Spílya Táimu, Warm Springs, Oregon
September 21, 2022
Page 5
Recent museum projects, and more coming up
This year, small museums
and cultural institutions ev-
erywhere have still faced the
challenges brought on by two
years of the pandemic.
“I’m happy to report op-
erations are getting back to
normal at the Museum at
Warm Springs,” said Ms.
Woody, museum director.
“And we’re moving ahead
with some exciting and im-
portant projects and plans.”
The museum’s Refresh
and Renew monumental
project for the interior and
exterior spaces has been long
overdue, and is now offi-
cially underway, Ms. Woody
says. “We were pleased to re-
ceive a $336,000 Congres-
sional grant this year for
much-needed museum inte-
rior infrastructure refurbish-
ments and updating,” she
said.
The Roundhouse Foun-
dation started the improve-
ment of the Collections with
$100,000 for special storage
needs. “We have a lot more
to raise for other improve-
ments in the interior mu-
seum spaces and exterior
grounds, but we are off to
a great start,” Ms. Woody
said.
The Collections Depart-
ment is bustling and filled
Elizabeth Woody, director,
Museum at Warm Springs
with activity.
Archivist and Collections
manager Roberta Kirk has
been clearing the collections
space, sorting and examining
all the hand-written and
typed records from collection
cards and accession binders.
Ms. Kirk created an Ex-
cel spreadsheet of the ma-
terials acquired decades ago:
Information includes the
cost of the items and their
sellers—a total of 2,826
items were listed as acquired.
This does not include dona-
tions since that time.
The purchased items date
from the era of beadworkers
and traditional artists of the
last century. Many culturally
significant items were being
sold away from home prior
to the acquisitions of the
tribes.
COCC Madras expansion
Central Oregon Com-
munity College has an-
nounced plans to expand
its Madras campus with
a new 15,000 square-
foot facility to open in
the fall of 2024.
The expansion will help
address the need for well-
trained early childhood edu-
cators, the shortage of
health care workers and the
shortage of affordable child
care slots.
COCC will bring several
of its most highly success-
ful, existing programs to Ma-
dras, including early child-
hood education, medical as-
sisting and nursing. The col-
lege says the expanded Ma-
dras campus will remain com-
munity-centered and cultur-
ally responsive.
In MHS school sports
The Madras White Buf-
falos varsity football team
plays a home game this Fri-
day evening, September 23.
They play Scappoose in non-
league play, game time at 7
p.m.
In-league play begins the
following Friday, September
30 at Pendleton, followed by
a home game October 8
againts LaGrande.
The White Buffalos
started off with a 2-0 record,
having beaten Sweet Home
(away) and Sisters (at home).
The White Buffalos var-
sity girls’ soccer team plays
at Gladstone this Thursday,
September 22 at 6 p.m.
The girls then play at The
Dalles, the Wahtonka cam-
pus, on Monday, September
26, game time at 4:30 p.m.
The White Buffalos boys
varsity soccer team plays at
Harlem
Wizards at
high school
The Harlem Wizards
will bring their high-fly-
ing basketball show to
the Madras High School
on Tuesday, October 4.
The Wizards will take
on the Hooping Eagles,
a team of teachers and
principals from the dis-
trict chools. Sponsors are
Indian Head Casino and
Brightwood Cor poration,
and is a fundraiser for the
the Warm Springs Acad-
emy.
home against Gladstone on
Thursday, September 22; and
at home against The Dalles
on September 26.
The White Buffalos var-
sity volleyball team plays at
home this Thursday, Septem-
ber 22 against The Dalles,
game time 6 p.m. The team
then travels to Molalla on
Monday, September 26; and
to Crook County on Wednes-
day, September 28.
There had been no Cross
Country meets as of yet
scheduled at this printing.
“The collection repre-
sents the heritage of Warm
Springs, as well as our cul-
tural treasures that may not
have been seen again unless
purchased for the museum,”
Ms. Woody said.
Just to illustrate the mas-
sive loss of masterworks:
The attire and many
beaded items that grandpar-
ents wore are nowhere to be
found today. Only photo-
graphs of these masterworks
remain. The museum also
holds over 5,000 historic
photographs from tribal
sources to illustrate life from
the Columbia River and
tributaries to reservation era
life.
Some other recent work
that happend at the museum:
Women’s dresses were re-
moved
from
the
spacesavers, examined and
placed in new drawers. The
museum now has additional
shelving in the vault, flat art
hanging space and saddle
supports. Many thanks to The
Roundhouse Foundation for mak-
ing these improvements possible!
This summer the mu-
seum as able to host several
excellent master cultural arts
classes. “I offer my thanks
to museum team members
Roberta Kirk and Curator
Angela Anne Smith for co-
ordinating the classes,” Ms.
Woody says.
The classes happend
from the end of May until
the end of August. In addi-
tion, the tribes’ annual sum-
mer culture camp for Warm
Springs youth took place with
generous support from The
Meyer Memorial Trust.
Here’s a list of master cul-
tural arts classes hosted this
year at the museum, and the
master presenters for each
event:
Advanced Wapas Weav-
ing Class with Myra
Johnson.
Jingle Dress Making
Class with Redine Billy.
Columbia River Plateau
Vest Making with Marge
Kalama.
Men’s and Women’s
Wasq’u Side-bag and Crown
Class with Roberta.
Men’s and Women’s Pla-
teau Leggings and Hider
Class with Eileen Spino.
Wasq’u Dress Making
with Rosetta Fuentes.
Breastplate Making Class
with Lyle Rhoan Sr.
Tule Making Class with
Rosalind Johnson Guerin
and Roberta Kirk.
Cedar Bark Basket Class
with Archie Caldera.
Patlapa (Basket Hat) Ad-
vanced Weaving Class with
Eileen Spino.
The Museum at Warm
Springs staff continues to
collaborate with other Or-
egon arts and cultural insti-
tutions. The museum an-
nounced recently a collabo-
ration between staff
Roberta Kirk and Angela
Anne
Smith
with
Confluence that will culmi-
nate in Voices from the River, a
two-year project to create
and showcase a multi-media
exhibit featuring firsthand
accounts and personal sto-
ries about the culturally sig-
nificant places and experi-
ences of Indigenous people
from the Columbia River
system.
The project will celebrate
the art, culture, and history
of Native peoples as vital
and sustaining while unrav-
eling the popular culture
myths that have diminished
and erased the perspectives
of Native peoples.
Watch for more news and up-
dates in the coming months.