An expert on the Kalapuya Tribe — the original occupants of the Willamette Valley — will be the guest speaker at a meeting of the City Club of Eugene at noon Friday, Jan. 30.

This special meeting will be held at the University of Oregon’s Many Nations Long House, 1630 Columbia St. on the UO campus. There is no cost to attend. 

The speaker at Friday’s meeting is David G. Lewis, an anthropology professor at Oregon State University, a respected historian of the tribes of southern Oregon and the author of “Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley.”

Lewis is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, a descendant of the Takelma, Chinook, Molalla and Santiam Kalapuya peoples of western Oregon. 

More than 500 of his research essays about the histories of the tribes are published on his blog, The Quartux Journal. 

The Kalapuyans originally occupied more than a million acres in the Willamette and Umpqua valleys. They practiced a form of land management in which they annually set fire to the valley to clear the land of excess vegetation, renew food plants and deposit nutrients in the soil.

Friday’s program will be streamed live on the club’s YouTube channel and will be rebroadcast 7 p.m. Monday on KLCC, 89.7 FM, and later on the club’s podcast. 

The City Club of Eugene explores local state and national issues and seeks to solve problems. Membership is open to all.