I received my BA in cultural anthropology from Portland State (1967), and MA from UCLA (1969). My research interests became clearly defined in the mid-seventies when I took two reading and conference classes with Wayne Suttles at PSU, both of which resulted in journal articles, on the "fever and ague" epidemic of Western Oregon (Ethnohistory 1975), and Native American use of fire to manage the Willamette Valley prairies (CanJAnth 1986). My Phd is from the University of Washington (1985), dissertation title The Introduction of Infectious Diseases among the Indians of the Pacific Northwest, 1774-1874. All of my research involves Pacific Northwest Native Americans; methodology is ethnhistorical (archival research and analysis of historical and anthropological documents). Major publications (listed below) fall under three headings: historical epidemiology and population history; resource and management through the use of fire; and the history and culture of the Chinookan peoples of the Lower Columbia.
Selected Works:
- "Demographic History, 1774-1874," chapter in Handbook of North American Indians vol. 7, Northwest Coast. Smithsonian Institution Press. Volume editor Wayne Suttles. (A companion chapter, "Demographic History until 1910," appears in HNAI vol. 12, Plateau, 1998. Volume editor Deward Walker.)
- People of The Dalles: the Indians of Wascopam Mission. a historical ethnography based on the papers of the Methodist missionaries. University of Nebraska Press, 1996 (paper 2004); Selected as a Choice "outstanding academic book" for 1996.
- Indians, Fire, and the Land in the Pacific Northwest. (editor.) Oregon State University Press, 1999; updated edition 2021.
- The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence: introduced infectious diseases and population decline among Northwest Coast Indians, 1774-1874. University of Washington Press, 1999. Paper reprint 2021
- Chinookan Peoples of the Lower Columbia (co-edited with Kenneth Ames, former PSU Anthropology Dept chair) and Tony Johnson (chair, Chinook Nation). University of Washington Press, 2013, 2015; Selected as a Choice "outstanding academic book" for 2014.
- Cathlapotle and its Inhabitants, 1792-1860. 209 page report for Fish & Wildlife Service, reg. 1. An American Library Association "Notable Government Document" for 2011. Currently being expanded to a book, Before Portland: The Native Americans' "Wappato Valley", under an open-ended contract with the University of Washington Press.