Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Signage Telling Indigenous Stories
Signage Telling Indigenous Stories
Image courtesy of Lara Swimmer and Confluence
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National Monument
1948 National Historic Site 1961 Park Size 210 acres Annual Visitors 968,000 Park Fee $10 to visit fort, free to walk grounds Superintendent Tracy Fortmann Park Partner Friends of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site Location Clark County, WA and Clackamas County, OR |
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site has been a crossroads for Indigenous people to gather and trade for thousands of years. In the 1800s, it became a very complex colonial site with a multicultural population involved in the fur trade enterprise. To improve visitors' understanding of the breadth of history at the site, the National Park Service will implement a plan produced over six years in consultation with tribal partners and Native Hawaiian organizations.
A new welcome sign with a land acknowledgement in both English and Chinuk Wawa will orient visitors to the site and illustrate its significance to Indigenous peoples. A new sign introducing introducing Native art on the Land Bridge (pictured above) will provide further orientation. Through an existing partnership with the non-profit, Confluence, a series of illustrations by a Native American artist will be commissioned, showing life a the site before the arrival of the Hudson's Bay Company. These will be used in educational signs at the new Crossroads Interpretive Area close to two recently completed parking areas and the future Northwest Museum Center. The project began in early 2024 and is expected to wrap up at the end of the year. Project Cost: $28,190 Project Began: 2023 The Fund for People in Parks: $18,020 National Park Service: $10,000 This project addresses recommendations in the park's Traditional Use Study and Re-Indigenization Plan, which was produced over six years with Tribal partners and Native Hawaiian organizations. This project funds components that would take the park further in the direction it needs to go to improve the visitor experience with more accurate, holistic interpretation: presenting inclusive and diverse stories of Indigenous peoples." |
