Friday, January 15, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Building a longhouse on Clatsop-Nehalem land
By KATHERINE LACAZE
Coast Weekend
Architect Todd Law-
son visited the North Coast
growing up, but it wasn’t
until college that he started
vigorously exploring his
roots to the area and his
ties to the Clatsop-Nehalem
Confederated Tribes. Now,
he’s taking part in preserv-
ing the history of his people
by designing a longhouse to
be built on the tribe’s land
near the Necanicum Estuary
in Seaside.
“As an architect, designer
and artist, it’s kind of a once-
in-a-lifetime opportunity to
do something really mean-
ingful,” Lawson said.
To support his work on
the project, Lawson was
recently awarded the Archi-
tecture Foundation of Ore-
gon’s 2020 Van Evera Bai-
ley Fellowship, which is
designed to advance the
professional development
of design and building pro-
fessionals and encourage
greater contributions to their
profession.
Lawson, who lives in
Seattle, will use the fellow-
ship to help fund the con-
tinuation of a project he’s
working on as a volunteer.
The fi rst phase of the
project involves researching
the traditional longhouses
of indigenous people on the
coast, spanning from Alaska
to Northern California. He
also plans to research Clat-
sop-Nehalem
traditions,
Todd Lawson
art and history. So far, he
has visited eight traditional
longhouses and cultural cen-
ters, with plans to visit seven
more to continue investigat-
ing how native people are
expressing their identity
through these buildings.
Lawson’s research will
then be channeled toward
helping the tribes create a
new cultural and environ-
mental center and museum
in the form of a traditional
longhouse on their land
along the estuary, where the
Neawanna, Neacoxie and
Necanicum rivers converge.
This year, the North
Coast Land Conservancy
transferred those 18.6 acres
of conserved salt marsh and
forest — referred to by the
organization as Neawanna
Point Habitat Preserve but
known before as Ne-ah-
coxie, or “place of little
pines” — back to the Clat-
sop-Nehalem people, who
inhabited the coast for cen-
turies before white settle-
ment, disease and govern-
ment termination policy
desecrated their community.
The land that was returned
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Eighteen acres of the Neawanna Point Habitat Preserve was returned to the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederate Tribes by the North
Coast Land Conservancy.
was one of the main long-
house neighborhoods for the
tribe centuries ago, Lawson
said.
“Now we’re sort of get-
ting this rebirth through this
land,” he added.
Lawson began research-
ing his lineage, which con-
tains ties to both the Clatsop
people and Chief Coboway,
as well as a family of set-
tlers by the last name Smith,
as a undergraduate studying
architecture at the Univer-
sity of Oregon.
One of the most promi-
nent historical fi gures from
the Oregon Coast’s recent
history is Celiaste (also
known as Helen) Coboway
Smith, the daughter of Chief
Coboway and wife of Sol-
omon Howard Smith. She
lived from 1801 to 1891.
Lawson never met his
grandfather, who was both
a Clatsop and Smith, but he
heard stories from his grand-
mother. That spurred his
interest in reading old news-
paper articles, looking at
historical archives and vis-
iting gravesites to help him
trace his ancestry.
“Now I’m a member of
the tribe, decades later,” he
said.
His personal research
and interactions with tribal
scholars have led him on
“an amazing exploration,”
he said. “It never ceases
to amaze me what I learn
almost daily.”
His goal now is to con-
tribute to strengthening the
collective memory of Ore-
gon and the country with
accurate pieces of history
regarding the Clatsop-Ne-
halem people and what hap-
pened to them as a result of
white settlement. He feels
it’s important to share not
just the negative and shame-
ful parts of the past, “but
also the amazing things that
happened on the coast,” he
said.
Lawson’s interest in his
personal history and his peo-
ple is complemented by his
long-term affi nity for ver-
nacular architecture, defi ned
as a constructed environ-
ment that is based upon
local needs and incorporates
materials indigenous to its
particular region.
“That’s always been a
passion of mine,” he said.
Now, these two passions
are merging as he assists in
creating plans for the long-
house, which is a com-
plex undertaking. In terms
of architectural and design
elements, he said, the espe-
cially tricky part is walking
the “fi ne line between imita-
tion and inspiration.”
“We don’t want it to be
a decorated barn,” he said.
“It needs to be truly rooted
in the traditions of the
longhouse.”
Although the plans are
still being developed, he
anticipates the building
will include meeting space,
classrooms, offi ce space and
a museum.
“We want to be a wel-
coming group and bring
people to the site,” he said.
Zoning: Beer and wine only to be sold downtown
Continued from Page A1
said at a meeting Wednes-
day. “We’ve never had a
hard liquor establishment in
downtown Gearhart and I’m
opposed to having one start-
ing now.”
When the Gearhart Cross-
ing market and pub closed
in 2018, planning commis-
sioners identifi ed a need
to address business vacan-
cies in the commercial core,
City Planner Carole Connell
wrote in a November report.
The Planning Commis-
sion sought to modify the
zoning code to improve the
vitality of the city center
while maintaining the quiet
City of Gearhart
Map of Gearhart’s downtown commercial zoning area.
residential character called
for in the city’s compre-
hensive plan. The amend-
ments bring downtown busi-
nesses into code compliance
while eliminating some of
the outdated and restrictive
language.
If the amendments are
approved in subsequent
readings, downtown busi-
nesses will be able to use
50% of their property for
residential purposes. Park-
ing requirements for eat-
ing and drinking establish-
ments will be eased, and a
10 p.m. closing time elimi-
nated. Cafes may offer out-
door and sidewalk seating
for patrons.
Mayor Paulina Cock-
rum said downtown should
refl ect the city’s family feel.
“It’s hard for me to be on
board with hard liquor alco-
hol,” she said.
City Councilor Dan Jesse
disagreed. “I don’t see the
difference between beer
and wine and hard alcohol,”
he said. “The idea of con-
trolling something like this
just seems really counter-
intuitive to society’s wants
and wishes.”
Cockrum, Smith, City
Councilor Brent Warren and
City Councilor Reita Fack-
erell voted in favor of the
zoning amendments in their
fi rst reading. Jesse voted
against the amendments.
A second reading will
come at February’s City
Council meeting.
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Seaside Signal
State Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence, with megaphone, speaks at the “Reopen the Coast” rally.
Reopen: State Rep. Nearman spoke at event
Continued from Page A1
The event opened with
a prayer and included a
moment of remembrance for
those killed in the Washing-
ton, D.C., insurrection last
week.
Some passing drivers
honked their horns in sup-
port of the rally, while others
shouted their dissent from
their cars or from across the
street.
Under a tent, T-shirts and
bumper stickers celebrat-
ing the Second Amendment
and President Donald Trump
were offered for sale.
State Rep. Mike Near-
man, R-Independence, who
allegedly helped right-wing
protesters enter the Oregon
State Capitol building during
a Dec. 21 special session
after a “Reopen Oregon”
rally in Salem, attended the
Seaside event.
“I’m really happy to sup-
port businesses opening,”
Nearman told the crowd.
“We need to get the econ-
omy going, especially on the
coast. COVID is a serious
virus, but the cure is worse
than the disease. We need to
think about that.”
Nearman congratulated
the audience on the elec-
tion of Republican Suzanne
Weber, who defeated her
Democratic opponent, Deb-
bie Boothe-Schmidt, in
state House District 32 in
November.
Nearman declined to
speak about his role in the
events in Salem in Decem-
ber, which are under inves-
tigation. Nearman was
removed from his state leg-
islative committees and was
asked to resign by House
Speaker Tina Kotek.
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