(Photo courtesy of Josephy Center for Arts and Culture)
Nez Perce music has always reflected the tribe’s relationship to land and their history. On Thursday, October 9 from 6-7:30pm, Bobbie Conner, director of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla Reservation, will be offering a lecture on how to hear the changes in Nez Perce culture through sound.
The event, held at Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture, will showcase early examples of Nez Perce music when drums, flutes, and human voices were meant to echo natural sounds of wind, water, birds, and animals. Conner will also trace the sonic influence of forced assimilation, boarding schools for Native youth, and policies that banned language and cultural practice. Today’s Nez Perce musicians fascinatingly blend elements of assimilation as well as resistance to the attempted erasure of their tribal identities.
In addition to the lecture, there will be an accompanying photography exhibition which will showcase Nez Perce music history. While the lecture is one-night only, the photography exhibit will be on display during public events at The Ranch through mid-November.
Register and find more information about the event: RoundhouseFoundation.org/Events.
About Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts and Agriculture:
Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts and Agriculture (PMRCAA) is located on the historic Pine Meadow Ranch, a 260-acre working ranch in Sisters, Oregon at the base of the Cascade Mountains. The vision of PMRCAA is to connect sustainable agriculture, conservation arts and sciences with traditional and contemporary crafts and skills integral to ranching life including: metal, glass, wood and leather work, ceramics, fibers and textiles, writing, painting and drawing, photography and music.
PMRCAA work is grounded in a strong sense of place and community, and the diversity and multiple perspectives of the people that call this region home are deeply valued. PMRCAA is located on the traditional territory of the Wasco, Warm Springs, and Paiute peoples. The ranch strives to support the long-term resilience of this ecosystem, and its people and recognizes the many ways indigenous peoples continue to shape, create and care for these lands.
Today, Pine Meadow Ranch operates as a program of the Sisters-based Roundhouse Foundation and continues to operate as a working ranch. This program is developing and expanding its work in the arts, agricultural and ecological projects working with the unique assets on the property. The Ranch hosts a series of public gatherings including artist workshops, lectures, and artist talks that are available to visitors via event registration: RoundhouseFoundation.org/Events.
