Pendleton

Kati dropped me back at the airport where I first picked up the rental car, then my team. We headed east, along the Columbia River, which serves as the border between Oregon and Washington, and to Pendleton. This was my first trip to this part of Oregon, and it was a lovely drive.

Our destination was the Wild Horse Resort and Casino on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Conference was being hosted here, by the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Indian Nations. This conference draws attendees from the tribal nations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska.


The casino. We spent four days here with our booth and outreach, talking to folks about the museum and its program offerings.

We met wonderful people. One evening, the host tribes hosted a culture night in their longhouse. They provided a community dinner of traditional foods--salmon, buffalo, berries, potatoes--and then had traditional and social dances. I love these evenings! They are always festive and welcoming. I learn so much, and usually make new friends too.

After the conference ended, we had a few hours to explore Pendleton a bit. This meant, of course, a stop at the famous Pendleton Woolen Mills.


The Mills. They have been weaving Indian blankets here for about 100 years.


These two photos show the big machines that weave the blankets, and the bins of finished wool. They do everything here, from spinning and carding, to the blanket-making. These machines can weave a blanket in just eighteen minutes!


The museum has a relationship with the mill. We have a new blanket coming out very soon, with the opening of our new exhibit on contemporary Indian artist Fritz Scholder. We were curious to know if they were weaving any of our blankets. Turns out, one machine was!


You can see the guide pattern attached to the machine in the top, and get a good sense of the colors and style in the image below.



Blankets stacked and ready for finishing.

The next day we made the three hour drive back to Portland, then hopped on a plane back east. A long travel day. What was most exciting, however, was seeing the building of a new wind farm along the road. Along the edge of one bluff, I could see the tower that houses the turbine, and the edge of one mill blade peeking over. While driving, I spied no less than four semis carting mill blades along the highway. They are huge! Each truck carries one, and I think those flatbeds were oversize. I'm a big proponent of wind power and sustainable energy sources, so this was very exciting to me.

I'm home today catching up on things, and leave tomorrow for Nashville. Stay tuned to learn more about the home of country music!