Confluence Library

Roberta Conner tells how her grandfather was reintroduced to his homeland and the importance of “stories about the land and how the land takes care of us.”

Communities across the nation have faced a reckoning with their monuments. The last year has seen a groundswell of questions about who gets to define our stories in the public sphere. On April 27th, 2021 we held a conversation consider modern examples of healthy commemoration of Indigenous history and cultures.

Native American Elder, Storyteller, and Educator Ed Edmo, and former professor Lani Roberts speak about growing up in The Dalles during the 1950s. Although they grew up in the same area and are the same age, their lives were lived in parallel fashion because of the differences in their ethnic heritage.  Their juxtaposed stories give a full picture of rural Oregon and the parallel lives they led along the N’chi-Wana River.