This land along Nichi’wana (the Columbia River) once held a Native trade center and gathering site near its intersection with the Willamette. Indigenous people from as far away as the territory many now call Alaska, the Dakotas, and the Desert Southwest all came together in this important place. As Indigenous inhabitants here in the Northwest were displaced and treaties were not honored, the land was reshaped and mistreated, taking on several different forms—most recently that of a landfill.

Now the most ethnically and racially diverse Census tract in Oregon, Cully is also the largest neighborhood in Portland. Cully Park is at its heart, and with its Native Gathering Garden and community of caretakers tending the land, it pulses with hope for regeneration and with Indigenous people’s past, present, and future.

This Soundwalk features voices of local Indigenous community members and a recorded performance by Nez Perce drumming group Four Directions.