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Longhouse (This Page is only working in Internet Explorer)

OUTSIDE THE LONGHOUSE BUILDING

The opening of the Native American Longhouse at Lane Community College honors Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes, both inside the building and in the landscaping outside and around it.  The outside environment of the Longhouse provides three important honoring features. 

1. A Pathway of the Tribes wanders through a camas/tarweed meadow past a swale.  It honors the progress and sovereignty of the tribes and symbolizes the unity among our peoples. 
2. The swale honors our connection with the natural world by allowing the rain which falls on the Longhouse’s footprint to soak in and recharge soil moisture, thus preserving the integrity of at least this small piece of Earth. 
3. Planted around the building are almost one hundred species of plants that were important historically to Oregon’s and other Native peoples, and many of them continue to be important today

PATHWAY OF THE TRIBES

            We envisioned a pathway near the Longhouse through a plantation of native plants to honor Oregon’s nine tribes.  We asked that each tribe select one or two plants to represent that tribe in the plantings around the Longhouse.  A total of twelve plants were selected for us.  These twelve species of plants are named here.  They are planted, however, in various spots around the Longhouse, allowing interested persons the opportunity to appreciate the plantings by searching for them.  One specimen of each of these species displays a label at its base that describes the species of plant and its uses.  First, on each label appears the Native names.  The Pathway of the Tribes meanders north from the salmon-cooking pit around the east end of the swale and then to the west, ending on the northwest side of the swale.  A small meadow planted densely with camas lilies and with tarweed bisects the swale a short distance from its beginning point.  Both camas and tarweed were intensively cultivated by fire by the Willamette Valley’s Kalapuya Indians.  In order to keep out weeds and too much grass, this meadow is covered with landscaping cloth during the winter.  In early spring, the cover is removed to allow the camas bulbs to send up their lily-like leaves and blue flowers.  Soon afterward, the tarweed seeds will sprout and produce a beautiful green carpet before becoming dry and rangy by the fall.

PLANT SPECIES SELECTED BY OREGON’S TRIBES

• 
  BitterRoot
• 
  BunchGrass
• 
  CrabApple
• 
  Dogwood
• 
  Myrtlewood
• 
  Bunchgrass
• 
  Evergreen Huckleberry
• 
  Mountian Huckleberry
• 
  Quaking Aspen
• 
  Salil
• 
  Salmonberry
• 
  Western Hazelnut
• 
  Yellow Pond Lily

THE SWALE

            The swale looks like a pond in winter, a garden in summer.  Rainwater draining from the Longhouse flows a short distance north to a depression that receives and stores the water and allows it to soak into the soil, cleansing the water and revitalizing the soil moisture.  The swale will hold standing water during the rainy months, then continue to drain into the surrounding soil during the dry months. It is planted in a natural and artistic way with native plants that are or were used by Oregon’s Native peoples.  Wetland plants most tolerant to standing water are in the bottom of the swale, and plants less tolerant are arranged around its sides.  In this way we maintain a sustainable stewardship of this small piece of our land.   

NATIVE PLANTINGS

Nearly one hundred plants that have been used by Oregon’s Native peoples have been planted around the Longhouse, planted to reflect nature and to be appealing to the human eye.  Please feel free to wander the grounds and admire these plants, many of which you will undoubtedly recognize or may even be familiar to you.  At the same time, be respectful of these important parts of our culture and our heritage, and show respect for the work that went into preparing these grounds.  Please consult the complete list of species below, organized in several categories.

PLANTS REQUESTED BY OREGON TRIBES FOR PATHWAY OF THE TRIBES:

PLANTS WITH MPORTANT USES BY NATIVE PEOPLES OF OREGON:

ADDITIONAL PLANTS USED BY NATIVE PEOPLES OF OREGON:

Trees & Shrubs:

Perennials:

Wetland & Grasses