Native Portland Series, 10: Tri-Met Public Art and Chief Joseph Elementary

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Tri-Met Public Art

Portland is blessed with a progressive public transit authority representing three different counties which make up the Portland area, thus:  Tri-Met.  Along some of the Tri-Met light-rail lines can be found some very interesting public art, including two installations along the Yellow line which extends into North Portland.

The first is a tiny strip of grass at the corner of N. Interstate Ave and N. Ainsworth Streets, easy to pass by if you're not looking for it.  Called the Ainsworth Greenspace, it features three totem heads atop 12-foot tall sculptures:  "She Who Watches," from a Columbia River petroglyph, by Lillian Pitt; "Salmon," by Native American artist Ken MacKintosh, and "Crow," by Yurok and Wiyak artist Rick Bartow.  They face inward, forming a little plaza with a spiral inset in the center, and the plaques feature poetry by Ockley Green Middle School students.

 

Rosa Parks Station 

Just a block or two further north on Interstate Ave at Rosa Parks Way is this interesting art at the Tri-Met station, a collaboration of artists we have seen elsewhere:  Lillian Pitt, Gail Tremblay, and Rick MacKintosh. Steel column wraps were inspired by petroglyphs in the Columbia River Gorge; the platform pavers feature a traditional Klikitat basket weave pattern, and note also the guardrail panels and sculptures at the ends of shelter canopies.  I wonder how many riders on this  busy yellow line have stopped to contemplate this art?

 

Chief Joseph Elementary School Mural

Just a few blocks northwest of the Tri-Met station is Chief Joseph Elementary School, at the end of N. Saratoga Ave., and its beautiful mural.  Painted by Yakima artist Toma Villa, the mural was installed in May, 2013, to honor the Nez Perce leader whose people were exiled from their land in the beautiful Wallowas of Eastern Oregon and Western Idaho.  The Native American Youth and Family Center helped dedicate the mural; the ceremony included Beth Britton, the great-granddaughter of Chief Joseph, and featured Native American drumming.  Near the mural is the Nez Perce Garden.  It's a pretty cool mural, don't you think?

P.S.  Read a little bit about efforts to restore sacred lands to the Nez Perce people here.

Native Portland Series, 9: Downtown

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Spectacular Murals of at the Governor Hotel

One of my early discoveries moving to Portland was the stunning murals at the Governor Hotel.  The hotel was restored in 1992 from a shell of a building into the historical landmark it is today, and murals were commissioned at that time.  They were painted by artist Melinda Morey, and span over 45 feet, depicting the beautiful Celilo Falls, east of Portland along the Columbia River, which were covered by the Dalles Dam in 1957.  Native peoples had lived along the falls for over 15,000 years, and 1000 Nations is still seeking to restore them.  There's also a Sacagawea mural there, and many photographs of Native Americans in the lounge area behind Jake's Grill, the restaurant there.  The hotel is very worth a visit; I wish I knew more about how the murals came to be, but they reference the Lewis and Clark expedition, so they appear to be told from the point of view of settlement history.

 

 






Quintana Galleries

Just north in the Pearl district is Quintana Galleries, since 1972 selling exclusively indigenous art, both contemporary and historic.  I found Lillian Pitt prints and glasswork there, and lots of Native Pacific Northwest coastal art and carvings, but there's also jewelry, beadwork and basketry from tribes all over, even Latin American artists.  This is all very fine art and beautifully curated.  Stop by and talk to the lovely people there and they will tell you more about the artists.

 Blanket Heaven

When I first attended a NAIITS symposium (North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies) I noticed that the protocol involved presenting beautiful blankets with exquisite Native American designs to the elders and others involved in the symposium. They were, of course, Pendleton blankets, and we are lucky to have Pendleton Woolen Mills located in Oregon, and several wonderful stores, including their 220 NW Broadway Home store:  Blanket central.

I spoke to the manager there about the history of the company's "Indian blankets."  The company was started in 1863 with the acquisition of an old woolen mill in Salem, Oregon, but later bought the defunct Pendleton Woolen Mill  in the middle of sheep country in Eastern country (this is Umatilla, Walla Walla and Cayuse country.) The earlier plant had been a wool scouring plant, an early stage of the production process, but soon was producing blankets, or robes, for Native women in the area; however that company had failed. When the new owners took over, they began making blankets again, and expanded their trade from the local peoples to include Southwest designs from Navajo, Hopi and Zuni peoples. The manager told me they still collaborate with Native artists on the design, but it's the southwest designs that sell the best.  They are working on a few new Northwest designs, including one by Northwest Coastal artist Preston Singletary, and have done some custom designs for tribes.  The Bishop family still runs these mills, and are very proud of their strong relationship with Native peoples.  Note that they are a sponsor of the Pendleton Round-Up,  a world-famous rodeo that it has involved Native Americans as both planners and cowboys since its inception in 1910.

