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Additions of Historic Proportions to Oregon Coast Facility

Longhouse replica at Cannon Beach History Center

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – The Cannon Beach History Center has announced some new additions of rather large enormous proportions, as well as a new lecture that will capture the hearts of minds of history buffs.

Most high profile is the center’s new longhouse exhibit. The “Native American Longhouse” is now open to the public following a consecration ceremony by the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes. This hands-on exhibit appeals to visitors of all ages, inviting children to touch the cedar-bark cape, bowls, and skins furnishing the exhibit, and to use the space to “pretend.” The Cannon Beach History Center’s Program Director, Tricia Gates Brown, developed the exhibit as a way to teach visitors the history of the Native American communities who once thrived in our area. The design and implementation of the exhibit were carried out in cooperation with the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes, and were funded by multiple grants. The longhouse is furnished with replica artifacts crafted by Native American artisans around the northwest, including some from the Clatsop-Nehalem tribe.

When European people first arrived on the Oregon coast, villages dotted the coastline, providing a home to Native American communities at the mouth of almost every stream and river. Such villages were found in Cannon Beach, as well as neighboring communities to the north and south. These villages consisted of several longhouses, built in clearings between forest and tidewater.

Each longhouse had multiple functions, serving alternately as home, workshop, and ceremonial space. Each housed an entire extended family, with 20 or more people sometimes living in a single home. As well as providing living space, longhouses were often the site of large social gatherings, such as feasts, ritual healing events, or the elaborate “potlatch” ceremonies, where the host gave away much of his wealth to mark births, marriages, deaths, and other major life events.

The Cannon Beach History Center’s longhouse exhibit shows a small-scale longhouse’s interior, typical of a small home or a seasonal fishing hut. Today, the tribes of the coastal Northwest live in typical American-style houses, but many continue to build longhouses for social and ceremonial gatherings, and the longhouse continues to be an important part of their culture.

Quilt by Knott

Also at the center, Cannon Beach Historical Society is hosting an exhibit of art quilts by Helene Knott, which will be on display through July 20.

Born and raised in central California on the Monterey Peninsula, Helene’s background is in art. Upon graduating from high school, she apprenticed to a silversmith and explored metalworking, later expanding my interest to include designing stained glass art for a studio owned by my future husband.

In 1991, Helene’s family moved to Portland and she took a hiatus from regular employment to explore fiber arts and manage the two acres of property her family now lives on. A childhood interest in embroidery blossomed into an interest in quilting in 1972, and Helene wanted to devote more time to developing skills in that medium. She joined a local guild, Northwest Quilters, in 1993 and over the following years held a number of board positions for the guild. In 2001, she joined Columbia Stitchery Guild and High Fiber Diet.

Currently she is a member of and active in all three organizations, and is the coordinator for High Fiber Diet’s annual fiber show at the Japanese Garden in Portland. Helene holds memberships in Studio Art Quilt Associates, the International Quilters’ Association, and the American Quilters’ Society.

In 1999, Helene began teaching fiber and quilting classes. Over the years, her quilts have won many awards at local, regional and national quilt shows and the recognition has served her well in promoting her as a teacher and designer. Along with teaching quilting/fiber classes and taking commissions for art quilts, Helene participates in quilt and fiber art shows on a regular basis and currently has a line of patterns that are published by Story Quilts, where she continues to work as an in-house designer.

Finally, mark your calendars for May 9 as the History Center hosts a lecture on Indian Basketry by Barbara Minard of the Ilwaco Heritage Museum. This free program starts at 7:30 p.m.

Born in Portland, Oregon, Minard worked as a Park Ranger for the National Park Service for 23 years in five different parks before settling in Astoria, Oregon.

She is now a cultural resource specialist and works part-time as the Collections Manager and Exhibit Coordinator at the Ilwaco Heritage Museum in Ilwaco, Washington. Since 1991, she has worked on contract for museums, foundations, and the federal government.

Barbara is a graduate of the Cultural Resource Management and Conservation program at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management—Interpretation Option, from the College of Forestry and Natural Resource Management, University of Colorado in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The Cannon Beach History Center is located at the corner of Spruce and Sunset in Cannon Beach. For information, call (503) 436-9301. www.cbhistory.org

Inn at Cannon Beach. Beautifully wooded natural setting at quiet south end of Cannon Beach. Great during winter storms with a new book by the fireplace – or when the sun is out for family fun and beach strolling. Handsome beach cottage-style architecture. Lush flowering gardens and naturalized courtyard pond. Warm, inviting guest rooms. Continental buffet breakfast. Warm Cookies. Family and Pet Friendly. Welcome gifts. Smoke-free. Complimentary Wireless Connectivity. Wine and book signing events. 800-321-6304 or 503-436-9085. Hemlock At Surfcrest, Cannon Beach, Oregon. www.atcannonbeach.com.

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