Oregon
- Where Past is Present
Experience 15,000 years of Northwest cultural history and 200 million
years of geology. Realistic environmental displays portray four geographic
regions of Oregon, each a different time in history.
The Great
Basin environment portrays an autumn, 6,000 years ago, when the
area we now know as desert, bloomed with abundance. View a traditionally
made wikiup and a cache of tui chubs, a food staple.
One of North
America's largest Native fishing and trading centers at Celilo Falls
is illustrated in the Columbia Plateau environment during the
summer fishing season some 250 years ago. Observe up close the span
of a fishing net used at the Falls for over 10,000 years.
A highlight
of the Pacific Coast environment is a three-dimensional replica
of a traditional winter plank house, situated in village at the mouth
of an inland estuary around 1,500 years ago.
In the Western
Valleys, view a mural of Native women gathering camas roots during
the spring harvest, in a valley surrounded by an oak savanna and a
pine forest some 1,000 years ago.
Murals of these
four regions have been painted by Don Prechtel, an Oregon artist known
for historically accurate paintings of the Western frontier and Native
American culture. You can find more information on Don at www.prechtelfineart.com.
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Scientific
at the Core
Explore an
interactive laboratory that offers hands-on science-based activities
for visitors of all ages. Discover how to relate to science through
these four questions: What is it? How old is it? Where was it found?
How was it used?
Scientific at the Core also
provides mini-exhibits on the most current museum research.
When visiting find out what's new in Science in the News - The History
Mystery.
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Current Exhibits (click on the links below for more information about each exhibit)
Walk a Mile in These Shoes (April 11 - December 21, 2008)
Rock, Water, Fire, Earth and Sky— Photographs Of the Oregon West by David N Jones (November 7- March 1, 2009)
Walk a Mile In These Shoes —
The Stories They Tell
Closing
December 21, 2008
Join us to marvel at the oldest shoes in the world—Oregon’s 10,000 year old sandals—to view shoes worn by Oregon athletes, coaches, and politicians—and even shoes from the rock band KISS, and the Broadway hit musical, Wicked. Explore decades of changing shoe fashions; try on traditional footwear from around the world; and explore ‘shoe-perstitions,’ or why people do such odd things with shoes. It’s all about the stories shoes tell!
See more images of the museum's Fancy Footwear here.
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Rock,
Water, Fire, Earth and Sky— Photographs Of the Oregon West by David
N Jones
November
7, 2008 through March 1, 2009
David
N Jones uses black and white photography to convey the mood and
soul of the environments he photographs. His images are, for the
most part, of the grand view—a stunning variety of landscapes from
Oregon and the West. Jones uses dramatic light to evoke the emotions,
feelings, and sensations experienced at the moment of exposure.
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In
the Museum Theater weekends
at 1:00 and 3:00 P.M.
View
a select film related to natural and cultural history.
November: The
Oregon Story: Warm Springs Country
Oregon Public Broadcasting, 2005, 60 min
This rich and
colorful profile of a nation-within-a-nation, home to 3,500 members
of three different tribes gives us a unique view of modern, everyday
life among descendants of the first Americans.
December:
William Gladstone Steel
Oregon Public
Broadcasting, 2007, 29 min
William Gladstone
Steel is considered the Father of Crater Lake National Park and was
instrumental in preserving the Cascade Range Reserve. Complex and
controversial, he dedicated his life to the mountains of Oregon.
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