Check out this store and the amazing blankets (the bike is pretty cool too.)   It is worth the trip!

   

 

Native Portland Series, 8: The Park Blocks

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NASCC at PSU

One of the shining stars of the Native Portland tour is the Native American Student & Community Center at Portland State University.  Located at the top of the Park blocks on the PSU campus, it's one of the few stops on the tour that is designed for and by Native people and supports their community. Opened in 2003, the center's site says:   "The mission of the NASCC is to provide a "cultural home" where Native American, Alaskan Native and Pacific Islander students connect to other students, faculty, staff and community members in an inclusive and supportive environment."  Classes in Native American studies are held here, as well as cultural events.

The center is tucked on a little triangle of land at the top of busy Broadway Street, and is like an oasis in the city.  The building's exterior design is distinctively Native, and two rooftop sculptures and the giant 50-foot pole are by Native artist Lillian Pitt.  Images from Pacific Northwest Native culture are frosted on to the windows, and the interior is also full of Native art.  A beautiful bronze sculpture of Chief Joseph, by Native American bronze artist Doug Hyde, is in the courtyard.

    

   

 

Photo: PSU

Oregon Historical Society

A few blocks north on the Park blocks are important museums to know about, both resources for the history and culture of Native people from Oregon.  The first, the Oregon Historical Center, has exhibits and a library, especially rich with documents and photographs of Native American life.  The Society also has online exhibits; currently there is one on regional Native American basketry. Also be sure to check out its historical documents, either at the library or online.  If you simply type "Native American" in the search engine, you fill find fascinating correspondence and legal documents, as well as photos, that tell of the life of the first peoples and their contact with European settlers.

Portland Art Museum

Portland's main art museum is within steps of the Historical museum and has an extensive collection of Native American art, having worked closely with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and other agencies.  If it's not currently on public exhibit, you can find its collection of some 1,800 works of Native art online.  Note you can click the "Native American" tab, or you can narrow your search by category, such as "Plains," or "Northwest Coast."

Photo: Tourism Media

Native Portland Series, 7: OHSU and Washington Park

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OHSU

It's a real hassle navigating the OHSU campus, atop what we call "Pill Hill" (hint: I should have parked at the bottom and taken the tramway up), but I was stalking a single piece of public art, which I finally found at the BICC (BioMedical Information and Communication Center, otherwise known as…THE LIBRARY.) Its artist is not indicated, and I can't find it anywhere. Called "Spirit of Healing," it seems to be evoking the powerful traditional ways of medicine and healing (which are often in opposition to Western ways.)

 

Washington Park Statues

This wonderful 400-acre park in the heart of Portland contains two bronze statues of Native people, both dating back more than 100 years.  They are both by non-Native sculptors.  Both were commissioned around the time of the worldwide exposition at the centennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which was hosted in Portland in 1906.

The first is my favorite:  The Coming of the White Man, a bronze sculpture by American artist Hermon Atkins MacNeil, who was supposedly known for his depictions of Native people and Western themes.  It depicts two Native men, one being Chief Multnomah, looking towards the Columbia River, apparently upon the arrival of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805.  it was donated to the city in 1904 by the family of former mayor, David P. Thompson.  I find this statue stunning, but it raises so many questions.  What was the narrative in the mind of the artist, and those who commissioned it?  How did people--Native or white--who viewed it, think about it?

 

 

The other statue, Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste, was definitely commissioned for the Lewis and Clark Exposition, by a committee of Portland women; its plaque says she was "the only woman in the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and in honor of the pioneer mother of old Oregon."  It was sculpted by Alice Cooper, the first woman artist to be commissioned for public sculpture in Portland.  It was unveiled at the center of the exposition's plaza in July, 1905, and was moved to Washington Park in 1906, following the exposition.  Both statues are on or near "Lewis and Clark" circle in Washington Park, perhaps saying something about how these Native people were seen for their "cameo" roles in the great narrative of those explorers.  It too, is a beautiful sculpture, strangely disconnected from any real connection (that I know of) with the people depicted, and lacking their own voice or story.