PULLMAN, Wash. — The first Washington State University conference dedicated to the recognition, celebration and preservation of traditional cultures of the Plateau Peoples will be held this week at the Compton Union Building.
The conference, “Honoring the Heritage of the Plateau Peoples: Past, Present and Future,” will take place Sept. 29 and 30. The event is being organized by WSU faculty, staff and the Native American Advisory Board to WSU President V. Lane Rawlins.
Organizers said the conference is intended to inform participants about the traditional cultures of the Plateau tribes and pay tribute to individuals who helped to preserve those traditions.
“These are people who grew up during times when efforts to suppress their language and culture dominated governmental policy,” said Mary Collins, conference coordinator and associate director of the WSU Museum of Anthropology. “They have worked hard to retain their traditional knowledge and are now willing to share that knowledge with not only their children and grandchildren, but also their non-Indian neighbors,”
The conference also will provide opportunities to see how the Plateau Peoples are working to preserve the natural resources of their lands.
“Many people don’t feel the connection to the land like the Native Americans do,” Collins said. “Having this affinity for their homeland gives them a unique perspective toward preservation and use of resources – we could learn a lot from them.”
Tribal elders, leaders, students, researchers, educators and other professionals will participate in sessions that address historical and contemporary issues that have affected and continue to affect the Plateau tribes.
Collins said she sees the conference forums and presentations falling in to four broad categories, including health, education, natural resource management and the preservation of language, history and culture.
“I don’t know of anything else quite like this in the Northwest that has focused on the people of the Plateau,” Collins said.
The conference comes as the WSU College of Liberal Arts continues work to fund and establish the
Plateau Peoples conference presentations and lectures will be open to the public and the news media. Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend one or two sessions without registering for the entire conference, but preferential seating will go to registered participants. Registration fees entitle attendees to conference literature, two days of lectures and meals, including a traditional dinner.
Registration fees are $125, or $25 for students. For more information or to register for the conference, visit the conference Web site at https://emmps.wsu.edu/plateauconference/index.html.
