The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute is a museum and research institute located on the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton in eastern Oregon. It is the only Native American museum along the Oregon Trail. The institute is dedicated to the culture of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla tribes of Native Americans. The main permanent exhibition of the museum provides a history of the culture of three tribes, and of the reservation itself. The museum also has a second hall for temporary exhibitions of specific types of Native American art, craftwork, history, and folklore related to the tribes.
History
The widely celebrated Oregon Trail sesquicentennial in 1993 served as a platform for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to present their vision for the future, and convey their interpretation of the past. The original proposal for the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute site detailed a $13 million Oregon Trail interpretive center that would “tell the story of the Oregon Trail from a Native American perspective,” and be an economic and cultural stimulus. The Tribes anticipated the interpretive center to increase local investments and create “more than 800 full-time jobs.” The initial funding strategy included federal funds, local fund raising, grants, video poker profits, and “the commitment of timber from the U.S. Forest Service,” in constructing the interpretive center. Shortly after the decision, the Oregon Legislature allocated a minimum of “$666,000 in lottery funds” On August 12, 1993, “the Oregon Trail Sesquicentennial wagon train was stopped by Indians on horseback at the east boundary of the Umatilla Indian Reservation,”</blockquote>
Minthorn's symbolic protest called for “nation-wide support” in presenting “a different perspective of Manifest Destiny.” and include a section on the Oregon Trail “and its impacts on the tribal way of life.”
In May 1994, Representative Bob Smith endorsed the interpretive center, and testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior “in support of a $2 million request for the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.” Community support efforts continued, and on September 14, 1994, the East Oregonian printed a full page description of the Tamustalik Cultural Institute, which included sketches and contribution information. The same month, a “$6.5 million loan guarantee by the Bureau of Indian Affairs” provided the financial backing the Tribes needed to move forward on construction.
On June 9, 1995, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the Tamustalik Cultural Institute, which was attended by over 300 people. As reported by the Confederated Umatilla Journal, the ceremony “was performed by Tribal elders and students from the Tribes’ Head Start Preschool Program. Special drums were made for the boys, who were led in a song by Jay Minthorn. The girls broke ground with miniature root diggers, made especially for the occasion.” The building site was later prepared by the Oregon National Guard. After ten years of planning, a “special opening ceremony was held July 24 for the tribal community, which then had a week to explore its new facility before the doors opened to the public July 31.” Within the first three weeks of opening, approximately 4,000 people visited the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute.
Tamásclik, a verb, means to “turn over,” as in the turning of the seasons, or years. The English spelling is Tamástslik, and the addition of a ‘t’ to the end changes the word from a verb to a name. Linguist Dr. Noel Rude made an orthographic correction to the name. The final product was the name Tamástslikt (Tuh-must-slickt), which means “interpreting our own story.”
Facilities
The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute is a 45,000 square foot building constructed with “native stone and wood.” The institute includes 15,000 square feet of permanent and temporary exhibit space. Additional on-site facilities include archive vaults, the Research Library, the Museum Store, the Kinship Café, and designated meeting areas. The Coyote Theater projects a short gallery introduction which is led by the guide “Spilyáy, the magical coyote.” The Celilo Lobby
Collections
In 2003, the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute had “more than 2,500 artifacts in its collection area," which are stored in multiple vaults and the Research Library. In 2011, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute added "five artifact donations and 220 books to the collection" and received "Dr. Theodore Stern archival materials on long-term loan from University of Oregon Special Collections." Collections include baskets, lithics, regalia, glass plates, audio and video recordings, local and tribal newspapers, genealogical and obituary records on tribal members, papers, books, historic and contemporary photographs, and modern artwork and beadwork from community members.
Special events
The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute holds Kids Day Camps, Craft Lessons, a Community Academy, Kids Powwows, and other special events on a seasonal basis. Tamástslikt also frequently hosts guest lectures that range from related museum work to sustainability and economics.
Conservation and sustainability
The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute participates in conservation efforts and strives for sustainability. Early in 2011, the Kinship Café “renounced Styrofoam” and committed to the use of biodegradable containers.
Tamástslikt Cultural Institute subscribes to the triple bottom line, or “people, planet, and profit” approach put forth by John Elkington. and “will be congruent with Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation wind policy – which is against wind farms but for wind power.” by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, which totaled 2,860 enrolled members at the close of 2011.
Collaborations and auxiliary projects
National Park Service
The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute “collaborated with the National Park Service and their contractors on new film projects for Whitman Mission National Historic Site, Nez Perce National Historic Park, and Big Hole National Battlefield,” The institute published 300,000 maps in 2011.
Reciprocal partnerships
In 2005, the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute “entered into reciprocal membership agreements” with the Oregon Historical Society and Washington State Historical Society, which extends “free admission to their museums for members of any one of the respective institutions.”