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City of Vancouver, Washington

 Vancouver's Water Center Commemorates National American Indian Heritage Month

Friday, November 06, 2009
Contact: Cory Samia, Water Resources Education Center, (360) 487-7111

In honor of National American Indian Heritage Month, Vancouver's Water Resources Education Center presents a special Second Saturday, 1 to 3 p.m., Nov. 14, with family-friendly activities, stories and exhibits connecting the daily lives of Native peoples with the natural resources around them. 

During this special Second Saturday, visitors to the Water Center will get a hands-on experience of how Native residents wisely used natural resources by:

- making cordage out of garden plants and cattails;

- making a gorge hook like the ones used by the Chinook for fishing;

- creating a dance anklet with bells;

- crafting a doll or duck toy out of cattails;

- making a salmon rattle; and

- grinding acorns or corn using stones.

In addition to these many activities, Water Center visitors will hear the story of "Salmon Boy," learn how many different Native Tribal Nations continue to live in Washington State, and discover their legacy of names for many familiar cities.

In honor of National American Indian Heritage Month, the Water Center will also feature a new Friends of the Cathlapotle Plankhouse exhibit, which will remain at the Water Center through Feb. 28, 2010, and the carvings of local Chinook artist Greg A. Robinson.

The Plankhouse, a full-scale Chinookan-style cedar plankhouse with associated furnishings, is located on the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The house is modeled after those described by Lewis and Clark when they visited the settlement of Cathlapotle in 1805. Cathlapotle was one of the largest Chinookan villages encountered by Lewis and Clark. A decade of archaeological research -- the result of a partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Chinook Tribe, and Portland State University -- has produced a wealth of information about the Chinookan people who lived on the river long before Lewis and Clark first observed Cathlapotle.

Robinson's work – which includes stone, wood, paint and graphics -- follows the Columbia River art style of the Chinookan peoples of the middle and lower Columbia River and Willapa Bay. He has recently completed public art commissions for the Multnomah Falls National Scenic Area and at the Parkersville Historic Park in the Camas-Washougal area. 

Admission to the Water Center and the special Second Saturday is free. Children must be accompanied by an adult. For additional information, please call 360-487-7111 or visit www.cityofvancouver.us/watercenter on the web. 

ABOUT THE WATER RESOURCES EDUCATION CENTER:
Overlooking the Columbia River, the City of Vancouver's Water Resources Education Center offers exhibits, events and educational programs designed to teach us all how to be excellent stewards of water resources and how to use water wisely. The Water Center, a division of the City's Department of Public Works, is also caretaker of one the metropolitan area's few remaining natural Columbia River riparian areas, nearly 50 protected acres of adjacent wetlands providing feeding, nesting and resting habitat for more than 120 species of fish and wildlife. The center is part of the Fort Vancouver National Site. 

The Water Center's general hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays. From Interstate 5 or Interstate 205, take state Highway 14 to Exit 1. Turn south under the highway, then east at the Columbia Shores intersection onto Columbia Way and head east about 3 miles to the Center. More information is available on the Internet at www.cityofvancouver.us/watercenter or by calling 360-487-7111.

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