Members of the American Indian community and students and staff from the University gathered together Sunday to respectfully retire their longhouse on the east side of campus.
Herman Quinn, a Yurok tribal member and regular visitor at the longhouse, said although he was saddened by the building’s retirement, it was something that had to be done.
Jana Schmieding, co-director of the ASUO Multicultural Center, described the longhouse as a spiritual, cultural and academic center.
“It is a holy place and it is a place for gathering,” Schmieding said. “The longhouse is a place for building and maintaining community.”
With the decommissioning of the old longhouse, American Indians and other members of the campus community will use a temporary modular rental until the new Many Nations Longhouse is built sometime in the near future.
For more than 30 years, the longhouse was a cultural nexus for American Indian community members and University groups such as the Native American Student Union, the Native American Law Students Association, and the Center for Indigenous Cultural Survival. NASU has used the longhouse as a meeting place where students and community members could connect and revitalize American Indian customs and traditions. Activities such as drumming, singing, dancing and native beadwork were practiced at NASU meetings at the longhouse every Sunday.
NASU Co-Director Brent Spencer said it’s important for American Indian students to continue these traditional practices in order to sustain their culture.
“When you stop practicing these types of activities, the knowledge is lost,” Spencer said.
Mitch Wilkinson, interim steward for the Many Nations Longhouse, said the longhouse was originally a soldier barracks in World War II and was used for graduate student housing after the war. About 35 years ago, American Indian students, in conjunction with community members, requested a longhouse on campus from the administration. They were given the old barracks building to convert to their purposes. Over the years, Wilkinson said, elders and spiritual leaders from the nine American Indian tribes in Oregon, as well as from around the nation, came and held ceremonies to bless the longhouse.
Wilkinson said that about 15 years ago, it became apparent the longhouse was starting to fall apart. The Office of the President recognized the need for a new longhouse and established a committee to achieve that goal, Wilkinson added.
The collaborative efforts of the Center for Indigenous Cultural Survival and the Office of the President helped to raise more than $1 million to begin construction on the new longhouse, Wilkinson said. The nest egg was nurtured through grants and monetary gifts from local tribes, as well as private donations. He added that the very first $100 came from a University graduate student, and another University student who was dying of cancer donated her life insurance policy to the construction of the Many Nations Longhouse.
The Campus Longhouse User Committee, a subcommittee of the President’s Advisory Council, is holding a meeting today to review the longhouse design plans. Wilkinson said the general public is welcome to observe the planning meeting. For information about the new longhouse, call Wilkinson at 744-4347.