|
|
|
|
|
http://giving.uoregon.edu/highlights/news/0112.cowcreek.html
When Sue Shaffer was growing up along the South Umpqua River east of Canyonville, Oregon, her tribe, the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Indian Tribe, was not recognized by the federal government. But some tribal traditions remained from the days before the band’s homeland was taken by the U.S. government in the 1850s.
"There were always gathering places," recalls Shaffer, now chairman of the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation. "My grandmother had a big house and, in our culture, no one is turned away. That means food, a bed, and hospitality. Grandmother’s house became a natural meeting place."
Shaffer and her fellow foundation board members want to help provide that same feeling of welcome and hospitality to Native American students at the University of Oregon. That’s why the Foundation gave the university $20,000 last spring for the Many Nations Longhouse project. The Foundation also honored the university with its Buss Rondeau Award for promoting multicultural understanding.
"We like what is going on at the university with recognition and caring about not only Native American students but all races," says Shaffer. "Of course, we’re particularly interested in Native American students. As they use and enjoy the longhouse, it will be nice to have them know that local tribes support their local university."
The late Wallace "Buss" Rondeau
The longhouse project was strongly supported by Wallace "Buster" Rondeau, a tribal elder and one of the foundation’s founding board members who died in 2000. "He helped set youth education and strengthening youth and families as priorities for the Foundation," says Shaffer.
The university seeks to raise $1 million to build a new Native American longhouse to replace the old World War II-vintage barracks now being used as a longhouse on campus. The Cow Creek Band’s gift is the first significant tribal contribution to the project.
The new UO longhouse will express the essential cultural values of welcome, community, and learning for Native American students and peoples. The building will serve as a gathering place for students and tribal groups and a place where Native Americans and non-Natives can interact and learn from each other. The house will be built in the southeast portion of the campus adjacent to the UO Museum of Natural History. Modeled after a traditional longhouse of the Kalapuya Indians -- the first people known to live at the junction of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers -- the all-wood building will be centered by a Great Room for large gatherings. Other features include a resource library, a lounge, offices, a kitchen, a children’s play area, and an area for outdoor events.
<<< Cow Creek Foundation Grants >>>