Katrina Yentch

Katrina Yentch is a freelance journalist, editor, and copywriter living in Portland. When she isn't writing, she's either napping and cooking in the winter or paddling and backpacking during the summer.

Matt Wastradowski

Matt Wastradowski is an Oregon-based travel writer who loves writing about the great outdoors, craft beer, and regional history.

Rich with Native culture, there are traces of Portland, Oregon’s Native American tribe within its place names. The city is located in Multnomah County — “Multnomah” was formerly the name of a group of the Chinookan peoples. Portland lies along the Willamette River, whose name also comes from the colonized pronunciation of the Kalaypuyan “Wallamt.” Today, there are Indigenous-owned businesses whose presence is recognized and highly regarded throughout Portland, from tattoo shops and clothing makers to eateries and those who steward the land for its natural resources. There are numerous opportunities to learn from and support Native Americans in Portland, Oregon, who are reclaiming the spaces once taken from them.

Native History in Portland

Most of Portland’s tribes lived on Chinook land, which was formerly inhabited by the Kalapuya and Chinookan nations. Several other nations, such as the Molale, Tualatin, Cowlitz and Wasco, also occupied the greater metropolitan region. At the convergence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, the land was rich with natural resources for these people.

They lived there until the 1810s, when British and American communities arrived to trade fur with Chinookan settlers, spreading diseases like smallpox and measles, which wiped out 50-90% of the Chinook population during that time. The Oregon Land Donation Act of 1850 further displaced any remaining Indigenous peoples, granting hundreds of acres to white settlers. This led to a significant increase in the white population of Portland, from 11,873 to 60,000 people by 1860.

Today, there are efforts nationwide to return land to the First Peoples and support the remaining people who live here. The Oregon Land Justice Project takes a Native-influenced approach to land trusts (which emphasizes humans’ peaceful interaction with the land, as opposed to humans’ separation from the land). The Willamette Falls Trust consults with Indigenous leadership, focused on not only Indigenous land ownership but also Indigenous methods of land operation.

Indigenous-Owned in and Around Portland

Food and Drink

You can’t leave Portland without a cup of coffee and a pastry or two – find both at Bison Coffeehouse, run by Shoshone-Bannock tribe member Loretta Guzman. For a home-style experience in one of Portland’s artier neighborhoods, visit chefs Alex and Nick Numkena Anderson’s Javelina. Javelina serves fry bread and Hopi corn tamales for lunch counter-service style, with more traditional non-colonial foods for dinner, accompanied by the optional Inisha tasting menu. Need food for a crowd? Check out Sisters Fry Bread, whose catering business can often be found at community events throughout Portland and at scheduled powwows.

In November, you can celebrate National Native American Heritage Month at Fry Bread Fest, a day of storytelling, live drumming, demonstrations by artisans and shopping. Even better, the first 200 attendees can enjoy a complimentary fry bread.

For a fine dining experience, drive just 20 miles (32.2 km) south of Portland to Willamette wine country for the evening for a Native tasting menu at JORY by chef Jack Strong, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz.

Shopping

If you’re stopping through to get inked, consider visiting Tattoo 34 PDX. The Indigenous-owned shop’s artist roster offers permanent beauty services and actively supports other minority-owned businesses. Coral Story Beauty focuses exclusively on natural and clean beauty products, while Back to the Basket offers memorabilia and clothing for basketball lovers. Portland’s first Native-owned dispensary, Natural Wonders, offers friendly and knowledgeable staff who sell premium cannabis in the city’s Sunnyside neighborhood.

While they don’t own a physical store, Ginew Denim is a Portland-based online retailer creating contemporary Native clothing crafted by Native people. NEO Designs also has an online presence, which pairs modern athleisure with streetwear inspiration and Indigenous designs.

Fish and Farms

Sinixt descendant Michelle Week owns Good Rain Farm, which stewards land originally cared for by the Chinook and Cowlitz in the northern Willamette Valley. Good Rain provides Indigenous food, rabbit meat, bread and coffee for its Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes, which are distributed throughout the greater Portland area.

