Grand Ronde - Chachalu Museum and Cultural Center

The Chachalu Museum and Cultural Center is in Grande Ronde just a bit down from the casino (if you are heading to the coast) and on the right instead of the left. 

It is not a large space, but there are areas for gathering, where you can tell it could play an important part for meetings and community.

The tribal office is located there too.

 The building design is interesting, echoing some of the art and themes that you will find inside.

Permanent exhibitions give information about the land and traditional river paths and food ways.

This is a valuable resource for students and those interested in more natural diets.

 We were there at the end of the Transgressors exhibition, focusing on Two Spirit artists.

There was a wide variety of artists and media.

 Artists pulled from a mix of traditions to plumb the personal and profound.

Two things struck familiar chords.

One color palette and style was very familiar.

Sure enough, it was the work of Jeffrey Gibson, who'd had two installations -- They Come From Fire and To Name An Other -- at the Portland Art Museum in 2023.

https://sporktogo.blogspot.com/2023/02/jeffrey-gibson-at-portland-art-museum.html

Then there was a reference to She-Who-Watches.

https://preservewa.org/most_endangered/tsagaglalal-she-who-watches-petroglyph/ 

It has been so many years since I have seen her; long before access was restricted. The impression remains vivid.

Because of that, I suppose it doesn't surprise me that she has a similar impression on others, but there is still a sense of connection in seeing it.

I am glad that we caught this particular exhibit, which is now on view at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History (Go Ducks!):

https://mnch.uoregon.edu/transgressors 

Chachalu is now showing My Ancestors Are Here, featuring the photographic meditations of Leland Butler, there through September 6th:

https://www.chachalu.org/exhibits/my-ancestors-are-here/ 

Art endures, but exhibits change.

COVID: While there are some open spaces around, the exhibits themselves are inside. It was not crowded but I did stay masked.

Accessibility: The navigation did seem pretty good to me. I will also add that while the staff was not pushy, they were very quick to answer any questions and offer resources, so if there are specific concerns I would not hesitate to ask.

https://www.chachalu.org/

Beaverton: Wonderland Arboretum

Some time ago -- when we would take Allen to 217 -- I started noticing these benches on the sidewalk of a side street that seemed odd. Like, it would be a very small park.

Then I noticed a sign that seemed to say "arboretum". It seemed really small for an arboretum.

We had to check it out. 

On Arbor Day 2013 77 native trees and plants were planted. That included 15 different tree species and 11 different plant species.

While the emphasis on native plants is important, it was not the extent of the commitment to sustainability.

Surfaces were built to be porous and the benches that first caught my eye were built out of reclaimed material.

There was helpful signage for a lot of what was done.

It also occurred to me that with such a clear planting date, the arboretum could be a good predictor.

It is one thing to want to plant native species, but another if you don't know what to expect in terms of eventual size and how much room to allow for growth.

You can get a good idea for combinations and spatial relations if you are looking at your own property.

You can also get a view of the overall process at https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/1545054f-0e70-4248-a261-0049e832ae12. 

In some ways it reminds me of the water efficient demonstration garden at the water district, but with a different focus.

I suspect most of the visitors it gets are local to the neighborhood, but there is nothing wrong with that.

It is more to the point that they took something that wasn't really being used and created something useful and beautiful.

There is room for lots more of that.

COVID: This is all outdoors and it is easy to spread out.

Accessibility: This should be pretty good. There are sidewalks and paths, it is in a small space, and there is parking right alongside.

Also, you have lots of plants cycling through carbon dioxide to provide you with more oxygen; that should be helpful.

https://beavertonoregon.gov/1012/Arboretums

Related posts:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2025/04/planting-native-species.html

Tigard -- Claw City

 Friends who know my sisters and I know that we really enjoy claw machines. 

Normally that means something we try on our way out of the grocery store (or sometimes restaurants), but we will occasionally go to arcades with more options.

Claw City has a lot of options.

Machines are mainly small, with a few that are even smaller.

There is the option to trade up for prizes.

Sometimes you may look on top of the machines and notice a larger prize, but mainly you are going to notice all of the ducks on the ceiling.

There is a lot of visual stimulation.

The obvious question is "How is the clawing?" Pretty good.

The grocery store machines go through cycles where how the claw drops and how tightly it grips changes. Sometimes grabbing something is impossible, sometimes it is almost impossible to miss, and sometimes it is somewhere in between when knowing what to choose and where to position the claw before dropping it makes a big difference.

These are not automatic wins, but they don't seem to go through the impossible part of the cycle.

More than that, they told us upon entering to let them know if we had trouble getting the toys. I never asked for help, but when I dropped a seagull and employee was suddenly behind me saying it was probably positioned a little wrong. She opened the machine, re-positioned the seagull, closed the machine, swiped her own card and told me to try again.

That left me with an extra swipe so I went and clawed a mouse.

There is a level at which that felt a little weird for us. We were only helped once, but still, we knew it was easier. We knew we were paying a little more, but it was also pretty fun.

For people who would like to try but don't want to keep fruitlessly putting in money, this is a great option. They do have birthday parties.

COVID: It is indoors in kind of close quarters. Yes, a lot of the people there are children who are breathing a foot or so below you, but this is a very good place to wear a mask.

Accessibility: The surface is flat and it could be pretty easy to get around, but it is not spacious and there were a lot of people, at least on a Saturday. This could cause some difficulty navigating.

Over-stimulation is probably the bigger risk. That includes some flashing lights, though not with a strobe effect. Also, hand-eye coordination seems like less of an issue here than anywhere else.

https://clawcityusa.com/tigard/