|
Longhouse Tradition at the University of Oregon Spirit of the People The longhouse is a community center traditional to many Native American peoples in the Pacific Northwest and around the country. It is a place for celebrating the milestones of life, for passing stories from one generation to the next, for welcoming tribal members and visitors from other nations, for discussing community issues. It is a place for the ordinary conversations of daily life and the sacred ceremonies that preserve a culture. It is a place of safety and belonging. It both symbolizes and embodies the spirit of a people. With creation of a program to serve Native American students at the University of Oregon in the late 1960s, a longhouse was established in an old barracks dating to World War II. Now the longest continually operating longhouse on a college campus in the Northwest, the small building is deteriorating and needs to be replaced .
|
|