Wapato Island Farms on Sauvie Island has been in Jennifer Rose Marie Serna’s family for 20 years, harvesting herbs and fungi for medicines, tinctures and teas. The team provides an array of workshops, events, skill-sharing and even an ancestral herbalism education course.

Many Indigenous people also fish along the Columbia River, selling salmon and sturgeon along the roads of the Columbia River Gorge between May and September. You’ll find them vending in spots like Marine Park and underneath the Bridge of the Gods. You can also purchase the latter of their fish from retail spaces like Wild Columbia Salmon in Hood River, Oregon, and Brigham Fish Market in Cascade Locks, Oregon, which also features a restaurant serving sturgeon fish and chips, ceviche and soup.

Native and Indigenous Arts and Culture

Several museums, attractions and events offer memorable ways to engage with Indigenous Portland.

Downtown, the Oregon Historical Society shows how tribes have shaped the region through artifacts, events, artwork and a large photo archive. Nearby, the Portland Art Museum displays an extensive selection of carvings, basketry, paintings and other works from Pacific Northwest tribes.

Numerous local markets bring together Black and Indigenous farmers, artists, chefs and makers throughout the year. Those include the twice-monthly Come Thru Market (happening June-October), the Portland Indigenous Marketplace, the twice-yearly My People’s Market and the Native Arts & Crafts Fair presented by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission each holiday season.

Other annual events include Indigenous Culture Day at Tryon Creek State Natural Area every May and the free, family-friendly Delta Park Powwow and Encampment in June.

Finally, check out Native-led public art with Native American Public Art of Portland, whose on-site map shows where to find works from more than 100 Indigenous artists.

Notable Indigenous Portlanders

Indigenous Portlanders are an integral part of the city’s fabric. Here are a few influential Native people you can meet in the community today.

• Alexa Numkena-Anderson, affiliated with the Hopi, Yakama, Skokomish and Cree nations, serves fry bread, bison burgers and contemporary Indigenous fare at Javelina and hosts tasting menu dinners crafted with pre-colonial ingredients through Inɨ́sha, Javelina’s tasting menu experience.
• Loretta Guzman, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, owns and operates the cozy Bison Coffeehouse in the Cully neighborhood, where work from Native artists lines the walls.
• Sage Houser, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, slings Texas-inspired snacks through Third Coast Hot Dogs in the motorcycle-themed Grey Horse Saloon in the Central Eastside.
• Troy Douglass, a Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde member who sells vintage basketball apparel and memorabilia at his Back to the Basket storefront on Hawthorne.
• Ed Edmo, a Portland-based Shoshone-Bannock storyteller, tour guide, and consultant who shares tribal stories with children and adults.
• Shyla Spicer, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the president and CEO of the Native Arts + Cultures Foundation, which supports tribal artists through grants, exhibits, workspaces, and resources.

Native and Indigenous Community in Oregon

Get to know Oregon’s nine sovereign Native American nations and Native communities at museums and markets throughout the state.

Within three hours and some change, you can drive to a handful of the state’s best Indigenous culture learning opportunities. Check out tribally owned museums such as the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla Reservation in Pendleton, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s Chachalu Museum & Cultural Center and the Museum at Warm Springs on the Warm Springs Reservation.

Other notable museums include the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History, which traces nearly 15,000 years of Native American communities in Eugene, Oregon, and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, home to an extensive selection of work from Northwest tribal artists in Salem, Oregon, both within a two-hour drive of downtown Portland.

Drive an hour-ish along the Columbia River Gorge community of Cascade Locks and find Brigham Fish Market, owned by sisters and members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, to pick up some fresh, locally caught fish and prepared seafood. Can’t make a day trip? Find native-owned food offerings at the Portland Farmers Market and the Hollywood Farmers Market.