Continued from Page 6
2019. Although she now lives in Las Vegas,
Littlebird was born and raised in North-
west Oregon. She is a member of the Grand
Ronde Confederated Tribes and a descen-
dant of the Kalapuyan and Clatsop Chinook
people.
Littlebird’s passions encompass painting,
writing and illustrating, as well as support-
ing and promoting the work of other artists,
particularly indigenous folks who have been
regularly excluded from the fi ne arts com-
munity. That’s what she set about to accom-
plish when recruited to curate a show for the
Anita space.
“The show is signifi cant for the native
community, particularly because they don’t
see themselves represented a lot,” she said.
Artists featured in the show include:
Carol Haskins (Clatsop Chinook, Grand
Ronde); Cole Haskins (Clatsop Chinook,
Grande Ronde); Bobby Mercier (Confed-
erated Tribes of Grand Ronde); Lee Hii-
kalixktnikt Gavin (Confederated Tribes of
Umatilla); Nick Labonte (Clatsop Chinook,
Grand Ronde); Orinda Goddard (Confed-
erated Tribes of the Chehalis); M. earl Wil-
liams (Umpqua and Rouge River, Grand
Ronde); Angey Simmons-Rideout (Rogue
River, Takelma, Grand Ronde); Lyliana
Rideout (Rogue River, Takelma, Iriquois,
Grand Ronde); Taylor Dean (Puyallup
Tribe); Rising Fire (Blackfeet and Lakota);
Items featured in the exhibit.
and Cliff Taylor (Ponca Tribe).
While the installation involves both tra-
ditional and contemporary mediums, it all
highlights, celebrates and explores the cul-
ture of local tribes native to the Northwest,
Littlebird said.
“Even the contemporary work is refer-
encing our culture,” she added.
Exclusion from the art scene
According to Littlebird, Indigenous art-
work is often excluded from the world of
fi ne arts. Part of the issue is that it is typ-
ically categorized as primitive, which is
widely viewed as an inferior art form.
“That line of thinking continues to this
day in fi ne art,” Littlebird said. “We aren’t
seen as enough to be included among our
peers who are non-native. … If we’re not
making art that falls into the primitive cat-
egory, people don’t know what to do with
that.”
Other systemic issues are tied to
the colonization and erasure of Indige-
nous communities, perpetrated by white
supremacy.
While the show brings visibility to art-
ists in the community, it’s also an oppor-
tunity for non-native people to interact
with a culture they might not “know a lot
about” or typically engage, Littlebird said.
At the same time, it challenges general
misconceptions about Indigenous artwork.
“People have like an expectation of
what kind of art they’re going to see when
they go to a native art show,” Littlebird
said. “They’re expecting to see carving
and baskets.”
While those traditional artforms are
featured, the show embodies a much wider
variety of mediums to illustrate that if a
piece is created by an Indigenous person,
then it is native artwork. Presenting an
exhibit that includes non-traditional and
contemporary mediums and techniques
“can unwind a lot of stereotypes that other
people have about us,” Littlebird said.
“The work I’m doing is to combat the
idea that we only exist in the past,” she
said, adding the show, at its core, is about
fostering empathy and demonstrating “we
are these people who are still here.”
“If I can lift up my community and at
the same time help others in the broader
community to see us and grow to love us a
bit more, then that’s really the biggest gift
for me,” she said.
The
Continued from Page 2
In addition, there are several new
items in the museum and adjoining But-
terfi eld Cottage, which is restored to its
1912 appearance as an early resort room-
ing house. The cottage, built in 1893 by
Horace Seely Butterfi eld, a prominent Port-
land jeweler, was donated to the Seaside
Museum & Historical Society in 1984 and
opened to the pubic after a 7-year renova-
tion. Its fl ower gardens, which feature the
Yellow Rose of Texas, a European crocus
and a Californian poppy, are tended by the
Sou’wester Garden Club.
Other indoor museum changes include
an enhanced gift shop and better lighting
throughout.
“It is nice and bright. We have changed
out the lights. It’s a diff erent feel,” Mon-
tero said.
Future
Eager to tell Seaside’s story, a group of
enthusiasts formed the Seaside Museum &
Historical Society in 1973. They opened the
museum 10 years later on a site leased from
the city of Seaside.
While Montero provides much of the
A new display of artifacts is from the House
of Roberts Millinery and Hat Shop that was
founded in the Butterfi eld Cottage in 1958 by
Marion Roberts. The cottage, built in the late
1800s as a summer home, was originally at 21
N. Columbia St. and had several incarnations.
public face of the museum, she is eager for
other hardworking supporters to be high-
lighted. The museum is a family aff air for
Montero, with brother Bill Montero and sis-
ter-in-law Robin Montero playing key roles.
Another sister-in-law, Tess Tappert, of
Prineville, has designed a triptych quilted
collage textile artwork called “One-hundred
Years on the Seaside Prom,” which will be
raffl ed Aug. 8. It contains more than 200
fabrics in three panels. Tickets depict the
artwork and are suitable for framing.
Throughout the North Coast, museum
supporters have partnered with local busi-
nesses to sell 1,000 limited-edition lapel
pins with a redesigned logo. As part of the
promotion, many businesses are displaying
historic photos of Seaside.
Photos will be a focus of upcoming pri-
orities, Montero said. Bruce Andrews,
a specialist photo restorer, is a key
component.
“Some are so old that the clarity is not
there,” she said. “They will look better
online and make better copies to buy.”
Volunteers have also formed an exhibits
committee to dream up more ideas.
“We want to look to the future,” Mon-
tero said.
She and her colleagues plan to work
closely with the Clatsop-Nehalem Tribe as
its members strive to preserve and show-
case their history. The museum’s Lewis
and Clark Saltworks exhibit stresses how
the 1805 Corps of Discovery was assisted
greatly by coastal Indigenous residents.
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