Mosier Community School awarded Gifts from Our Ancestors Grant

MCS will begin their studies with a visit to the site of Celilo Falls and a trip to visit petroglyphs at Columbia Hills State Park.

According to the Confluence Project website, Gifts from Our Ancestors is an “arts-education program led by the Confluence Project, local artists, and educators to engage over 1,500 tribal and non-tribal students through multiple forms of artistic, musical and oral expression practiced by Native Americans along the Columbia River for generations.”

Central to this engagement, the project description states, is Celilo Falls.

“In the Northwest, there are few places more powerful than where Celilo Falls once thundered into the Columbia. The mighty Wy'am, or “echo of falling water,” offered life-sustaining salmon and was the seat of commerce and cultural exchange for thousands of Native Americans for over 10,000 years.”

“By engaging students, teachers, and their communities in this rich history, Gifts from Our Ancestors will help to ensure the continued educational, cultural, and ecological stewardship of the Columbia River and its tributaries.”

As part of the grant, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, the school will host Pacific Northwest Native American artist Lillian Pitt. According to her personal website, Pitt’s ancestors lived in and near the Columbia River Gorge for over 10,000 years, and her art “directly relates to and honors my ancestors, my people, the environment and the animals.”

For more information on the Confluence grant, visit: 

http://www.confluenceproject.org.