November is National Native American Heritage Month, which honors and celebrates the history and culture of Native people.
The land that we now call Portland, Oregon rests on the traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, bands of the Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Mollalah and many others who made their homes along the Columbia River. Multnomah is a band of Chinooks that lived in this area. We thank the descendants of these tribes for being the original stewards and protectors of these lands since time immemorial. We acknowledge the ongoing systems of genocide, relocation and assimilation that still impact many Indigenous/Native American families and communities today.
A special thank you to the Portland State University Indigenous Nations Studies program for crafting this land acknowledgment.
Resources for learning more
- Learn about Portland’s Native community from Travel Portland, in collaboration with 1000 Nations and the Oregon Native American Chamber.
- Portland Indigenous Marketplace is a marketplace specifically for Indigenous/Black vendors. CCC recently participated in their Indigenous Night of Recovery event. Learn more and check out their upcoming events here.
- Join the NAYA Family Center Gala and Auction.
- Read the recently published literary anthology, The Larger Voice: Celebrating the Work of Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Literature Fellows. Request the PDF here.
- Learn about the tragic history of government-backed Indian boarding schools in the United States here.
- CCC is proud to partner with NARA (Native American Rehabilitation Association). Learn more and support them here.
