More Pendleton Touring

Today I continued with my tour of Pendleton. Down the road from the RV Park is a museum established by the Umatilla Tribe. This park and the Casino are on the Umatilla reservation. I wasn't aware the museum was so close by. I rode my bicycle to it. I had my camera gear with me but, they didn't allow and pics inside. This was the only shot I got of the museum.

The Tamastslikt ( Tah-Must-Slicked) Cultural Institute is the best museum/interpretive center for the Native Americans I have visited in the two years I've been on the road. They have gone to the Nth degree to make this an impressive place. The three local tribes here are the Walla Walla, Umatilla, and the Cayuse.

One of the things that impressed me about these tribes is they were primarily horsemen. As a part of one of the treaties they signed, they had to give up their horses and become farmers. Their horses were rounded up by the government and rendered into dog food, glue and fertilizer. ...Another sad comment on our judgment.

The costumes and traditional clothing on display made these tribes some of the most colorful in the west. Their horses had  formal dress-wear as well, including full horse head dresses.

It's another place you should visit if you're in the area. This week there was a bird display in one of the museum annexes. I was surprised to see raptures in a classroom setting. Owls, falcons, hawks and eagles all of them LIVE, on roosts with trainers nearby. Here I could take flash pictures - even of the owls (go figure)!

This Golden Eagle is real, not stuffed.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the museum. I wasn't expecting much because in the three days I've been here I've never seen many cars in the parking lot. You can visit the Tamastslikt website here. Even the website is rather drab and doesn't indicate what you will see when you visit. I think they may need some marketing help.

Later in the day I made a trip to main street. Every Friday night during the late summer and early fall, Main Street is closed in order to host a a local Farmers Market. I thought I would make a the short 5 mile drive to pay a visit. I bought corn on the cob, radishes (huge), pear cucumbers, tomatillos, blood tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and jalapenos. The total damage to my wallet was less than $8.00! Gotta love these markets!

Now, all I have to do is turn these veggies into salsa, a cucumber salad and a crock-pot meal!