Tribes cherish past, future at institute
PENDLETON, Ore. – Their numbers may have dwindled over the years, their way of life and their culture tarnished and decimated over the centuries, they say, by a continuous infringement upon their land and people. But the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla are not going anywhere, Bobbie Conner says.
That’s why they are still here. That’s why they built this place.
“It’s a monument to our survival, and our legacy as a people,” says Conner, director of the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. “This place is to let people know we don’t intend to leave. This is a living culture. This is not a monument to antiquity, this is a monument to the future.”
The 45,000-square-foot institute just east of the city limits is owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla – the Walla Walla, Umatilla and Cayuse – and opened in the summer of 1998 on the Umatilla Indian Reservation that also includes the Wildhorse Resort Casino and an 18-hole championship golf course.
The institute is housed in a sprawling, modern building down a mile-long winding road. There is a reason for the entry road’s twists and turns, Conner says. It’s symbolic of a different path, culture and way of life the tribes do not want forgotten.
“This is a story as much about a place as it is about a people,” Conner says of the institute.
The Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla tribes once numbered more than 8,000 and trace their roots in this area back 10,000 years. The confederation now numbers about 2,200. They say they are bound together by “blood, culture and history,” and have maintained their traditional songs, dances, art, languages, clothing and religion despite the many intrusions on their way of life.
The institute is one of five interpretive centers along Interstate 84 on the Oregon National Historic Trail between Ontario and Oregon City, and it is the only one that is American Indian-owned and the only one that tells the story from the indigenous point of view – in the words of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people.
About 20,000 to 25,000 people visit the institute annually, Conner says, and an added 20,000 use the library, gift store and cafe.
In addition to the “We Were” gallery, the other two galleries in the institute’s permanent exhibit are the “We Are” and “We Will Be” galleries.
Conner says exhibits at the institute are educational in their focus, and optimistic in their tone and feel.
“Being angry doesn’t achieve anything,” she says. “Every one of us has no choice but to be optimistic, because the only other choice is to give up.”