In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, we want to highlight the importance of educating the community about the Indigenous cultures that are tied to the land we occupy.
You may have seen the three wooden pillars on wheels that live at the Farmers Market Pavilion, covered with art and detailing the history of the Kalapuyan people. The text that lines the sides of each pillar are copies of panels in the This IS Kalapuyan Land exhibit at the Five Oaks Museum in Portland. Steph Littlebird Fogel, a Kalapuyan descendant and guest curator for the exhibit, annotated the panels that had been in the preexisting exhibition. The text in the exhibit “was riddled with errors, erasures, stereotypes, and scientific misinformation”, Fogel said, citing Dr. Davis Lewis, a member of the Grand Ronde Confederation and tribal scholar, as a huge help in sourcing accurate information. Fogel also curated recent artwork from a variety of Native artists for the exhibit to help showcase that Indigenous culture is still alive and flourishing. “This IS Kalapuyan Land acts as both a museum exhibition title and land acknowledgment. It is also a declaration of perpetual stewardship by the Kalapuyan people. ‘We have always been here, we will always be here.’”
If you haven’t looked over the panels at the Pavilion yet, you can spot them at every market, towering above the crowd. You can also take a look at the digital image gallery on the Five Oaks Museum site, featuring the same information, art, educational resources, and more.
The Farmers Market Pavilion & Plaza hosts the Native American Arts & Crafts Makers on the first Sunday of each month, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., March through December. Though NAACM started in 2013, it was originally an annual event that has since grown in size and popularity after finding a permanent home at the Pavilion. Serving as a gallery and space for conversation, this monthly gathering features authentic, handmade arts and crafts from a variety of Native American artists.
The Oregon Farmers Market Association has put together a Native Knowledge Sharing Toolkit in collaboration with Indigenous community members S.A. Lawrence-Welch (Nêhiýaw & Métis) and Vawn Jason Borges (Kānaka Maoli). The toolkit is full of information regarding the history of Native American displacement and colonization, how the effects of it still perpetuate, and what can be done about them today on a personal and widespread level. We encourage you to read through this guide, no matter your background.