Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 11, 2006 20:36:12 GMT -5
Work to begin at another confluence project site Posted: November 08,
2006 by: The Associated Press
<http://indiancountry.com/author.cfm?id=575>
indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413967
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Enlarge <http://indiancountry.com/pix/1096413967_large.jpg>
<http://indiancountry.com/pix/1096413967_large.jpg> AP Photo/Jackie
Johnston -- Rex Buck, Wanapum, and Thomas Morning Owl, Umatilla,
performed in a blessing ceremony to prepare Sacajawea State Park near
Pasco, Wash., for its future art installations on Oct. 27. The park will
be one of seven sites receiving art installations as part of the
Confluence Project. The project will commemorate locations along the
Columbia River Basin where waterways merge or tribes traditionally
gathered. By Shannon Dininny -- Associated Press
PASCO, Wash. (AP) - The deep pounding of drums and the clanging of a
single bell marked the beginning of the newest Maya Lin project along
the Columbia River, as area tribes blessed the riverside where the famed
artist's work will commemorate the Corps of Discovery trek more than 200
years ago.
The piece is one of seven by Lin commissioned by the Vancouver,
Wash.-based Confluence Project to mark the 200th anniversary of the
expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The works - only
one has been completed so far - are to be scattered across 450 miles,
primarily at the confluence of rivers.
The installation at Sacajawea State Park will include six circles and
one piece in the shape of a tribal longhouse that will signify the
historic gathering of American Indian tribes at the confluence of the
Columbia and Snake rivers.
''Confluence has been about how we think about things coming together,''
she said. ''Oftentimes, I'm finding the paths are divergent.''
All the Confluence Project sites are to be completed by 2008 at an
estimated cost of $27 million. The works originally were scheduled to be
in place in time for the official 2005 - '06 bicentennial celebration.
About 100 people attended the Oct. 27 ceremony under sunny skies, as a
flock of ducks dove for fish on the shoreline. Members of the Wanapum,
Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes pounded drums and chanted to
bless the site, where construction will begin next year.
The event closed with the drumming of an honor song by several different
tribes.
The artworks will serve as ''footprints'' for the Native people of the
region, Lin said. One circle might tell the story of tribes that
gathered at the site, while another might discuss the geologic changes
there.
While the artwork is created, landscape architects and park officials
will be working to restore the shoreline of the park, reconfigure some
beaches and plant riparian plants to provide shade and aid juvenile
salmon as they swim through the rivers.
''I'm just honored to have partaken in this incredible blessing
ceremony, and now we have some work to do,'' said Lin, who is perhaps
best known for designing the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The event was particularly important to educate others about the various
tribes' roles in the region, said Antone Minthorn, chairman of the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and board
chairman of the Confluence Project.
The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial ''has never been the most popular
commemoration among Indian tribes, but many of them have participated
because we believed we needed to have a voice,'' Minthorn said.
The Confluence Project includes five sites in Washington and two in
Oregon. The only one completed so far is at Cape Disappointment State
Park, where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean at Ilwaco.
The installation includes a basalt fish-cleaning station, trails, a
viewpoint and interpretive plaques.
2006 by: The Associated Press
<http://indiancountry.com/author.cfm?id=575>
indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413967
<http://indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413967> Click to
Enlarge <http://indiancountry.com/pix/1096413967_large.jpg>
<http://indiancountry.com/pix/1096413967_large.jpg> AP Photo/Jackie
Johnston -- Rex Buck, Wanapum, and Thomas Morning Owl, Umatilla,
performed in a blessing ceremony to prepare Sacajawea State Park near
Pasco, Wash., for its future art installations on Oct. 27. The park will
be one of seven sites receiving art installations as part of the
Confluence Project. The project will commemorate locations along the
Columbia River Basin where waterways merge or tribes traditionally
gathered. By Shannon Dininny -- Associated Press
PASCO, Wash. (AP) - The deep pounding of drums and the clanging of a
single bell marked the beginning of the newest Maya Lin project along
the Columbia River, as area tribes blessed the riverside where the famed
artist's work will commemorate the Corps of Discovery trek more than 200
years ago.
The piece is one of seven by Lin commissioned by the Vancouver,
Wash.-based Confluence Project to mark the 200th anniversary of the
expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The works - only
one has been completed so far - are to be scattered across 450 miles,
primarily at the confluence of rivers.
The installation at Sacajawea State Park will include six circles and
one piece in the shape of a tribal longhouse that will signify the
historic gathering of American Indian tribes at the confluence of the
Columbia and Snake rivers.
''Confluence has been about how we think about things coming together,''
she said. ''Oftentimes, I'm finding the paths are divergent.''
All the Confluence Project sites are to be completed by 2008 at an
estimated cost of $27 million. The works originally were scheduled to be
in place in time for the official 2005 - '06 bicentennial celebration.
About 100 people attended the Oct. 27 ceremony under sunny skies, as a
flock of ducks dove for fish on the shoreline. Members of the Wanapum,
Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes pounded drums and chanted to
bless the site, where construction will begin next year.
The event closed with the drumming of an honor song by several different
tribes.
The artworks will serve as ''footprints'' for the Native people of the
region, Lin said. One circle might tell the story of tribes that
gathered at the site, while another might discuss the geologic changes
there.
While the artwork is created, landscape architects and park officials
will be working to restore the shoreline of the park, reconfigure some
beaches and plant riparian plants to provide shade and aid juvenile
salmon as they swim through the rivers.
''I'm just honored to have partaken in this incredible blessing
ceremony, and now we have some work to do,'' said Lin, who is perhaps
best known for designing the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The event was particularly important to educate others about the various
tribes' roles in the region, said Antone Minthorn, chairman of the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and board
chairman of the Confluence Project.
The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial ''has never been the most popular
commemoration among Indian tribes, but many of them have participated
because we believed we needed to have a voice,'' Minthorn said.
The Confluence Project includes five sites in Washington and two in
Oregon. The only one completed so far is at Cape Disappointment State
Park, where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean at Ilwaco.
The installation includes a basalt fish-cleaning station, trails, a
viewpoint and interpretive plaques.