Tools of Survival: Tribal Education, Relationships, and Sovereignty in Oregon

Since the early 1800s, Native peoples in the place that became Oregon have used a variety of tools to resist genocide and cultural erasure. The US government and the dominant culture have employed practices including land theft, violence, boarding schools, political and economic discrimination, and termination policy in repeated attempts to destroy tribes and their cultures. Because of the power of Native resistance, those attempts have failed. Today, tribes in Oregon are working to heal from the centuries of trauma while forming relationships with and educating non-Native organizations, students, and neighbors about the histories, cultures, and governments of their people. Join us for a discussion with Lisa Watt and Brent Spencer about what Tribes have been forced to do to survive and how they are utilizing education, relationships, and sovereignty to maintain their cultures and benefit the broader community today.

Presented in partnership by Never Again Coalition, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Portland State University’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project, WorldOregon, The Immigrant Story, Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Portland Chinatown Museum, Five Oaks Museum, Native Arts and Culture Foundation

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