines political, military and economic tactics to gain power over another power by breaking it up into individual units that are powerless to resist domination.

History: The Dawes Act Started the U.S. Land-Grab of Indian Territory - Part 2 - The Dawes Act provoked a campaign of resistance known as the Snake Rebellion, which was led by Chitto Harjo, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The Snake Rebellion ultimately failed to stop the dispossession of Indian lands, but it forged a “spirit of collective political activism” that still inspires Indigenous Peoples today.

The Dawes Act Started the U.S. Land-Grab of Indian Territory - Part 3 - The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA), which authorized the Secretary of the Interior to restore and acquire lands for Indian nations, was a shot at redemption by descendants of the white European settler colonists who had arrived more than 300 years earlier and stole land in what became the United States of America. The IRA was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on June 18, 1934, and was considered the Indian New Deal. The act was initiated by John Collier, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’s (BIA) reformist commissioner from 1933 to 1945, who proposed sweeping reforms to the federal Indian policies.

History: Popular Native American Archive Also Holds School History - The most-used archive in the Washington State University Libraries is a collection of books, manuscripts, photos and artifacts from Nez Perce, Yakama and other Columbia Plateau Indian tribes. It was collected in the first half of the 20th century by Yakima rancher Lucullus V. McWhorter.

History: A Fort Vancouver historian and descendants of the 'Buffalo Soldiers' bring their stories back to life - Dee Franklin Craig-Arnold was dumbfounded when a historian from Vancouver called her at home a couple of years ago. The historian, Chief Ranger Greg Shine of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, was tracing the lives of the African American "Buffalo Soldiers." One hundred four of the men were garrisoned at Fort Vancouver for 13 months in 1899 and 1900.

History: Enjoy festive history at Fort Clatsop holiday open house - On Sunday, December 18th, Fort Clatsop will come alive with the sights and smells of the holidays. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

History: Book revisits the history of West Coast First Nations - The Whaling People of Vancouver Island and Cape Flattery includes 20 narratives collected from elders of the Nuu-chah-nulth, Ditidaht, Pacheedaht and Makah, among others.

History: A glimpse into Coeur d'Alene's pioneer past

Klickitat: Small Town Big on Spirits: A Haunting in Yacolt?

Acknowledge day honoring native people

Steven Newcomb: The Indian Model of Liberty