Cape Disappointment State Park Resources
This resource list is designed to go along with Confluence’s Field Guide for our site at Cape Disappointment State Park, created by Confluence and Super Nature Adventures.
Video and Audio
Podcast: History and Art at the Mouth of the Columbia
200 years after the Lewis and Clark journey, the first Confluence art installation was completed in 2006 at Cape Disappointment state park on the Washington state side of the river. At Confluence, we like to say that their journey’s end point is where Confluence’s work began–to reinterpret who this story is about and include the long neglected voices of Indigenous people. In this episode we talk with Tony Johnson, the chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation, Rachel Cushman, the Secretary/Treasurer of the Chinook Indian Nation, and Aaron Webster, a long time Washington State Park Interpretive Ranger at Cape Disappointment State Park.
Tony Johnson: Our Kids Have Never Known a Time Without Canoes
Tony Johnson discusses the revitalization of canoe culture among the Chinook Nation and the importance of children being raised with that culture.
Tony Johnson: Determined to “Stay with the Bones of Our Ancestors”
Tony Johnson explains how the Chinook would not leave their homeland and how their treaty was never ratified.
Articles
Cape Disappointment and Maya Lin
Maya Lin’s first Confluence site is at Cape Disappointment State Park. Guests are greeted by a path, amphitheater, fish sink, and gathering circle. It was built of native materials for the Lewis and Clark bicentennial.
The text of a Chinook Blessing delivered by Chinook Tribal Chief Gary Johnson in Chinook homelands, November 18, 2005.
Carlee Wilson tells the story of her ancestor, Ilchee, in this creative piece.
Indigenous knowledge production happens in various locations and through many methods. Indigenous scholars around the world are prioritizing the teachings of our ancestors and decentering Western frameworks. We are Rachel Cushman, an enrolled citizen of the Chinook Indian Nation, and Dr. Chance White Eyes, an enrolled citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. We both work within the academy, actively disrupting Western frameworks and colonial structures.