Back

Patricia Whereat Phillips (Miluk Coos)

Patricia Whereat Phillips is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw. She studied biology at Oregon State University and linguistics at the University of Oregon. She writes extensively about tribal language, story, and ethnobotany.

Author's Entries

  • Hanis Coos (Kowes)

    The Hanis (hanıs) people lived in villages along Coos Bay, Coos River, and Tenmile Lake on the Oregon Coast. Miluk-speaking villages were on lower Coos Bay, and both Hanis and Miluk were almost universally lumped together in records created by early explorers and settlers, where they …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Miluk

    Miluk was one of two related languages spoken by people known collectively as Coos. Miluk speakers comprised two distinct bands, one on Coos Bay and one on South Slough and the lower Coquille River. The Coos Bay/South Slough Miluk people lived in several autonomous villages along lower Coos Bay …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Skunk Cabbage

    Skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus), which grows in mucky soils and marshes from northern California to Alaska, is one of the few members of the Arum (Araceae) family native to the Pacific Northwest. Its flowers (on the clublike stalk) and surrounding bright yellow spathe emerge as early as February, soon …

    Oregon Encyclopedia