Third annual
Friday, May 10, 2024
11 a.m.- 6:30 p.m.
For generations, purple camas lilies have been cultivated, traded and consumed by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest including the Kalapuya, who were removed to the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation in 1855. Though much sparser now than in the days it turned the Willamette Valley purple each spring, it remains a central piece of Kalapuyan lifeways.
All events take place in and around Nicholson Library unless otherwise noted.
11 a.m. Opening remarks from Linfield University and Grand Ronde leadership
11:30 a.m., 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Guided tours of the Cozine Creek camas patch depart from Nicholson Library. Please note that while all festival exhibits are accessible, the Cozine Creek Natural Area is not. The walk includes slightly steep terrain and may be muddy.
11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Javelina Indigenous Dining pop-up, with historic and comfort food from Alexa Numkena-Anderson
11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Indigenous Creators’ Market featuring art, design, prints, beading, basketry and more
3:30 p.m. "Camas" reading from Grand Ronde Tribal Librarian and children's book author Kathy Cole
5 p.m. Guided artist's talk from Leland Butler: The photographer and 2024 Indigenous Place Keeping Artist (IPKA) Fellow will discuss work from his Linfield Gallery show, "Connected to the Land"
5:30-6:30 p.m. “Food is Medicine: Reclaiming Indigenous Foodways and Sovereignty” panel discussion. Panelists include Sara Calvosa Olson, Michelle Week and Alexa Numkena-Anderson, with introductions from Brooke Jackson-Glidden
Nicholson Library is located off SE Lever Street in McMinnville. Parking is available in several lots adjacent to the library, and visitors may park in any non-reserved location.
May 8, 2023
Community celebrates important wildflower at Camas Festival in McMinnville
The hills of the Willamette Valley may no longer turn purple with blooms of camas, but in one small patch of land, the flower is once again getting its day in the sun.
May 6, 2022
Linfield's inaugural Camas Festival
Attendees toured the creek area with student, faculty and tribal guides. In addition to gathering information on the watershed council and the Cozine restoration project, participants were able to view exhibits such as digging sticks used by tribal members when harvesting camas bulbs.
May 3, 2021
A flourishing relationship
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde helped Linfield University rename a two-block street, now known as Lakamas Lane, on the McMinnville campus in honor of the word camas. Lakamas is the word for camas in the Chinuk Wawa language. This renaming effort led to plans for a larger celebration of camas that grows on campus.
Linfield University
At Linfield, we recognize that the land that our physical campuses are located on were the traditional territories of the “Yam Hill” band of the Kalapuya people in McMinnville and the Chinookan peoples known as the Clackamas and Cascade Tribes in Portland. In January 1855, the people of these tribes were forcibly removed from the land after the signing of the Willamette Valley Treaty. They are now among 30 tribes and bands that make up the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
