The Museum at Warm Springs has postponed its annual Huckleberry Harvest events in Portland until further notice. Health and safety concerns for event guests due to the renewed spread of COVID-19 in Oregon were major factors contributing to the Museum’s decision to postpone the late-August events.
“Our decision to postpone our events was both difficult and responsible,” said Museum Board of Directors President Donald J. Stastny. “We treasure our friends and members and, while we love to celebrate the Museum and its successes, we do not want to put either our friends or tribal members in a compromised situation. The current situation with COVID has led the Museum administration and the Board of Directors to a decision to postpone our events until the spring. We trust and hope that we will all gather to celebrate then.”
The August events were to include an Honor Dinner on Friday, August 27 at the Portland Art Museum and “Morning with the Laureates — Living the Power of the Word: Four Indigenous Poet-Storytellers!” on Saturday, August 28 at the Oregon Historical Society.
Each year, The Museum honors individuals and organizations possessing exemplary achievements, knowledge and commitment to Indigenous artistic and cultural excellence. The following distinguished two individuals and one organization were to be honored at the August events:
Joy Harjo (Mvskoke/Creek Nation) was appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate in 2019, the first Native American to hold the position and only the second person to serve three terms in the role. Joy has published nine books of poetry, authored two memoirs, edited several anthologies of Native American writing and has been the recipient of many writing awards, including the 2019 Jackson Prize from the Poetry Society of America, the Ruth Lilly Prize from the Poetry Foundation, the 2015 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation and holds a Tulsa Artist Fellowship. A renowned musician, Joy performs with her saxophone nationally and internationally; her most recent album is I Pray For My Enemies. (TWANAT AWARD)
George W. Aguilar, Sr. is a Wasco elder and lifelong resident of the Warm Springs Reservation who won the 2006 Oregon Book Award for Creative Nonfiction for his book, When the River Ran Wild! Indian Traditions on the Mid-Columbia and the Warm Springs Reservation. The book, which also received the 2006 Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History, has been widely praised for its well-researched and clear-headed blending of tribal traditions and customs, written history and personal recollections. It is the first book on the heritage of the Warm Springs people to be written by a tribal member. He raised his family in Warm Springs, is a Korean War veteran and has worked as a laborer, fisherman, logger and construction manager. (LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD)
Siletz Tribal Arts and Heritage Society — Huu-cha~ n: A good way of life, the good life: The Society’s mission is to support and promote the practice, conservation and restoration of the tribal cultures of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. The Museum at Warm Springs recognizes the importance of this institution as the Museum started out as a Historical Society and evolved into The Museum at Warm Springs. It is important to support the efforts of the Oregon Tribes to conserve their art, artifacts and tell their history to their children and their neighbors. (HONOREE)
For more information about the Museum, visit museumatwarmsprings.org. To become a Museum Member, visit museumatwarmsprings.org/membership-2. Phone: 541-553-3331.