New signs bring Native culture to Gorge trails

“We’re pretty proud of it. Yes, it was expensive, but we know that it’ll be here for a long time. And then there’s some ability to modernize it as time goes on,” said Sara Woods, stewardship manager for Friends of the Gorge.

Larger signs would have detracted from the landscape’s beauty, said Woods. These will serve as prototypes for future trails, starting with Mosier Plateau Trail, where planning begins 2025.

The project began when the trail itself needed work, about ten years ago. More paths were being added, existing ones refurbished. “It was just kind of like, ‘Oh, we need a sign over here,’” Woods said, and from there the project grew.

Design, coordinating with other agencies like the Forest Service to make signs aesthetically similar to others in the Gorge, commissioning and translating the material for the signs was a long process. The expense of design, fabrication and installation meant “There’s a lot of pressure to get it right the first time,” Woods said. Heavy-duty sign materials designed to withstand weather added to the cost. The goal was to add brief, concise, engaging snippets for each QR code, to draw in busy passerby.

Covid-19 partly inspired the QR codes. “People kind of thought QR codes were dead,” Woods said, but Covid-19 brought them back to life.

After three years of back and forth with a contractor, signs were installed at the end of 2023.

When the issue of new, bilingual, inclusive signs first came up, D’na Chase was asked to help bring Native culture “into this storytelling,” she said. As a Land Trustee and the only current Native member of the Board of Directors, Chase is passionate about indigenizing the Gorge.

Chase emphasized that, as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation who grew up in Hood River, she does not speak for all local Native tribes and Nations. Her focus is on bringing them into the conversation. Native culture never went away, she noted, but “it’s just not as visible as I would like to see it.” Friends was making “the perfect platform to educate” in the Gorge, she said.

Counts at Multnomah Falls confirm that about 2 million visitors pass through the Gorge annually, meaning these signs could reach many people.

Chase reached out to Kunu Bearchum, a local Native singer, songwriter and storyteller of the Hochunk Nation, who voiced a poem by Gorge Friends’ long-time acquaintance Ed Edmo, a member of the Shoshone Bannock, whose poem is featured in one QR code.

Chase also connected with award-winning Native American flutist Sherrie Davis, a descendent of Navajo, Cherokee and Shawnee Nations, who composed an original song for the trail.

Davis and Edmo attended the April 2 ribbon-cutting to share music and stories with a crowd of over 20.

“I’m talking to people in the Native community, no matter what tribe we’re from, but we wouldn’t be able to have these conversations about culture on the trails and first food lessons and canoe families being welcome ... if it wasn’t for what Friends of the Gorge has already done in protecting the land,” said Chase.

The QR codes could allow the project to evolve, becoming more inclusive and accessible as the online material is refined and extended, without the expense of replacing signs.

The QR codes also allow the sharing of oral traditions and legends which are meant never to be written down, and music.

“That QR code again, it’s like magic,” Chase said. “It’s like a step into the past, but bringing it forward into the future, where we need it.”

Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail isn’t very accessible to those with disabilities, with steep grades, rocks, and little possibility for modifications. But the signs provided another kind of accessibility, Woods said, a good way for Gorge Friends to “start putting our money where our mouth is” for the large Latino/a/x population in the Gorge.

“My hope is ... that it’s planting the seeds of education,” Chase added. She noted that fully bilingual signs are a “huge leap,” but wants First Languages to be included too. Woods also registered her wish to include First Languages in upcoming signage.

As awareness grows, Chase said she hoped the community becomes willing to close trails for Native people to hold sacred ceremony away from the public, noting some preserves already close to protect wildlife at certain times; and that education efforts will be Native-led, as the poem and stories were read by Native actors. “You hire a Native person to tell a Native story,” she added at one point.

And Chase hopes that, in coming days, Native names can be returned to the landmarks and trails. “Again, I’m not speaking for all tribes,” she said, “but I do feel like it’s a common thread among tribal people that when you speak a name, it holds spirit.”

This community, involving many tribes, is connected by “the same common thread about how we think about land, and water, and non-human relatives, the plants, the animals, everything,” Chase said. “And getting that focus back in the gorge is really important to me.”

These projects are important to the Native community, she said. “I think there’s this bubbling as I talked to more people ... young Native people. They’re excited to share.” There will always be sacred things that are never shared, Chase explained, but many things are shareable, and could inspire more awareness of the current issues and culture involving local tribes.

Other contributors include John Edmo, Ed’s son, who sang a chant at the ribbon-cutting; Jefferson Green, who helped with some of the legends; geologist Lloyd DeKay.

“This is just the baby step,” said Chase.

Woods expressed her happiness with the final installations, as well as excitement at where this might lead. “It was a big, big, long process. ... And I’m eyes wide open for the next project.”