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The Tillamook County Pioneer Museum (TCPM) is honored to announce the receipt of a 2025 Oregon Heritage Grant.
The Tillamook County Pioneer Museum received $11,265 to assess their Indigenous collection.
In total, the Oregon Heritage Commission awarded $378,971 to 31 selected applicants; over 70 applications were received from organizations across the state. The Oregon Heritage Grant is a competitive program for qualifying organizations, and is offered once per biennium for projects that conserve, develop or interpret Oregon’s heritage. The grants will help fund a variety of projects including collection preservation and access, research, oral history, exhibits, and performance projects. Award amounts ranged $1,656 – $20,000.
“This generous grant will fund our project to evaluate TCPM’s Indigenous Collections to better preserve these belongings, and determine tribal origin in preparation of future repatriation and/or exhibition,” TCPM Collections Manager Clara Scillian Kennedy said. “This is essential to TCPM’s endeavors to uplift and center Indigenous knowledge within its practices and exhibitions. The funding of this project will provide culturally appropriate preservation that is necessary to ensure the safety of these belongings as repatriation efforts are underway. We thank the Oregon Heritage Commission and our tribal partners for their support of this project.”
TCPM currently stewards approximately 1,000 Indigenous belongings. This collection contains belongings from tribal groups from across the United States, including approximately 500 significant items of the Indigenous Oregon people and their descendants.
Funds from the Oregon Heritage Grant will be utilized to hire a consultant who will assist in addressing the condition and tribal association of each item, as well as purchasing supplies needed to preserve the belongings in a way that honors the wishes and needs of the original keepers.
TCPM has selected consultant Stephanie Craig nee Wood (ɬaxayam) of Kalapuya Weaving & Consulting. Stephanie is a seventh-generation basket weaver and an Oregon Culture Keeper. She earned her Master of Arts in Anthropology and Cultural Museums and Folklore from University of Oregon, and has received training from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute in Pendleton. Before opening her own consulting firm, she was the Collections Registrar for the Chachalu Museum & Cultural Center at Grand Ronde. During her master’s degree, Stephanie worked with TCPM on an exhibit of Tillamook Indigenous basketry. During this exhibition, she was able to provide information on a number of those baskets.
“As an organization, we are deeply honored to receive the Oregon Heritage Grant. This support allows us to bring in a qualified consultant to conduct a full assessment of our collection and with care and integrity,” TCPM Board of Directors President Ryan Weber said. “As a board, we feel a profound responsibility to honor the stories and histories represented in these items. We are committed to doing this work thoughtfully and working towards the rightful repatriation of artifacts to the Indigenous Tribes whose cultural heritage they reflect. This is an important step toward ensuring our stewardship is aligned with our values of respect, accountability, and partnership.”
TCPM expects to complete the assessment phase of their project by Spring 2026. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
The Oregon Heritage Grant is a program of the Oregon Heritage Commission within the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department. The Commission works to secure, sustain and enhance Oregon’s heritage. The Commission consists of nine members appointed by the governor and nine agency advisors. Members are chosen from state agencies and statewide organizations, and represent diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds.
To learn more about the Oregon Heritage Grant or the Oregon Heritage Commission, visit www.oregonheritage.org