Willamette Falls Trust, MASS Design Group Begin Multi-Tribal Engagement Outreach For Historic Riverwalk
PORTLAND, Ore — The Willamette Falls Trust today announced a partnership with award-winning nonprofit architectural firm MASS Design Group to convene multi-tribal outreach and engagement to inform the design and programming of the future Willamette Falls Riverwalk.
Together with local government, Native communities, and private businesses, the Trust has been organizing and raising funds since 2016 to create a public space that celebrates the rich human and natural history of Willamette Falls. MASS is working with the Trust to help connect the members of an expanded design team with prioritized use, activity, and content recommendations stemming from an ongoing engagement process initiated during the summer of 2019. MASS Design’s partnership comes at a crucial moment in the Riverwalk design planning process.
“MASS Design Group intertwines beautiful architecture with equity, justice, and expertise working with Native communities and water-based landscapes across the country, making them an ideal partner for the Riverwalk. Their processes are informed by deep engagement with communities, cultures, and history,” said Andrew Mason, executive director of Willamette Falls Trust. “Although the COVID-19 pandemic has required us to physically distance ourselves from one another, this challenging time is bringing into focus how important it is to bring people together. We are taking this bold step with MASS, local government, and tribal communities because we recognize this rare and unique opportunity to create healing for people and the environment.”
MASS’s engagement work will ensure that the Riverwalk centers indigenous experiences and educates the greater Portland community on the Native stories of the region. Not only will the Riverwalk be a special public space, it will also allow visitors to access the complex and difficult histories of Oregon City through curated storytelling and programming.
“We build our work on the fundamental belief that architecture is never neutral — it either hurts or heals,” said Joseph Kunkel, Design Director of the Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab at MASS. “The opportunity that exists at the Falls to engage collaboratively with multiple tribes is a just and much needed healing gesture. We look forward to working with the Trust to make this ambitious vision for a sacred and restorative cultural and recreational space a reality.”
As part of the Riverwalk development process, the Trust and MASS are seeking input and advice from the five confederated tribes, as well as the Portland metro region’s urban Native American population. The five tribes are the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and Confederated Tribes and Bands of The Yakama Nation.
The Willamette Falls Riverwalk project is made possible in part by generous community donations. All are welcome to be a part of this historical project by donating at: www.willamettefallstrust.org