OSU-Cascades First Peoples Celebration with Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs

Oregon State University – Cascades is honored to host the First Peoples Celebration on Saturday, October 11, 2025, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend. This free public event, held in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, aims to explore and celebrate the rich history and culture of the region’s First Peoples.

Event activities are free to the public and will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. in Bruckner Courtyard on the OSU-Cascades campus.

OSU-Cascades has an acknowledged partnership with the Confederated Tribes, which recognizes the campus’s commitment to ensuring that OSU-Cascades is “of enduring benefit to the people on whose ancestral lands it is now located.”

Activities include:

• An opening ceremony and invocation, led by tribal members.

• Demonstrations of traditional tribal crafts and artistry created by Native artists and culture bearers from the Tananáwit Artists Community of Warm Springs.

• A showcase of traditional regalia and Native dancing, narrated with descriptions and histories of the intricate, ceremonial Native fashions — including jingle, fancy, grass and traditional — and background about the dances.

• A round dance with the Black Lodge Singers. The Black Lodge Singers are a Native American, Grammy-nominated drum group founded by Kenny Scabby Robe of the Blackfeet Nation. The group has more than 30 albums to their credit.

• Representatives from the Museum at Warm Springs and the High Desert Museum will be available to discuss their roles in preserving the heritage of the First Peoples of Central Oregon.

• Members of the Warm Springs Community Action Team will be on hand to discuss their work.