Podcast: Headwaters of leadership with Sam Robinson

Sam Robinson’s ’83 paternal great-great- great-grandfather was Thomas Huckswelt, chief of the Willapa, who signed a treaty with the commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1851. In that treaty, the tribes sold land to the U.S. for 3 cents per acre. In turn, a reservation was created for the tribes. But the treaty was never ratified by Congress because it failed to remove the Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest area, which was a goal. The Chinookan people later declined to sign treaties that would have had them move to remote reservations. Robinson says, “We stayed with the bones of our ancestors.” Robinson, who is vice chairman of the tribe’s council, explains the tribe’s history and where it’s going next.

Listen to his story. Or read the full story.

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Written by Lily Raff McCaulou. Produced by Rhonda Morin, APR. Edited by Magaurn Video Media. Music from Universal Production Music. Graphic by Greg Holly, Acme Graphic Design. Penguin Chats podcast is a production of Clark College Foundation. Reprinted here with permission from Clark College Foundation. © 2022