Photo Caption: PSU President Ann Cudd, Executive Director of Tribal Relations Modesta Minthorn and Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean Joe Bull walking through the Indian Village at the 2025 Pendleton Round-Up in September. The Indian Village tradition, which dates back to the first Round-Up in 1910 when local tribes were invited to set up a camp, features tipi displays from Oregon tribes.
We are midway through Native American Heritage Month and I am reflecting on PSU’s evolving relationship with Oregon’s Tribes and the Native students we serve throughout our campus and in our beloved Native American Student & Community Center (NASCC).
This weekend I’ll be attending the 42nd Restoration Celebration and Powwow with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The event celebrates the anniversary of the day, Nov. 22, when then President Ronald Reagan signed the Grand Ronde Restoration Act, which reversed the effects of the Western Oregon Termination Act of 1954 and reestablished the Tribe’s federal status.
For the Grand Ronde, like Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians which celebrate their 48th anniversary of restoration this month, it took decades of effort, fundraising and lobbying to restore recognition and, a few years later, regain the 9,811 acres of its original reservation west of Salem. That focus and dedication delivered results for the Tribe, and enabled them to focus on rebuilding its institutions and developing programs to meet the needs of its members.
It was a similar effort, although perhaps on a more modest scale, that led to the development of the NASCC at PSU. A large part of the work was led by Rose Hill, a Native elder who passed away this fall at the age of 82. Rose, a Portland State University alumna with a degree in Education who served for over 15 years as the Native American Student Services coordinator, is remembered as a student advocate who touted the vision of the NASCC as a home away from home for Native students.
We will celebrate Rose’s life with a memorial event at the NASCC next month. PSU is also working to cement her legacy by renaming the street outside the NASCC in her honor — an effort that continues as PSU leads an effort to gather the signatures required to make the name change.
PSU is hiring a new manager for the NASCC, and, in partnership with the university’s first ever Tribal Liaison Modesta Minthorn, we are working to repair and strengthen our relationships with Oregon’s tribes and learn how we can be better partners and stewards for Tribal students’ education. I know there is room for improvement and our work to negotiate and sign individual memorandums of understanding between each of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes will go a long way toward formalizing areas of partnership and shared interest.
Modesta is also leading an exciting initiative to work with our Applied Linguistics department to develop tribal language programs and explore how AI can help revitalize Native languages. PSU’s inaugural Tribal Language Speaker Series will kick off at NASCC on January 14, 2026 with the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians (CCBUTI) Takelma Language Program Presentation, followed on January 28 by a presentation from the Coquille Tribal Language Program. Both tribes will discuss their current tribal language status and current language program efforts, an important beginning in establishing a working relationship with the nine Oregon Tribes and PSU in language revitalization efforts.
I am optimistic about the future and look forward to more collaboration with Oregon’s tribes as well as continuing my journey to learn about our region’s Indigenous culture and knowledge and understanding how it enriches our campus life.