On Monday, September 29 at the State Capitol in Salem, the Josephy Center’s “Nez Perce in Oregon, Removal and Return” exhibit will open for a month-long run with a 4:00 p.m. reception. It’s been a long and wonderful journey!
About four years ago, a call went out from the Oregon State Capitol Foundation for exhibits that would show in the Capitol itself. The Foundation’s work aims at “connecting Oregonians to our shared history and heritage.” The announcement said that exhibits should address important Oregon cultural and historical events, people, and activities.
I thought about it and the fact that the Nez Perce had been forced OUT of the state in 1877, and that their only official presence in Oregon now is with Nez Perce Fisheries. They are not an official Oregon tribe, although there are many on the Umatilla Reservation who identify as Nez Perce or Nez Perce/Cayuse. The biggest number of enrolled Nez Perce are on the Nez Perce Reservation headquartered in Lapwai, Idaho. A smaller number, but important as descendants of the Nez Perce who lived in Northeast Oregon before removal, live on the Colville Reservation in north-central Washington State.
I called, and was told that we should submit. I wrote a brief story of removal—and return—and sent it to several Nez Perce elders from all three reservations. I was told to remember that “we were water people before we were horse people,” and that all of the Plateau tribes were part of the Big River—the Columbia—watershed. I was also told that it is important to remember the context of both removal and return.
Back to the drawing boards, and then a more robust outline of what our exhibit might look like. Another round of elder comments, and we put it together. Local cabinet maker Brian Oliver designed and built the framework. My Josephy Center colleague Kolle Riggs found more images than I had found, and is responsible for the artwork. I—Rich Wandschneider—take responsibility for the text.
When we finished building it, the Capitol was not ready for it. We showed it at the Wallowa Memorial Hospital, Eastern Oregon University, and Blue Mountain Community College. Then we brought it home and found a balcony space for it in the Josephy Center this summer. In every case it has found intent readers—I say that purposefully—of the exhibit, people who sit or stand with it, look at the images, admire the art work, and read the texts.
If you are in or near Salem on Monday, September 29, please join us. If you will be in or near Salem in the next month, please come by the Capitol and take a look. And let us know what you think!
Qe’ci’yew’yew’—thanks to all who have contributed to this effort. Please let us know what you think.
rich
