Friends of Tryon Creek State Park Host Indigenous Culture Day

Friends of Tryon Creek State Park Host Indigenous Culture Day

Portland, OR. The fifth annual Indigenous Culture Day on May 6th drew a crowd. Friends of Tryon Creek hosted the free event to help bring its Tryon Land Acknowledgement to life. The event is a celebration of the reclamation of traditional lands for Indigenous Peoples that provides an accurate cultural experience for the whole community. The free, all-ages event offered the chance to listen and learn from Indigenous educators in the culturally rich land now known as Tryon Creek State Natural Area.

The event has gained popularity over its five-year history.

Visitors were able to take visit the Nature Center classroom and walk the trails to see first-hand the traditional life ways of Northwest Tribes. Indigenous leaders and educators shared cordage making, carving, basketry, first foods, and storytelling.

From Friends of Tryon Creek:

This is  Tryon Land Acknowledgement Welcome to the land now known as Tryon Creek State Natural Area, a 665-acre day-use area located between SW Portland’s metropolitan area and the city of Lake Oswego.

It is important to ground ourselves and acknowledge the people whose land we are utilizing; the Clackamas Chinook, the Wasco-Wishram, the Willamette Tumwater, the Multnomah, and other Chinookan peoples, as well as the Tualatin Kalapuya, the Cayuse, the Molalla and other tribes and bands of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. It is important to acknowledge the original inhabitants of the land now known as Tryon Creek State Natural Area, and to recognize that we are here because of the sacrifices that were forced upon them. We also remember that we are guests of this land and must do our best to honor the original peoples, through authentic cultural narratives and continued stewardship of the water, the land, and the plants that make up this forest community. To follow acknowledgment with action, Friends of Tryon Creek use our resources to prioritize partnerships with Indigenous tribes, tribal governments, and inter-tribal organizations